Glen Ridge HS golfer Dean Cerimido captures sectional tournament title; Ridgers finish second overall

GLEN RIDGE – Glen Ridge High School junior Dean Cerimido captured the individual title at the state/Metropolitan Golf Association North Jersey Section 1-2 Group 1 tournament at Rockleigh Golf Course in Rockleigh, N.Y. on May 16.

Cerimido carded a 77, two shots better than Joe Burns of Kinnelon.

GRHS, under head coach Steve Reitberger, finished second in the team standings, five shots behind North Warren, 339-344.

As a result, the Ridgers qualified for the state Group 1 Tournament/Tournament of Champions at Hopewell Valley Golf Course on Monday, May 23. The top two teams and top five individual finishers in the sectional tournaments qualified for the Tournament of Champions.

The rest of the Ridgers at the sectional meet were senior Jacob Ruiz, who shot a 90; senior Eric Shaara, 87; sophoomore Ryan Twitchell, 90; and senior Alex Conte, 100.

Cerimido finished second at the Essex County Tournament at the Francis Byrne Golf Course in West Orange on April 20 with a 77 score.

The Ridgers have been playing well as the season hits into its championship portion. GRHS had a 12-2 record after losing to Millburn on May 18 in a non-divisional match in the Super Essex Conference. The Ridgers have a chance to share or outright win the SEC-Liberty Division title. They still need to play matches against Caldwell, Bloomfield and Belleville.

The SEC-Liberty Division Championship meet will be held May 26 at East Orange Golf Course.

Reitberger has been quite pleased with his team’s play down the stretch.

“We’ve been playing pretty well, especially at this time of the year,” Reitberger said. “As the weather’s been getting better, so have we.”