NEW CITY, N.Y. (July 14, 2015) – The match play portion of the 98^th Met Junior Sponsored by MetLife is now set, following 36 holes of stroke play at Paramount by the area’s best junior players. The field of 67 was trimmed down to 16, led by medalist Brent Ito and his 3-over 143 total.

Related: Stroke Play Results | Match Play Bracket | Met Junior Preview

Ito, the 2014 MGA/MetLife Boys champion of Ardsley, N.Y., carded rounds of 71-72 to best the field by two strokes. “I think I hit the ball pretty solid and hit some good putts,” he said. “Nothing was really dropping, but I scrambled really well today and I kept it tight.”

Putting seemed to be the challenge for the competitors on the sloping greens of the A.W. Tillinghast course, but Ito credited the opportunity to play multiple practice rounds at the course for his finish atop the leaderboard. “I was able to get out three times before this tournament, so I think that really helped me with deciding what shots to play into the green and how to play downhill versus uphill putts,” Ito reported.

Ito led the field in the morning round with a 71, and backed it up with a 72 in the afternoon and now looks on to the match play format for the remainder of the championship. “I just take it hole-by-hole rather than thinking of it overall,” said Ito. “It’s a totally different kind of format, so hopefully I can play well there as well.”

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Meanwhile, Ethan Ng of New York, N.Y., followed a first round 74 by matching the low round of the afternoon with 71. His post-lunch round was highlighted by his performance on holes 14 through 17, where he posted back-to-back birdies and capped the stretch with an eagle on the par-5 17^th.  Ng’s 145 total placed him in solo second. “I played alright,” reported Ng. “The front nine was a little rocky, but in the back nine I picked myself up and got it done.”

For Ng, his driving keyed his round, but his respect for the greens helped improve on his first 18 holes of play. “Today my driving was really good,” he reported. I hit a lot of fairways. The greens were insane—they were so fast and so pure. You have to keep it in the right spot and if not, you’re going to be penalized.”

After being a quarterfinalist last year, Ng will look to use his experience to advance in the match play portion, saying, “I just have to stay aggressive and stay on my own game--don’t pay attention to my opponent and just stay on my own game.

Michael Frizalone of Farmingdale, N.Y., James Nicholas of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Matthew Bettino of Bronxville, N.Y., tied for third with a 148 total. Frizalone began the day with a 76, but bounced back nicely in the afternoon with a 72.

Jimmy Criscione matched Ng with the low round of the afternoon at 71, jumping up the leaderboard and being part of a three-way tie for sixth. Chris Yeom of New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Bobby Diforio Jr. of White Plains, N.Y. matched Criscione with a 149 total.

Paramount played to a par 70 of 6,422 yards for the competitors.

The championship will continue on Tuesday, and the remainder of competition will be conducted through match play. The top 16 players advancing are seeded into a bracket based on their stroke play totals from Monday.