Oct. 8—HARTFORD, S.D. — Dakota Valley’s Logan Collette took home the individual title and led the Panthers to a team championship at Class A state boys golf tournament on Tuesday at Central Valley Golf Course.
Collette finished with a two-day total of 5-over 149. He sat in a tie for first place yesterday with Milbank’s Jonathan DeBoer after both shot 3-over 75s, but Collette shot one stroke better on Tuesday with a 2-over 74. Canton’s Carson Steffensen challenged him after trailing by two strokes following Day 1, but came up one stroke short of the lead with a two-day total of 6-over 150.
Mount Vernon/Plankinton’s Trysten Eide was the highest area individual finisher. He shot three strokes lower with a 10-over 82 during the second day of competition on Tuesday. He finished the competition in sole possession of 21st place with a final score of 161.
Winner’s Ryder Halligan finished right behind Eide in a tie for 22nd place. After shooting a 10-over 82 on Monday, he eclipsed that by two strokes on Tuesday for an 8-over 80 final mark. He finished with a total score of 162.
Among other area individual finishers, Parkston’s Landon Weber had one of the best rounds of the second day. On Monday, he finished with a 93 and sat low on the leaderboard. But on Tuesday, he rebounded and shot a 2-over 74, which was tied for the third-best mark of the second round. He finished a two-day total of 23-over 167 and ended in 31st place.
Right behind him was Trojan teammate Kelby Neugebauer in 32nd place. He finished day one 14-over 86 before shooting four strokes better on day two with a 10-over 82 for a final total of 24-over 168.
Chamberlain’s Chase McQuirk finished right behind Neugebauer in 33rd place to round out the highest area finishers. McQuirk was in sixth place after shooting 6-over 78 on day one but struggled on day two with a 19-over 91 for a two-day total of 25-over 169.
Dakota Valley ran away with the team title, led by Collette’s two-day individual-winning performance. The Panthers finished with a 39-over 615 two-day total, which was 14 strokes better than 2023 state winners Vermillion, who finished with a two-day total of 53-over 629. Aberdeen Roncalli, St. Thomas More and Groton Area rounded out the top five.
Weber and Neugebauer powered Parkston from 12th place on Monday to an eighth-place competition finish, the highest finish among area teams. Winner claimed ninth place behind Halligan’s team-high finish. Chamberlain and MVP finished in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
