By Rusty Miller
The Associated Press

AURORA, Ohio - Steve Paramore's dream summer keeps getting better. He got married on June 28 and was named the women's golf coach at Ashland University soon after. Then on a cloudy day at Aurora Golf and Country Club, he made a big early lead stand up for a two-shot victory Friday over Jason Gerken in the 97th Ohio Amateur golf championship.

"This is by far my biggest accomplishment in golf," Paramore said. "Other than getting married, or maybe having a couple of kids, this is the biggest thing that's ever going to happen to me."

His closing 2-over-par 73 followed rounds of 68, 77 and 68 and gave him the crystal trophy with a total of 2-over 286. Gerken, third a year ago, closed with a 71 and was second at 288.

Paramore, a 21-year-old Ashland native, began the day with a one-shot edge on defending champion Kevin Kornowa.

Playing in the same group, both birdied the par-5 first hole before Kornowa failed to get up and down from a bunker on the second hole and had a bogey.

While Paramore - a former Division II All-American at Florida Southern - was methodically birdieing holes No. 4 and 6 to get to 3-under for the championship, Kornowa was self-destructing.

After Paramore and third-place finisher David Allan hit irons to the middle of the fairway on the par-5 fifth, Kornowa drove into heavy rough to the right. He attempted to punch down from a precipice to a lower level of the fairway, but the ball caught a tree and ended up halfway down a hill in knee-high weeds. Kornowa found two balls nestled in the thick grass before finding his - angrily throwing one of the balls into the hill in disgust.

He ended up with a double-bogey and followed that with two more bogeys and another double on the front side as he sagged 11 shots behind Paramore. He three-putted from 4 feet for a bogey at No. 6.

"It was a tough day," Kornowa said. "I hit it in some bad spots and I couldn't recover."

Meanwhile, Paramore was the very picture of consistency. He hit every fairway but one on the front side, and was on every green in regulation. The poor finish - he bogeyed four of five holes in one stretch - left him disappointed in his play.

"I wish I could have played better on the back and shot at least in the 60s," Paramore said. "But I guess a W's a W."

He hit a 7-footer for birdie at No. 4 and added 41/2-footers at No. 6 and No. 9.

Allan, a Terrace Park native who played at DePauw, trailed by three at the start and was six back at the turn after going 1-under on the front side. He never could string together more than one good hole.

"On 10, I thought I could put some pressure on him," Allan said. "I had a downhill putt for birdie there and I thought if I could hit it and then come back with a birdie on the short par-4 11th, I might get close.

"I hit a good putt on 10 but it went a couple of feet by, then I fanned on it coming back. That was my last shot at him."

Allan shot a 75 and was alone in third at 291, with Kornowa fourth and another shot back after a 78. Westlake's Ted Smith, who plays at North Carolina, rounded out the top five with a 75 for 293.

Paramore faded coming down the stretch and watched his lead shrink to two shots when he bogeyed the par-3 17th by hitting a sand shot through the green and then two-putting. Moments earlier, Gerken - a Logan native who will be a sophomore at Princeton - had birdied the same hole with a curling 25-foot putt.

Even Paramore's caddie and new bride, Kerre, was nervous.

"I usually have a snack at the turn," she said. "I couldn't even eat my candy bar. It was hard to watch."

Gerken soon learned he was suddenly back in the race.

"I knew he was 4-under on the front," Gerken said. "Then on 15 I found out he had made several bogeys on the back. I thought if I could make a couple of more birdies, I had a chance."

On the final hole, Gerken hit his drive into the middle of the fairway and his approach left him 22 feet above the hole to the left. His aggressive birdie try rolled 7 feet by, but he hit the par putt coming back up the hill.

Paramore then played the hole the way he had played most of the previous 71 - into the fairway off the tee, middle of the green with his approach and two putts for par.

He pumped his fist to the throng of people watching from the mounds around the green. He then walked over and kissed his caddie/wife.

"There's a lot of luck involved in golf," Paramore said. "I showed that today. I was lucky no one snuck up behind me."

Ohio Amateur

At Aurora Golf and Country Club

Yardage: 6,606-yrad; Par 71

Second Round

Steve Paramore, Ashland	68-77-68-73-286
Jason Gerken, Logan	74-72-71-71-288
David Allan, Terrace Park	70-74-72-75-291
Kevin Kornowa, Sylvania	72-74-68-78-292
Ted Smith, Westlake	78-70-70-75-293
Mike Kelley, Westerville	77-73-72-72-294
Jason Kokrak, Warren	72-75-76-71-294
Brad Baker, Warsaw	76-76-73-70-295
Matt Marino, North Ridgeville	71-75-75-74-295
Justin Bertsch, Sandusky	72-75-73-76-296
Nate Strong, Massillon	81-73-71-72-297
Ryan Siekmann, Dublin	76-79-74-70-299
Todd Wilson, Grove City	75-73-78-73-299
John Moheyer, Lima	77-75-76-72-300
Steve Lohmeyer, Dayton	78-74-73-75-300
Ken Kinkopf, Hilliard	72-76-76-76-300
David French, Columbus	69-79-78-75-301
Justin Fender, New Richmond	76-78-73-74-301
David Bietermen, Dayton	78-76-74-74-302
Chris Miller, New Philadelphia	80-70-77-75-302
Brent Albertson, Dublin	77-78-75-73-303
Ben Smith, Westlake	77-75-77-74-303
Brian Krusoe, Northfield Ctr.	77-71-79-76-303
Nick Lambos, Canton	77-75-73-78-303
Brian Keating, Cincinnati	75-77-76-76-304
Wes Homan, Cincinnati	75-73-80-76-304
Justin Schroeder, Shelby	78-77-73-76-304
Douglas Ray, Alliance	80-72-75-77-304
Matt Hiatt, Sylvania	74-74-79-78-305
Bryon Harger, Marion	77-73-79-77-306
Tony Brown, Ashland, Ky.	77-75-77-77-306
Jonathan Johasky, Athens	81-74-73-78-306
Raymond Sovik, Powell	78-72-79-78-307
Brad Marsh, Cincinnati	75-72-80-80-307
Dave Czech, Medina	72-77-78-80-307
Jeff Mallette, Canton	77-74-79-78-308
Brett Williams, Circleville	81-73-76-78-308
Rick Merrow, Akron	78-72-77-82-309
Bobby Jones, Kettering	75-77-77-82-311
Tyler Riley, Findlay	75-78-76-83-312
Dan Wyant, Marietta	73-79-78-83-313