State AA and A tourneys slated for Monday and Tuesday in Watertown and Hartford
WATERTOWN — A 52-year wait between state championships ended for Watertown High School’s boys golf team last October.
And although the Arrows are certainly one of the top contenders to win the 2024 State Class AA Boys Golf Tournament on Monday and Tuesday on their home course (Cattail Crossing Golf Course), repeating certainly isn’t going to be an easy task.
Pierre, which ended Watertown’s three-year run as the Eastern South Dakota Conference champion at the Moccasin Creek Golf Club in Aberdeen on Monday, and fellow ESD schools Harrisburg and Brandon Valley are also very capable. Harrisburg finish second and Brandon Valley third in the ESD ahead of Watertown Pierre was third, Harrisburg fourth and Brandon Valley sixth in the state meet last year.
“It’s going to be a very competitive two days,” Watertown head coach Corey Neale said. “Pierre, Harrisburg and Brandon Valley are all really good teams. It’s going to take our best golf to defend our title.”
The state Class A boys tournament also takes place on Monday and Tuesday at the Central Valley Golf Course in Hartford.
Class AA Tournament Details
Golfers will play 18 holes each day with play starting at 9 a.m. on both Monday and Tuesday. The top individuals and top golfers from the top four teams after Monday’s first round will tee off at 11 a.m. or later on Tuesday.
The top six teams and 25 individuals will receive awards following the conclusion of the tournament.
The tourney field includes 20 returning state Class AA medalists from last fall along with two other Class A medalists from Tea Area, which has now moved up to AA. Watertown, Pierre and Harrisburg each have four returning state medalists from 2023.
Defending champion Jake Olson of Watertown has graduated and is now playing golf at South Dakota State University. Taten Mauney of O’Gorman, the state runner-up last fall, is the top returnee.
Watertown is still very strong
Don’t worry about the loss of Olson or the uncharacteristic 330 score (29 shots higher than the team’s previous low score this season) and fourth-place finish the Arrows recorded on Monday during gusty winds at the conference tournament.
Watertown is playing on its home course and features a senior-laden lineup led by Kaden Rylance, a past state tourney runner-up who finished third last fall. Fellow seniors Jaden Solheim (tied for 14th) and Ty Lenards (tied for 24th) are also returning state medalists from 2023. Sophomore Jonathan Lake also medaled last year, tying for 21st. Senior Gabe Norberg and sophomore Max Stemwedel round out the team’s state contingent.
“The guys are unhappy with how ESD went but that happens. There’s bad days and good days,” Neale said. “They know what the goal has been since the end of last year and they are ready to achieve it.”
Aberdeen Central also competing
Coach Matt Brust’s Golden Eagles also will compete in the tourney after placing eighth in the ESD tournament.
Seniors Carter Blanchard and Kyler Senger, juniors Jackson Ravellette and Kalen Larson and sophomores Cole Brust, Ben Phillips are slated to compete for Aberdeen Central.
Brust narrowly missed medaling last fall when he tied for 27th. Blanchard, Senger and Ravellette also played in the tourney.
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Other Golfers to Watch
Other returning state medalists from last fall are Nicklaus Bothun, Luke Olson, Lincoln Houska and Sawyer Sonnenschein of Pierre; and Hayden Scott, Charlie Swift, Riley Christensen and Gavin Weir of Harrisburg. You may remember Weir as the star pitcher for the Sioux Falls team that starred in the 2021 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
Other medalists back are Carter Peterson of Brandon Valley (fourth), Jayden Antonen of O’Gorman (tied for fifth), Asher Dannenbring of Mitchell, Parker Reede of Spearfish, Benjamin Gibson of Rapid City Central, Parker Riley of Yankton and Trevor Rick of Sioux Falls Jefferson. Brady Sabers and Derek Andersen of Tea Area were state Class A medalists in 2023.
“The guys just have to keep doing what they’ve been doing all year,” Neale said. “Stay focused on every shot. Stay confident in themselves and keep the pedal down until the last ball is holed.”
Area golfers to battle for Class A honors
Twenty-eight area golfers will play in the state A tourney, including six each from Aberdeen Roncalli, Sioux Valley, Milbank and Groton Area. Those four schools will compete for team honors.
Region 1A champion Roncalli will field a lineup that includes Finn Anderson, Lucas Daggett, Mathew Gerlach, Jesse Hernandez, Gannon May and Owen Vogel. Region 1A runner-up Groton Area has Brevin Fliehs, Jace Johnson, Jarrett Erdmann, Logan Pearson, Jayden Schwan and Carter Simon, Fliehs won the Region 1A individual title.
Sioux Valley (Nathan Larson, Maverick Nelson, Damon Uecker, Trentyn Schmit, Tate Steffensen and Jameson Degen) and Milbank (Thomas Bass, Jonathan DeBoer, Gregory Grabow, Ryan Keeton, Owen Fischer and Charlie Peery) tied for third in the region to qualify their teams for state.
Dana BraveBull and Luke Nielsen of Sisseton and Micah Zastrow and Conner Zens of Redfield also will compete.
Top teams, golfers in Class A
Sixteen returning medalists are back from 2023 includeing three each from defending champion Vermillion, third-place Dakota Valley and fourth-place St. Thomas More. Tea Area, which was second, in now up in AA.
West Central senior Anthony Lanham, the defending champion, is one of 16 returning state medalists that include Roncalli’s Anderson and Milbank’s DeBoer.
Vincent VanLiere, a sophomore from St. Thomas More, returns after finishing as the state runner-up a year ago. VanLiere’s teammate Hayden Heig, a junior and son of former Watertown golfer Nick Heig, won the Region 4A tourney over VanLiere.
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Other region champions in the field include Sioux Falls Christian’s Harper Schnabel (2A) and Winner’s Karson Keiser (3A). Winner and St. Thomas More won the 3A and 4A region team titles.
Defending champion Vermillion is likely the team to beat. The Tanagers, who edged Tea Area by one shot for the team title in last year’s state tourney, cruised to a 23-shot win in the Region 2A tourney. Cooper Girard, Karson Preister and Rylan Moran are returning state medalists from last year.
Play also begins at 9 a.m. each day with golfers playing 18 holes each. The top six teams and 25 individuals will receive awards.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
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