Boys golf team takes third at state

With nine holes to play at the Minnesota State Class AA Boys Golf Tournament, the Cloquet-Esko Lumberjacks trailed Hill Murray by four strokes for third place Wednesday afternoon. Led by senior Keegan Poppenberg, the 'Jacks rallied to beat the Pioneers by 17 strokes and just fell short of second place - ending one stroke behind Detroit Lakes.

"I think we were a little tight on the front nine on Thursday," said Cloquet head coach Jon Horbacz. "I think we were trying to hold onto that third position because we had a goal of doing better than the fourth place we took last year and we wanted to bring home some hardware."

Coach Horbacz was not the only person aware of how tight the match was on Thursday. As Poppenberg walked by the clubhouse heading for his final 9 holes of competition at the high school level, one look told him everything he needed to know.

"I took a look at the board as I was walking toward the back nine and I saw it was going to be close," said Poppenberg in an interview with WKLK Radio immediately after the event ended. "I was just hoping we could grind away on the back nine because I knew we hadn't played as well as we can on the front. I had a good feeling."

A year ago the Lumberjacks qualified to go to the state meet and finished fourth overall. This year they were looking to improve and that is exactly what they did.

The tournament opened Wednesday under tough, rainy conditions as golfers struggled to find low scores. That changed on Thursday as conditions improved and players started to find the course a bit more conducive to low scores.

"Today the ball was just bouncing really far and the greens were much quicker than last year," Poppenberg explained. "Yesterday with the rain and the wind it was really tough."

Poppenberg led the 'Jacks with a total score of 156. After shooting an 80 on Wednesday he came back with a 76 on Thursday. Eighth-grader Karsen Patten was right behind Poppenberg with a two-day total of 160 and shot a 79 on Thursday. Sophomore Sam Baker was one stroke behind Patten with an impressive 78 on Thursday and a two-day total of 161.

"We knew we had some ground to make up on the back nine," said coach Horbacz. "I think we started to think a little less about everyone else and started playing our own game."

Sophomore Trevor Steinert finished with a two-day total of 169 with scores of 81 and 88; junior Anthony McKay shot a 170 with scores of 91 and 83 and sophomore Brayden Tyman came in at 174 with a 91 on Wednesday and an 83 on Thursday.

Ironically it seems that this year's 'Jacks are better when they know they have to come from behind to win than if they are in front.

"We just seem to do well when we are chasing other teams," Horbacz said. "It felt like we loosened up and things started happening for us."

Holy Family Catholic won the event with a total score of 620 and Detroit Lakes was second, just one shot better than Cloquet, with a 640. The Lumberjacks shot a 641 for third place with Hill Murray finishing in fourth with a total of 658.