The Spring Lake Park duo of Jake Birdwell and Chase Birdwell tied for fifth place overall to lead area golfers during the Class AAA boys state golf tournament held at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids June 11-12. The pair both shot 143 for the tournament, coming in eight strokes off the pace. Anoka’s Tyler Gandrud shot 153 for the tournament to finish in 30th place, while Anoka’s Jack Schmitz and Spring Lake Park’s Austin Roloff tied for 58th place with matching scores of 160.
In the Class AAA girls state tournament at Bunker Hills June 11-12, Andover’s Anneka Voerding earned 43rd place overall with a two-day score of 166.
In the Class AA boys state tournament at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan June 11-12, Totino-Grace finished in third place as a team, 26 strokes behind champion Holy Family Catholic. The Eagles were led by Collin Ramos, who finished fourth individually with a rain-shortened 27-hole score of 109. Peyton Savageau earned 20th place with a total of 116, followed by Vince Zurek (119), Charlie Givens (121), Ben Appelhof (124) and Ryan Anderson (130).
In the Class AA girls state tournament at Ridges at Sand Creek June 11-12, Legacy Christian Academy earned seventh place as a team. Emily Brandt led the way individually for the Lions, finishing in 27th place with a final score of 127 over 27 holes. Bri Brandt (135) and Raquelle Nelson (136) came in 47th and 51st, respectively, followed by Hailey Nelson (157), Gabby Otteson (172) and Kate Kinghorn (187). Totino-Grace had a trio of individual qualifiers, with Grace Raich finishing 18th with a score of 122, Caylin Cantwell finishing 25th with a score of 125, and Kaitlyn Burstad finishing 34th with a score of 130.
In the Class A boys state tournament at Pebble Creek in Becker June 11-12, Legacy Christian Academy earned third place as a team, just 10 strokes behind champion Fertile-Beltrami. Braylon Ylkanen led LCA individually, earning eighth overall with a two-day score of 152. Tanner McNamee earned 21st with a score of 159, followed by Elijah Wade (161), Trevor Zenk (165), Ty Nelson (180) and Miles Greer (180). PACT Charter’s Eliot Carlson earned 62nd with a total of 175.
Baseball
Pitching prowess and defensive dominance continued to reign for Totino-Grace, as the Eagles delivered back-to-back shutouts to earn a spot in the Class AAA baseball state championship game. Totino-Grace will square off against Mahtomedi in the state finals at Target Field in Minneapolis on Friday, June 21 at 4:30 p.m., after rain pushed back title games in all four classes.
The fourth-seeded Eagles opened state with a 4-0 win over No. 5 Little Falls in Chaska June 13. After a scoreless opening three innings, T-G picked up singles runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then a pair in the sixth to seal the win.
Matthew Galatzer homered and drove in two runs, Kellen Westphal drew three walks and picked up an RBI, while Brayden Morel, Jake Rantz and Tommy Heifort each scored a run as well. Heifort went the distance on the mound, firing a seven-hitter and striking out six.
The quarterfinal win propelled T-G into a semifinal showdown against top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s the following day, with the Eagles securing a 2-0 win to advance to the finals. T-G made a two-run third inning stand up, as Colin Blake and Heifort drove in Noah Hill and Galatzer with the game’s lone two runs. Rantz provided another pitching masterpiece, holding the Red Knights to just three hits in the shutout.
Boys volleyball
Andover earned third place and Spring Lake Park finished fourth during the state high school boys volleyball tournament held in Shakopee June 12-13.
Andover opened the tournament with a 25-17, 25-19, 26-24 win over Washburn, then outlasted Maple Grove 25-18, 25-15, 19-25, 18-25, 15-13 in the semifinals. The Huskies dropped a narrow battle 30-28, 21-25, 25-18, 25-22 to eventual champion Shakopee in the semifinals, before closing the season with a 25-23, 25-14, 25-22 victory against Spring Lake Park in the third-place match.
Spring Lake Park started the tournament with a 25-7, 25-20, 25-16 sweep over HCPA, then rallied past Como Park 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 in the quarterfinals. SLP fell 25-20, 25-19, 25-20 against Rogers in the semifinals before closing in the third-place match versus Andover.
Earning spots on the all-tournament team were Andover’s Ryan Rak and Ian Smith, and Spring Lake Park’s Tanner Olson and Remi Xiong.
Girls lacrosse
Andover closed its season at the girls lacrosse state tournament June 13, falling 13-8 against Elk River/Zimmerman in the consolation semifinals.
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