Staples-Motley’s Beck Erholtz carded four birdies in his second-nine to shoot a 1-under 71 in Day One of the Class 2A boys state tournament Tuesday, June 15, at Ridges of Sand Creek in Jordan.

The senior and North Dakota State University commit started on the 10th hole and birdied one of his first nine holes to shoot 38. He rallied at the turn to birdie holes one and two to get back to even.

“It was time to straighten my act out and make some birdies,” he said. “I think it was just a grind the whole day. It required a lot of focus.”

After a bogey at hole five, Erholtz birdied holes six and seven to get under par. His 71 is good for second place and three strokes behind Cloquet’s Sam Baker headed into Day Two.

“Sam and I played today and he’s obviously a great player,” Erholtz said. “So might as well make it happen tomorrow because it’s my last chance.”

S-M head coach Glen Hasselberg called it a gutsy performance by Erholtz.

“He gutted it out there,” Hasselberg said. “He grinded it out, out there and he did just fine.”

As a team, the Cardinals, led by Erholtz, finished tied for fifth after Day One with a combined score of 314.

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Carter White carded one birdie in his round of 80, Peyton Mithun scored one birdie and shot 81, Grant Bestand fired an 82, Adam Oberlander a 90 and Isaiah Schultz a 93 for S-M.

“I think we are six shots out of third,” Hasselberg said. “Each of them feel like there is room for improvement, which is a good sign.”

Pequot Lakes’ Tyler Seeling carded two birdies to shoot a 7-over round of 79 and be tied for 34th. Pierz’s Lance Otremba shot an 82 as well.

Pequot Lakes’ Morgan Krieger carded two birdies in her round of 80 in Day One of the Class 2A girls state tournament.

Krieger led the Patriots, which finished fifth after Day One with a score of 367. Lake City leads the Class 2A girls tournament with a combined score of 343.

The 8-over round of 80 puts Krieger tied for sixth for the tournament and seven strokes off the leader, Perham’s Mallory Belka. It was also Krieger’s personal best score in a competitive round.

“Our theme we talked about this morning was playing without fear and she did that,” Pequot Lakes girls coach Savannah Smith said. “She fully committed to every shot and didn't have any fear with any shot.

Staples-Motley’s Adriana Dickey fired an 85 to be in 15th place after Day One. She tallied nine pars on her round.

Genevieve Birkeland was Pequot’s second-best score with a 93. Annie Neva was right behind her with a 94. Maddie Pederson with a 100 and Charlee Sullivan with a 106 rounded out Pequot Lakes’ scores.

“Ridges at Sand Creek is one of the more challenging courses we see,” Smith said. “We played a practice round yesterday, but to get a round under their belt — I think they will go in tomorrow with a lot more confidence. I think it was a lot of short game stuff, the greens here can be really challenging, but they are excited to get another round in tomorrow.”

Pierz’s Emily Virnig carded an 88 with seven pars to be tied for 19th. S-M’s Ava Schneider carded a 95 as well.

Girls Results

Team scores: 1-Lake City 343, 2-Fergus Falls 359, 3-Minnewaska 362, 4-Providence 365, 5-Pequot Lakes 367, 6-St. Croix Lutheran 373, 7-Fairmont 392, 8-Hermantown 397

Individual Leader: Mallory Belka (Perham) 73

Staples-Motley Day One results: 15-Adriana Dickey 85, T51-Ava Schneider 95

Pequot Lakes Day One results: T6-Morgan Krieger 80, T45-Genevieve Birkeland 93, T47-Annie Neva 94, T63-Maddie Pederson 100, T74-Charlee Sullivan 106

Pierz Day One results: T19-Emily Virnig 88

Boys Results

Team scores: 1-Cloquet 300, 2-Totino-Grace 305, 3-Delano 308, 4-Blue Earth Area 312, T5-Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 314, T5-Staples-Motley 314, 7-Roseau , 8-New London-Spicer 340

Individual Leader: Sam Baker (Cloquet) 68

Staples-Motley Day One results: 2-Beck Erholtz 71, T42-Carter White 80, T51-Peyton Mithun 81, T54-Grant Bestland 82, T77-Adam Oberlander 90, T83-Isaiah Schultz 93

Pequot Lakes Day One results: T34-Tyler Seeling 79

Pierz Day One results: T54-Lance Otremba 82

Next: Day Two of the Class 2A State Tournment 7:30 a.m. boys at noon Wednesday, June 16, Ridges of Sand Creek in Jordan.

Class 1A

Hannah Barchus of Pine River-Backus carded one birdie in her Day One round of 89 at the Class 1A girls state tournament Tuesday, June 15, at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

Barchus finished Day One tied for eighth and 11 strokes back of leader Isabella Jacobs of Lac qui Parle Valley.

PR-B boys golfer Joseph Zaczkowski fired an 82 in his Day One round. He tallied nine pars and finished tied for 29th.

Girls Results

Individual Leader: Isabella Jacobs (LPV) 78

Pine River-Backus Day One results: T8-Hannah Barchus 89

Boys Results

Individual Leader: Rylin Petry (Fertile-Beltrami) 70

Pine River-Backus Day One results: T29-Joseph Zaczkowski 82

Next: Day Two of the Class 2A State Tournment with girls at 7:30 a.m., boys at noon Wednesday, June 16, at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.