Photos by Jake McNeill: Left: Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall junior Luke Ehlers takes a swing in the tee box of the Marshall Golf Club’s second hole during the Marshall Class A Boys Invitational on Monday. Ehlers finished as the individual runner-up and led Marshall Black to a first-place finish, beating out runner-up Marshall Orange by 31 strokes. Right: Photo by Jake McNeill Lakeview junior Lane Arends escapes a bunker on the first hole at Marshall Golf Club during the Marshall Class A Boys Invitational on Monday.

MARSHALL — Luke Ehlers finished as the individual runner up at the Marshall Class A Boys Invitational on Monday, leading the Tigers to victory in their season-opener at Marshall Golf Club.

Marshall fielded two teams in the field of 18 teams (17 of which fielded a team score). The Marshall Black team won the tournament with 305 strokes while Marshall Orange finished as the runner-up with 336. Dawson-Boyd and Lakeview rounded out the podium in a tie for third at 344.

The Marshall black team — which included Ehlers, Jayden Manthei, Drew Parsons and Nate Panka as its scorers — ran away with the victory. Ehlers had three birdies on the front nine and another on hole 13. He trailed only Morris Area-Chokio-Alberta’s Charlie Hanson, another junior who scored a 70 on the day. 

Lakeview’s Carson Boe took third overall with a score of 72. The junior Laker, who finished third as an individual in last year’s state meet, birdied holes 3 and 5 on the front nine as well as hole 14 on the back nine to finish even-par on the day. Teammate Lane Arends also finished 16th overall with an 82.

Jayden Manthei was second among Marshall Black scorers and fifth overall in the field of 99 individuals, carding a 76 on the day. After scoring a bogey in four of his last five holes on the front nine, Manthei bogeyed just twice on the back nine. He scored a par or better in eachof his last six holes, including birdies on 13 and 16.

SeniorNate Panka and freshman Jaylen Koster rounded out the Marshall Black scorers tied for seventh overall with a 79. Panka has a stretch from holes 1 through 4 with three birdies in four holes.

Senior Drew Parsons, while not a scorer, trailed just behind the duo with an 80 for Marshall. He carded a birdie on holes 2 and 16.

In Marshall’s other team, freshman Deacon Wing led the charge with an81 on the day to place 13th while Keegan Fossum and Xander Antony tied for 19th with an 84 each.

Dawson-Boyd’s dynamic duo of sophomore Evan Mork and junior Drew Hjelmeland led the team with an 82 and an 84 respectively. Freshman Carson Stratmoen also placed 26th with an 85. 

Canby finished with a team score of 346, tying Central Minnesota Christian for fifth place. Jack Abrahamson led the charge with a 79 to join the logjam for seventh place. He was particularly strong on the front nine, where he went over par just once while also recording a birdie on hole 5. Brady Hulzebos also finished 19th overall with an 84.

Murray County Central and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton tied for 11th with a 373, Minneota placed 15th at 392, and Yellow Medicine East and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton placed 16th and 17th overall.

Alex Munson tied Wing and Jackson County Central’s Luke Anderson for 13th place after carding an 81, including a birdie on hole 5.

Sophomore Cooper McCosh led YME with an 84 to tie for 19th while Max Rost led Minneota with an 87 to place 27th, placing him in a tie with Marshall’s Noah Myhre and B.O.L.D.’s Riley Minkel.

Weather permitting, the Marshall Golf Club will host another group of 10 teams today for the Marshall Class A Girls Invitational, slated to start at 1 p.m.