AURORA – The competition may have gotten a little closer than he would have liked down the stretch, but Castle View's Gavin Amella was locked in from start to finish at the Class 5A boys golf state championships on Monday and Tuesday.

The Sabercats junior played excellent golf on both days at CommonGround Golf Course and carded a two-round score of 133 to finish 9-under for the tournament and take home the 2024 individual title.

“It was amazing,” Amella said. “I’ve been waiting for that moment my entire life, just winning state. It was a grind. On the front nine, I went low. And then on the back nine, I was just staying even. That was my plan coming into this: just making the birdies, making pars, saving when I could. Back when I was like five, I watched my cousin win state, so all I could think about before was how cool it would be to win state as well and be the second one to win state in my family.”

After Monday’s first round, 20 golfers sat at par-or-better.

Amella, who placed eighth as a sophomore last season, entered Saturday’s final round in the lead after posting a 5-under 66 on Monday. Valor Christian senior Ian O’Fallon and Grandview senior Michael Rosman were one stroke back at 4-under. Columbine senior Alex Lest and Valor Christian junior Campbell McFadden were each at 3-under, and Cherokee Trail junior Dalton Sisneros, Columbine junior Drew Dawson and Fairview junior Miles Kuhl were in a three-way tie at 2-under.

On Tuesday, Amella posted a 4-under round that included a run of five birdies in six holes on the front nine. He led by as many as four strokes and played steady golf on the back nine, shooting 1-over to narrowly edge Rosman, who was five under on the back nine, by one stroke.

Kuhl, Lest and Sisneros all finished in the three-way tie for third at 5-under. Fairview freshman Ash Edwards and O’Fallon tied for sixth at 4-under. Chatfield senior Jesse Hand, Fossil Ridge junior Landon Houska and Pine Creek’s Luke Wright tied for eighth at 3-under.

Cherry Creek was the Day 1 leader in the team competition. Valor Christian was two strokes back in second, and Columbine and Erie were tied for third sitting a stroke back of Valor Christian. At the end of play on Tuesday, Cherry Creek held on to win with a combined team score of 423 and claim its first boys golf title since 1981.

“It means a lot,” Cherry Creek head coach Dustin Neel said. “It’s been since 1981, so I think that’s 43 years. I feel like when I took over as head coach four years ago, we were going to be building towards this and I’m so proud of the players. They deserve all the credit. They put in the time, the work, the effort, and I challenged these guys to be the best versions of themselves this year and they did that.”

Cherry Creek is now tied with Regis Jesuit and Kent Denver for the most all-time boys golf team titles with nine.

Cherokee Trail finished runner-up with a score of 426. Fossil Ridge was third at 432.

Last season, Rock Canyon claimed both its first boys golf team title and crowned its first individual champion Charlie Tucker.