ST. JAMES, N.Y. (July 18, 2012)– After two short weather delays, play was suspended during the quarterfinal matches of the 95th Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife, taking place at the 6,653-yard, par-72 Nissequogue Golf Club.

All four quarterfinal matches were in progress when play was called off for the day to heavy rain and lightning. Through 14 holes, 2012 LIGA Junior champion Will Bernstein of New York, N.Y., holds a slim 1-up lead over 2009 MGA/MetLife Boys champion Mark Reilly of Babylon, N.Y., and Scott Kim of River Edge, N.J., stands 3 up over 2011 MGA/MetLife Boys runner-up Christopher Gabriele of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

In the third quarterfinal match, Jerry Wall of Brielle, N.J.—who won his Round of 16 match in 19 holes this morning—has a commanding 5-up lead over Armando Olivieri of Greenwich, Conn., through 12 holes. The final match of the day features Stephen Pastore of Greenwich, Conn., who is 2 up over 2008 MGA/MetLife Boys champion Peter Kim of Metuchen, N.J., through 9 holes.

Quarterfinal play will resume at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning and the semifinal round will start following completion of the quarterfinal matches. The final match has been pushed back one day, and will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 20.

Wednesday morning’s Round of 16 saw plenty of tight matches as the players endured another hot, humid morning. However, eight players were able to outlast their competitors and advance the quarterfinals. In a rematch of last year’s 43rd MGA/MetLife Boys Championship, Gabriele avenged his loss and defeated Theo Humphrey of Greenwich, Conn., 3 & 2. 

Pastore survived his marathon match with Sean Trainor of White Plains, N.Y., and won on the 22nd hole of play. Two other matches needed extra holes, with both Scott Kim and Jerry Wall winning on the first extra hole against Kieran Purcell of Nutley, N.J., and Bradley Lankler of Westfield, N.J., respectively.

Twelve-year-old Solomon Thompson of Scarsdale, N.Y., fought hard but lost 1 up to Peter Kim, who had breezed through his first two matches yesterday. Coming off an 8 & 7 victory in the Round of 32, Bernstein needed all 18 holes to claim a 1-up victory over Louis Bodine of Flemington, N.J.

In the remaining two matches, Reilly defeated Luke Edelman of Mahwah, N.J., 4 & 2, and Olivieri won 2 & 1 over Gilbert Chang of Nesconset, N.Y.

Live scoring for the in-progress quarterfinals and all remaining matches at the Met Junior can be found at www.mgagolf.org and also through the My MGA mobile app.