JORDAN — Marshall’s Luke Ehlers put together a strong back nine to finish the first day of the boys Class AA tournament at 7-over at Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Club.

Through six holes, Ehlers had six bogeys, the exception being a hole-three birdie. Yet, he remained composed and went on a run in the back nine. After shooting a 5-over 41 on the front nine, Ehlers limited himself to three bogeys on the final nine holes, including two pars and a birdie to close out the round and go into day two in 34th place.

Also tied for 34th was Lake City’s Braxton Berlin, West Central Area’s Mitchell Dewey, Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa’s Garrett Sperber and Michael Scripture, Roseau’s Teagan LaPlante and Cloquet’s Anders Gunelson.

Of the 34 golfers ahead of Ehlers, just 13 are his class year or younger.

Ehlers also eliminated any and all major mistakes from his game. While there were some bogeys on his scorecard, he never went more than one stroke over par on a hole.

Tuesday’s tournament marks Ehlers’ first time in the state meet. He missed qualifying for the Class AA tournament as an individual by a combined four strokes over the last two years before breaking through with a third-place finish at the 2023 3AA tournament.

In similar fashion, Marshall junior Jayden Manthei tied for eighth in this year’s section tournament, putting him in a tie with Fairmont’s Brock Lutterman as the first individual to miss the cut to qualify for states. Still, Manthei has another year of prep eligibility to qualify and compete at the state level.

Kimball Area’s Luke Ashbrook led the field after day one at 2-under while Blake School’s Christopher Zhao was right behind him in second. Holy Family Catholic’s PJ Herron, Staples-Motley’s Carter White, Pequot Lakes’ Anthony Armstrong and Totino-Grace’s Andrew Ramos all tied for third even with par.

The Class AA boys golf tournament will resume on Wednesday morning at noon. Ehlers will be teeing off on hole one at 12:24 p.m. alongside Berline and Pequot Lakes’ Tollef Birkeland.