Photo by Samantha Davis. Minneota freshman Owen Dalager hits the ball onto the green during the first day of the Class A State Tournament. Dalager is currently tied for fourth, and Lakeview’s Carson Boe is tied for second individually.

BECKER — Keeping with the trend of his performance the last few years, Lakeview senior Carson Boe is sitting near the top of the individual leaderboard after the first day of the Class A State tournament. Boe finished his round tied for second place behind one stroke, while Minneota freshman Owen Dalager also cruised the course and sits tied for fourth.

“It was windy early on, and even into the back 9. I struggled to begin the day, but then came around to the back 9 and got a few putts to drop,” Boe said. “The wind eased off a bit towards the end, so that really helped.”

Boe is competing in his fifth consecutive state tournament as an individual, and Lakeview’s fourth straight as a team.

Boe is looking to finish his high school career with a title after he finished runner-up in last year’s tournament and third in 2023. He earned second last season with a 142, just two strokes behind Walker-Hackensack-Akeley’s Parker Brock. He also led the Lakers to a team state title in 2023.

“I just want to shoot well [tomorrow],” Boe said. “I’ve been very close two years in a row. So, I’m hoping I can get it done this year.”

Shooting a 38 in the front-9 and 35 in the back for a 1-over 73, Boe recorded five birdies on the day while making par seven times. He’s tied for second with Heritage Christian Academy’s Alex Rhode, while Ashby Brandon Evansville’s Traeton Nelson occupies first with 72.

“He’s [Boe] hanging right in there with the top,” Lakeview head coach Sarah Schultz said. “It’s really important going into day two that he knows that he’s got to continue just to play hard. Hopefully, he can win it this year.”

Boe is also coming off an impressive regular season with his fourth straight individual Section 3A title, and was named the 2025 Camden Conference Most Valuable Player.

Lakeview as a team heads into the final day of the tournament in sixth place with a 339, after finishing last season in eighth place with 701 and were crowned state champions in 2023 with 636, which was the Lakers’ first title in program history.

“There were a lot of good things today, and then there were a lot of things that the boys need to work on,” Schultz said. “We had a lot of penalties, some out of bounds, some water, and then there was some tree trouble as well [today].”

The team graduated two golfers from last year in Kyle Kurowski and Kyran Nueman, but returned Boe, Lane Arends, Landon Teske and Trevor Tusberg with the additions of Koven Neuman and Ledgen Javens.

Arends was also named to the Camden All-Conference team this season and earned second place in the section tournament behind Boe, and he finished Tuesday tied for 11th place with an 11-over 83. He hit a birdie on Hole 2 and met par nine times.

“Lane had a really good first round, and then started off the second round really well,” Schultz said. “Had some struggles on the last three or four holes, so looking forward to tomorrow to being able to come back from that.”

Javens, Teske, Tusberg and Neuman followed with an 89, 94, 118 and 108, respectively.

“We just need to keep our heads off and try not to overthink things, and just have the same integrity, like going into today,” Boe said. “It’s the same thing tomorrow, just [need to not] put pressure on ourselves.”

Word about Dalager began to spread around the course midway through the round, who led the pack a majority of the day before a double bogey on Hole 18, yet still sits in fourth with a 2-over 74.

“I was just trying to get pars and stay controlled, but then my putts just started falling, like I just was dropping everything,” Dalager said. “It was just amazing.”

“He [Dalager] played well, he caught fire … He’s got a good mentality every shot he takes, a ‘dog-like attitude’ we say. When he gets a bad shot, he doesn’t worry about it,” Minneota assistant coach Jackson Esping said. “He just goes straight for it … And a lot of times, he does. Even if he gets in trouble, he just shakes it off.”

Dalager picked up golf just this spring as his friends on the Minneota boys golf team were looking for a member, and he joined sporadically.

“It was my friends on the team [that got me into it],” Dalager said. “We were just trying to have fun outside and tried something new.”

Upon picking up a club for the first time competitively a few months ago, Dalager finished the day with four birdies, including three in a row, and nine pars. He carded a 38 in the front-9 and 36 in the back.

“It was just fun to come out here and enjoy it … We were just trying to plan out the holes. Shot 38 in the first nine, and then tried to shoot under that. The first nine was a little bit harder than the back-9,” Dalager said. “Just trying to go lower on that. Jackson, my coach, he really helped me on everything. He really pushed me to be the best.”

Other area individuals

Dawson-Boyd’s Carson Stratmoen had a strong finish on the day with a 4-over 76, tied for seventh place. He recorded four birdies and eight pars.

Alex Munson for Tracy-Milroy-Balaton had a pair of birdies in the front-9, and heads into day two tied for 10th with a 5-over 77.

Jack Abrahamson also carded a 7-over 99 with nine pars and two birdies, sitting in 24th.

Day two

The state tournament will wrap up today, again at Pebble Creek in Becker, with the boys teeing off at 12 p.m.

Team and individual medals will be awarded following the tournament.