JORDAN — The boys state tournament’s void of a Delano golfer lasted just one season. Sophomore James Ylitalo put an end to the mini-draught Tuesday morning, when he teed off on No. 1 at Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Course for the Class AA tournament.

Playing in a drizzling rain from start to finish on that first day, Ylitalo survived two double-bogeys on the front nine and finished with a respectivle 79. That put Ylitalo in 25th place after 18 holes.

The rain subsided Wednesday for the second round, and Ylitalo’s game perked with the weather. He shot a 1-over-par 73.

That solid second round gave Ylitalo 152 strokes, and, more impressively, moved him up the leaderboard 19 positions, to seventh place.

“I was happy with how I played Tuesday, considering the conditions,” Ylitalo said. “I’m glad I finished with a good score to finish the tournament. I thought I played solid the whole tournament.”

Ylitalo’s 152 was the fifth-best score. He took seventh place because three golfers shot 149.

“I was glad I could make it to state and play well,” he said.”It was a very fun experience to play at the state tournament.”

With the 73, Ylitalo was a top-four golfer on the second day, finishing with the likes of Red Wing’s Cecil Belisle, Hill-Murray’s Ben Warian and New Ulm’s Glavin Schugel.

Not bad company, considering these three all finished in the top four in the final standing.

Belisle won the state championship with a two-day 143. He shot a 74 on the first day, and was awesome with a 3-under-par 69 on the second day.

Warion finished second with 145 strokes (73-72). Schugel (77-72), Holy Family’s Blake Stedronsky (75-74) and St. Peter’s Carter Doose (74-74) all finished with 148 strokes.

Ylitalo seems to belong near the top of the leader board. He entered the state tournament as the Section 5AA champion.

The Section 5AA team champion was Holy Family. The Fire, which will move up to Class AAA next season, finished their run in Class AA with the state title Tuesday.

Holy Family’s 620 strokes (310-310) were 20 strokes better than second-place Detroit Lakes’ 640 (317-323).

Colquet finished one stroke behind Detroit Lakes, in third place with 641 strokes (325-316).

Rounding out the team finishes were Red Wing (331-322-653), Blue Earth Area (329-325-654), Hill Murray (325-333-658), St. Cloud Cathedral (336-340-676) and Jackson County (345-339-684).

JORDAN — Albeit delayed, the event of a Delano girl finally teeing up a golf ball at the state tournament finally happened.

Swinging the club that struck that ball was senior Maggie Jacobs, who, in her final event as a Tiger, put her name in her school’s record book when she sent the ball down the fairway on hole No. 10 at Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Course in Jordan Tuesday on day one of the Class AA state tournament.

Jacobs’ scheduled tee time of 12:54 was delayed close to a half hour by Mother Nature, who poured a drizzling rain down on the boys tournament in the morning and on the girls for much of the afternoon.

Jacobs bogeyed that first hole, carding a 6 on the 661-yard par-5.

The rest of her round followed suit, as Jacobs finished the slow-moving first day with a 95. In the wind and sunshine of day two Wednesday, Jacobs shot a 107. The two-day 202 gave Jacobs 74th place in the 88-golfer field.

“Overall, I was a little disappointed with my results at state, but golf is a very unpredictable sport and it has its ups and downs,” said Jacobs. “Despite not playing my best, I still had a great experience that will be remembered for a lifetime.”

Ever playing at a state tournament was never at the forefront of Jacobs’ mind, she admits.

“When I joined the team freshman year, I would never have dreamed that I would be golfing at the state tournament,” she said. “Being able to participate made for a great experience.”

Jacobs will always be the first Delano girl to strike a ball at the state tournament, but she wasn’t alone during the two days. Just minutes after Jacobs’ began her first round, teammate Annika Reierson started her first state tournament in the next foursome.

Reierson, a junior, shot a 94 Tuesday in the rain. She turned in a 101 Wednesday. The two-day 195 tied Detroit Lakes’ Hanna Knoop for 65th place.

Like Jacobs, Reierson was hoping to play better, but appreciates the accomplishment of simply getting to state.

“I thought I could have done better overall in the tournament, but I had a lot of fun and it was an honor to represent Delano for the first time,” she said.

Red Wing’s Sophia Yoemans won the individual state championship with 138 strokes.

Yoemans was awesome both days. She shook the water off her back to shoot a 3-under par 69 Tuesday, and enjoyed the sunshine of day two with a matching 3-under par 69.

Finishing second was Yoeman’s classmate at Red Wing, Leah Herzog. Herzog was seven strokes back with a 145. She carded a 73 Tuesday and shot an even-par 72 Wednesday.

Led by Yemens and Herzog, Red Wing won the girls team championship in Class AA. The Wingers finished with 646 strokes for the two days. That was one less stroke than Minnewaska/BBE’s 647.

Minnewaska/BBE held a six-stroke lead after day one, when it recorded 313 team strokes. Red Wing sat second with 319 strokes after the first day. The difference on the second day was Red Wing’s 327, compared to Minnewaska/BBE’s 334.

The team competition was a two-team race, as the remaining six teams finished in the distance.

The final six finishes in the team tournament were (in order) Detroit Lakes (325-337-662), Jordan (351-347-698), International Falls (357-378-735), Visitation (376-375-751), Albany (383-390-773) and Providence Academy (399-398-797).

Wednesday June 12
Hutchinson at Howard Lake 7:30
D-C at Maple Lake 7:30
Waverly at Cokato 7:30
Buffalo at Litchfield 7:30
Loretto at Delano 7:30