Stevens, Wetzel Tied in Boys Class AAA; Edina Leads After 18 Holes

View full size image

COON RAPIDS -- Stop me if you've heard this one before: Nate Stevens confirmed his No. 1 ranking once again on Tuesday; Jack Wetzel made a bunch of birdies; and the two of them are tied for first after the opening round of the Class AAA portion of the Minnesota state high school tournament. 

That was almost exactly what happened last year, when Stevens, the No. 1 player from the beginning of the season, made five birdies and one bogey while shooting a 4-under 68, which put the Northfield junior in a tie with Edina junior Wetzel, who made seven birdies and three bogeys. Stevens was even better on Day 2. He made only one bogey again, but rattled off seven birdies in his second trip around Bunker Hills GC, and finished with a 36-hole total of 66-68--134. That gave him a two-shot victory and also shattered the old tournament scoring record by five shots. 

Wetzel's second day didn't go nearly as well. He shot 77 and tied for 11th.

On Tuesday, Stevens, who is ranked No. 1 again -- and was named Minnesota's Mr. Golf on Sunday night -- started the defense of his title by playing a characteristically clean round -- two birdies and no bogeys. That worked out to 2-under-par 70.

And just as he did last year, Wetzel produced the more interesting scorecard of the two co-leaders. He started with a bogey, then birdied the next three holes in a row. That  burst was followed by three pars in a row, but he capped off his front nine with two more birdies. On the back nine, he bogeyed three out of four holes before making one more birdie at the 18th for his 70. 

The first-day leaderboard was pretty crowded last year, and that was the case again on Tuesday, as 14 players lined up within four strokes of the two leaders.

There are five guys just one back -- Alexandria's Bennett Olson, Rochester Mayo's Isaac Ahn, Owen Rexing of Rosemount, Ryan Standahl of Maple Grove and Anoka's Tyler Gandrud. 

One behind them is Moorhead's Joe Kortan, also in a familiar position. Last year, he was one back with a 69; this year, he's two back at 72, tied for eighth with Evan Raiche of Lakeville North. 

Making it seem even more like deja vu all over again is this: Edina led the team competition after one round a year ago with 298. Guess who's leading this year with a 298. That's right -- the Hornets. 

They didn't win in 2021, but that wasn't really their fault. Maple Grove went nuts on Day 2, posting a combined four-player score of 5-under 283 -- that's never happened before -- and winning by 16 over Edina with an overall 584. 

Sitting in second place in the team standings isn't the Crimson, but the team that dethroned them, Spring Lake Park, in sectional competition.

Stevens' round on Tuesday is easy to sum up. The Notre Dame recruit hit lots of fairways, lots of greens, as usual, and made lots of pars. He picked on the easiest hole on the course, the 486-yard, par-5 fourth, for his only birdie on the front nine. A drive, a flip wedge and an 18-foot putt produced his only birdie on the back nine, at the 373-yard, par-4 13th. 

If he hadn't been unlucky at the 18th, Stevens would probably be leading. After hitting the fairway, he had a wedge going right at the pin -- then crash! The ball hit the pin and caromed off, ending up 35 feet away.

Stevens didn't seem bothered by the bad luck. 

When asked about being bogey free, he said: "I'm happy about that. It was one of my goals. I didn't get a lot of putts to go, but I'll try to improve on that tomorrow."

As for Wetzel, he seems better prepared to hold his ground this time. In 2021, he started the season outside the top 45 in the MGA state rankings, and he went into the state tournament No. 28. This year, he was No. 4 coming into the state tournament. He was also a Mr. Golf finalist, and University of Minnesota coach Justin Smith had enough confidence in him to offer him a scholarship, which Wetzel has accepted. 

His has demonstrated his work ethic on the golf course, on the soccer field (he was a member of Edina's state championship team in the fall of 2019), and also in the class room, where he has a 4.0 grade-point average. 

On Tuesday, he could have gotten flustered by the bogey that he made on the par-4 first hole (427 yards). Instead, he bounced back with birdies at the 368-yard, par-4 second, the 164-yard, par-3 third and the par-5 fourth. Even more impressive, he birdied the longest par-4 on the course, the 430-yard eighth, as well as the 390-yard, par-4 ninth. 

On the back nine, as the wind picked up and made the course more challenging, he committed the Cardinal Sin of tournament golf when he bogeyed the par-5 14th (560 yards), and then bogeyed the 420-yard, par-4 15th. He bogeyed the 17th hole, but so did a lot of other guys. It's a 220-yard par 3, and the wind made it just that much more difficult. 

Once again, Wetzel bounced back, by hitting a wedge to 5 feet at the 390-yard, par-4 18th and converting the putt for a birdie. 



THE 2022 MINNESOTA STATE BOYS’ CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP
BUNKER HILLS GOLF COURSE
COON RAPIDS, MINN.
6,866 YARDS, PAR 72

TUESDAY’S FIRST ROUND TEAM RESULTS
1. Edina -- 298
2. Spring Lake Park -- 301
T3. Alexandria Area -- 304
T3. Lakeville North -- 304
5. Chanhassen -- 309
6. Eastview -- 313
7. Stillwater Area -- 327
8. Princeton -- 330 

TUESDAY’S FIRST ROUND INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T1. Jack Wetzel, Edina -- 70
T1. Nate Stevens, Northfield -- 70
T3. Bennett Olsen, Alexandria Area -- 71
T3. Isaac Ahn, Rochester Mayo -- 71
T3. Owen Rexing, Rosemount -- 71
T3. Ryan Stendahl, Maple Grove -- 71
T3. Tyler Gandrud, Anoka -- 71
T8. Evan Raiche, Lakeville North -- 72
T8. Joe Kortan, Moorhead -- 72
T10. Brady Baynes, Eden Prairie -- 73
T10. Chase Camilli, Lakeville North -- 73
T10. Hank Sogge, Eagan -- 73
T10. Jake Birdwell, Spring Lake Park -- 73
T10. Joe Honsa, Cretin-Derham Hall -- 73
T10. Kyler Schwamb, Farmington -- 73

For complete tournament results: https://www.mshsl.org/2022-state-golf-results