Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Rachel Schwarz sinks a putt on the ninth hole during their meet against Redwood Valley on Tuesday at Marshall Golf Club.

MARSHALL – The Marshall boys and girls golf teams returned home on Tuesday to host Redwood Valley in conference action. The Tigers were able to earn a dual sweep, shooting a team score of 159 on the boys side and 165 on the girls side while Redwood Valley shot 167 on the boys side and 237 on the girls side. The Marshall JV team also earned a dual victory, defeating Redwood Valley 200-203 on the boys side and 228-266 on the girls side.

Boys

Mason Plante led the way for the Tigers with an even 36 to earn medalist honors while Noah Puetz, Landon Frost and Ethan VanHauwaert all added 41s. Spencer Ehlers shot 42 and Tannyr Curry had a 45 to round out their scores.

In JV action, Evan Estabo led the way for the Tigers with a 45 while Dominick Caspers and Kaleb Soehl each had 51 and Evan Franson shot 53. Eli Houseman had a 54 and Kaleb Engler shot 73 to round out their scores.

Marshall coach Kari Ehlers said they were able to create a balanced scoring attack and was pleased with how multiple players stepped up to the challenge.

“(Today’s) meet was a really balanced attack. Mason Plante carded two birdies en route to even par. Mason did a super job of scrambling for pars from the rough off of his tee shots. It’s definitely a credit to him knowing that he only hit one fairway,” coach Ehlers said. “The team total is a great reminder that our No. 3, 4 and 5 guys all can be scorers for the team. Landon, Noah and Ethan shooting 41s was what we needed to have the upper hand in the match. Spencer Ehlers had a challenging day around the greens to the tune of 42 and Tannyr Curry had a satisfying round of 45 to round out the varsity team.”

With the victory, the Tigers clinched the top spot on the West division of the Big South Conference.

Plante said they’re hoping to continue to play with a similar level of confidence that they’ve seen in conference play as they head on the road to play in the St. Cloud Invite on Thursday.

“We need to keep holding our heads high,” Plante said. “Right now we’re leading conference play in both divisions and we just have to come out and put in a good performance against some of the bigger teams that we haven’t seen this year and get everyone back to where they need to be.”

Girls

On the girls side, Rachel Schwarz led the way with a 1-over 37 to earn medalist honors while Ashytn Eben shot 41, Olivia Peterson had a 42 and Ramsey Nelson shot 45. Brooklyn Gossen shot 47 and Courtney Toulouse had a 48 to round out their scores.

In JV action, Kaylee VanHauwaert led the way with a 54 while Lauren Buysse shot 56 and Mild Du and Clara Jennings each had 59s. Bella Phillips shot 60 and Emma Runchey-Smalley had a 73 to round out their scores.

Marshall coach Gretchen Flynn said they were able to strike the ball well throughout the afternoon and was pleased with the results.

“The girls were all striking the ball very well today and scores reflected that. We had 4 girls between JV and Varsity shoot 9 hole PR’s, including Rachel Schwarz, who took medalist honors with a 37 and Ramsey Nelson’s 45,” Flynn said. “Both players were coming off 18 hole PR’s from last week so they are starting to build momentum as we move into the latter half of our season. We left some shots on the green again, but overall, this was a solid round of golf for everyone.”

Schwarz added her key was just visualizing how to play her next shot and was also proud of the way her team played up-and-down the lineup.

“Lately I’ve just been thinking about what I have to do to hit the shot, and that’s about the extent of my thinking during the round,” Schwarz said. “I loved getting to play with Olivia and I’m so proud of all of the girls’ scores. We had many people breaking old records, which is always fun to see.”

Marshall will compete next on Thursday in St. Cloud at 9 a.m.