Staples-Motley’s Beck Erholtz came out firing in Day Two of the Class 2A state tournament Wednesday, June 16, at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.

The senior went into his second round three shots behind Cloquet’s Sam Baker. Erholtz started on the 10th hole and bogeyed two of his five holes, but got it all back on the 90-yard par 3 15th hole with an ace. He used a 54-degree wedge on that hole and it was his first ever hole-in-one.

“I was kind of hitting the ball all over the place until that happened,” Erholtz said. “It was nice to get myself back to even-par and reset with 12 holes to go.”

A hole-in-one wouldn’t be the only eagle on the card for Erholtz, as he eagled the par 5 seventh hole to get to 2-under par for his round and 3-under for the tournament.

“I made a birdie on two and gave a little fist pump,” Erholtz said. “Then when I made my eagle on seven, I made another fist pump and Tyler Seeling, who was watching me, said after the round, ‘that’s the first emotion I’ve seen you show on the golf course.’ And yeah it was one I really wanted.”

RELATED: State Golf: Erholtz 3 back of lead headed to Day 2
A bogey-par finish on holes eight and nine gave Erholtz a Day Two of 71, which matched his Day One score, and finished with a two-day score of 142, which was one stroke behind Baker for the state title.

“It was a bummer to be that close and come up short,” Erholtz said. “It just didn’t go the way I wanted to. I got the eighth tee and looked at my phone after I updated it and saw Sam made bogey on 17 so I was the leader by one. I just made a mental mistake on (hole) eight and got in the wrong spot.”

As a team the Cardinals finished with a combined score of 329 to finish with a two-day score of 643, which was good for seventh.

“They gained some valuable experience this week,” Staples-Motley head coach Glen Hasselberg said.

Tyler Seeling of Pequot Lakes improved on his Day One round to shoot a 76 in his second round. He tallied four birdies on his 4-over round to be 23rd.

Morgan Krieger, Pequot Lakes, carded a Day Two score of 87 and tallied 167 over the two days to finish ninth in the girls tournament.

“I’m blown away by how she did in her first state tournament,” Pequot Lakes girls head coach Savannah Smith said. “To finish top 10 in her first state tournament. Hopefully that keeps her hungry to get better and continue to compete because she proved she can play with Class 2A on a tough golf course.”

As a team, Pequot Lakes matched its Day One score of 367 with a 367 combined score on Day Two. The Patriots placed fifth with a total score of 734.

Pequot Lakes’ Genevieve Birkeland improved on her Day One score and fired a Day Two 91 and finished tied for 36th with a combined score of 184. Annie Neva shot 94 both days and finished tied for 48th with a two-day score of 188 for Pequot Lakes.

Maddie Pederson and Charlee Sullivan each improved on their Day One scores. Sullivan carded a Day Two 95 and Pederson a 96.

Sullivan’s 95 was her personal best in a competitive round.

“Everyone except Morgan improved today,” Smith said. “Overall, we were more comfortable with the course and what clubs to use into these shorter par 3s.”

RELATED: State Golf: Krieger and Stoxen close to lead after Day 1
Pierz’s Emily Virnig shot 97 to shoot a combined 185 over the two days. Lance Otremba of Pierz scored a 87 in his second round to finish with two-day score of 169.

Adriana Dickey, of Staples-Motley finished tied for 23rd with a combined score of 176. She carded a 91 for Day Two. Dickey’s teammate Ava Schneider scored a 105 on Day Two and finished with a combined score of 200.

Girls Results

Team scores: 1-Lake City 343-330 673, 2-Providence 365-352 717, 3-Fergus Falls 359-368 727, 4-Minnewaska 362-370 732 , 5-Pequot Lakes 367-367 734, 6-St. Croix Lutheran 373-364 737, 7-Fairmont 392-371 763, 8-Hermantown 397-411 808

Individual medalist: Mallory Belka (Perham) 73-75 148

Pequot Lakes results: 9-Morgan Krieger 80-87 167, T36-Genevieve Birkeland 93-91 184, T48-Annie Neva 94-94 188, T58-Maddie Pederson 100-96 196, 67-Charlee Sullivan 106-95 201

Staples-Motley results: T23-Adriana Dickey 85-91 176, T65-Ava Schneider 95-105 200

Pierz results: T39-Emily Virnig 95-97 185

Boys Results

Team scores: 1-Cloquet 300-298 598, 2-Totino-Grace 305-311 616, 3-Delano 308-310 618, 4-Blue Earth Area 312-309 621, 5-Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 314-313 627, 6-Roseau 326-310 636, 7-Staples-Motley 314-329 643, 8-New London-Spicer 340-310 650

Individual medalist: Sam Baker (Cloquet) 68-73 141

Staples-Motley results: 2-Beck Erholtz 71-71 142, T51-Peyton Mithun 81-82 163, 61-Carter White 80-86 166, T76-Grant Bestland 82-92 174, 83-Adam Oberlander 90-91 181, T84-Isaiah Schultz 93-90 183

Pequot Lakes results: 23-Tyler Seeling 79-76 155

Pierz results: T67-Lance Otremba 82-87 169

Class 1A

Pine River-Backus’ Hannah Barchus shot an 82 in Day Two of the Class 1A girls state tournament Wednesday, June 16, at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

Barchus’ 82 was good enough for a sixth-place finish with two-day score of 171. She shot an 89 for her first round score Tuesday, June 15.

Barchus tallied 10 pars on her Day Two round.

Joseph Zaczkowski of PR-B tallied a Day Two score of 97 and finished state with a combined score of 179.

Girls Results

Individual medalist: Sarah Halvorson (LPV) and Emily Stueland (PC) 166

Pine River-Backus results: 6-Hannah Barchus 89-82 171

Boys Results

Individual medalist: Rylin Petry (F-B) 70-76 146

Pine River-Backus results: 60-Joseph Zaczkowski 82-97 179

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