Final Four Set in Met Junior

WESTFIELD, N.J. (July 18, 2023) — Though heavy rains suspended play on two occasions, the second day of the 106th Met Junior Championship Sponsored by MetLife completed its two rounds of match play on Tuesday, as the field was trimmed down to just four players by day's end at Echo Lake Country Club.

Related: Match Play Bracket

Barnes Blake of Westfield, N.J., Winston Blank of Rumson, N.J., Liam Pasternak of Morristown, N.J., and Thomas Finn of Locust Valley, N.Y., all won a pair of matches to move on and play Wednesday for the Mandeville trophy.

Coming off co-medalist honors, Blake continued his strong play at his home club, using a 1-up win in the morning over Brandon Quach of Cranford, N.J., before earning a more comfortable 3-and-2 victory over Joseph Dolezal of Old Westbury, N.Y., to secure his spot in the final four.

Blank had a similar day, earning a slim 1-up win over Tommy Mangan of Harrison, N.Y., in the morning and a 4-and-3 win over Jack Estrella of Brookville, N.Y., in the afternoon. Estrella eliminated co-medalist Sam O'Hara of Rye, N.Y., by a 3-and-1 margin in the morning Round of 16.

Meanwhile, Pasternak had a pair of impressive victories, taking a 4-and-2 win ver Jack Chung of Greenwich, Conn., in the morning before earning a 2-and-1 win over Reed Greyserman of Short Hills, N.J. Pasternak last year made a deep run in the MGA/MetLife Boys' Championship, finishing as runner-up.

Finally, recent Hebron Amateur champion Finn eliminated reigning champion John Hiller of New York, N.Y., in the opening round behind a 4-and-2 victory. In the afternoon, he secured his semifinal slot by taking a 1-up win over Josh Yan of Newburg, N.Y.

The nation’s oldest junior championship, which was first contested in 1912, will resume play tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Semifinal matches will take place in the morning followed by the championship match.