•  Girls golf team wins section title by 101 strokes

The Minnewaska Area girls golf team is headed back to the State Tourney after winning the Section 3AA Golf Finals by 101 strokes last Wednesday at the Oakdale Golf Course in Buffalo Lake.

The Lakers had a 638 total on rounds of 321 and 317, while NLS was 101 strokes back in second place with a 739 total on rounds of 371 and 368.

This will be the fourth state trip for the Laker team in the last five seasons.  Overall, the Lakers have made 18 state appearances in girls golf history, including five-straight team titles from 2006-2010.

Sophomore Annika DeBoer earned medalist honors at the section meet with a 153 total on rounds of 78 and 75, while senior Arivia DeBoer placed second (78-78-156), junior Ava Kollman placed fourth (82-82-164) and ninth-grader Kyra Nelson was fifth (83-82–165).

Last year, the Lakers won the section team title by 88 strokes with a 674 total with Ava Kollman placing third at the section tourney, Arivia earning fourth and Annika placing fifth.

The State Class AA Girls Golf Tournament is set for June 10-11 at Ridges on Sand Creek at Jordan.  “Hopefully, we can put it all together to make another run in the state tourney,” coach Tony Janu said.  “I told the girls early in the season that with hard work and dedication, we could really do something special this year.”

•  The 2025 varsity girls golf roster at Minnewaska Area includes senior Arivia DeBoer, junior Ava Kollman, sophomore Annika DeBoer, and ninth-graders Kyra Nelson, Anna Kollman, Lillie Ogdahl and Michaela Johnson.  Coaches are Tony Janu and Jenna Janu.

Minnewaska, coached by Tony Janu and Jenna Janu, also placed first in the WCC standings this year with 56 points, followed by Melrose (46 points), Benson (28), BOLD and WCA (both 23), Morris Area-CA (22), Montevideo (17) and Sauk Centre (15).

Section 3AA Finals

The Lakers dominated the Section 3AA Girls Golf Finals, shooting a 317 the second day to win the section title by 101 strokes over runner-up NLS.

Annika DeBoer paced the Lakers with a 153 total to earn medalist honors and help give Minnewaska five of the top eight golfers in the entire tourney.

Arivia DeBoer placed second overall with two rounds of 78 for a 156 total, while Ava Kollman was fourth (82-82–164), Kyra Nelson earned fifth (83-82–165) and Anna Kollman was eighth (84-91–175).

Also golfing for the Lakers was Lillie Ogdahl, who placed 20th with a 198 total on two rounds of 99.

Arivia DeBoer will be appearing in her fifth-straight state meet while this will be the fourth-straight state trip for Ava Kollman.

Joining the Laker team at the state meet will be Rylie Harrier of NLS, who was third, Dayton Webskowski of Marshall (sixth), Evangeline Dalton of NLS (seventh), Vivian Brockberg of Pipestone (ninth) and Katlin Gibson of Morris Area-CA (10th).

at Section 3AA Finals

Girls team scoring:  

(1) Minnewaska 321-317—638  (2) NLS 371-368–739  (3) Marshall 383-361–744  (4) Fairmont 402-378–780  (5) Litchfield 408-392–800

Girls top five:  

(1) Annika DeBoer, Min 78-75–153  (2) Arivia DeBoer, Min 78-78–156  (3) Rylie Harrier, NLS 83-76–159  (4) Ava Kollman, Min 82-82-164  (5) Kyra Nelson, Min 83-82–165 . . . also to state-(6) Dayton Webskowski, Marshall 170  (7) Evangeline Dalton, NLS 174  (8) Anna Kollman, Min 175  (9) Vivian Brockberg, Pipe 176  (10) Katlin Gibson, Morris 180

Minnewaska results:  (1) Annika DeBoer 78-75–153  (2) Arivia DeBoer 78-78–156  (4) Ava Kollman 82-82–164  (5) Kyra Nelson 83-82–165  (8) Anna Kollman 84-91–175  (20) Lillie Ogdahl 99-99-198


•  Gugisberg finishes first to earn state berth; Sherlin misses state by two strokes

Minnewaska Area placed fifth at the Section 3AA Boys Golf Finals last Wednesday at the Oakdale Golf Course in Buffalo Lake.

NLS won the five-team Finals with a two-day total of 596 on rounds of 297 and 299, while New Ulm was second (308-309–617), Marshall third (317-306–623), Morris Area-CA fourth (314-318–632) and the Lakers fifth (323-315–638).

Although the Lakers didn’t advance as a team, Zach Gugisberg tied for medalist honors to punch his ticket to the State Tourney.

Gugisberg had two steady rounds of 71 and 69 for a 140 total, tying him with New Ulm’s Jaxon Buegler, who also had a 140 total after shooting a 69 the first day and 71 last Wednesday.

“It was a good day for Zach to accomplish his goal of making it to State,” coach Nick Gugisberg said.  “Doing it with those scores and being co-medalist made it even better.”

Just missing out on a return trip to state was Laker freshman Thatcher Sherlin, who had a 153 total on rounds of 74 and 79 to miss out on a state berth by two strokes.

Last spring, he qualified to state with a 149 total (76 and 73) and last year’s cutoff for a state berth was also 151.

Qualifying to state were members of the winning NLS team along with Gugisberg, Buegler, Charlie Hanson of Morris Area, Mason Buegler of New Ulm and Deacon Wing of Marshall

NLS had three of the top seven golfers on the way to winning the section title.  Last year, Marshall had a 600 total on rounds of 296 and 300 to earn the title while the Lakers were fourth.

•  This year’s varsity boys roster at Minnewaska includes seniors Zach Gugisberg and Chase Wacker, ninth-graders Sam  Jones, Tyler Moscho, Kash Christman and Thatcher Sherlin, eighth-grader Austin Gugisberg and seventh-grader Odin Sherlin.

Morris Area-CA won this year’s WCC title with 59 points, followed by Minnewaska Area with 55, WCA (47), Melrose Area (40), Sauk Centre (29), Montevideo and Benson (both 25) and BOLD (8).

Section 3AA Finals

Nick Gugisberg led the Lakers at the Section 3AA Boys Golf Finals with a 36-hole total of 140 to tie for medalist honors and earn a berth at the State Class AA Golf Tournament, set for June 10-11 at Ridges on Sand Creek at Jordan.

He had a 71 during the Section 3AA Prelims and then added a 69 last Wednesday to tie with New Ulm’s Jaxon Buegler for first place of all the section golfers.

Thatcher Sherlin was next for the Lakers with a 153 total on rounds of 74 and 79, but he missed the final state berth by two strokes after shooting a 149 total last year to make the final state berth by two strokes.

“Thatcher is a great golfer and person; it’s always frustrating coming that close and not making it in, but he’ll be back for sure,” coach Gugisberg said. 

The Lakers had eight golfers on the varsity team this year and two were seniors with the rest of the golfers ninth-grade or younger so the future of the Minnewaska Area boys golf team appears very solid.

Tyler Moscho added a 172 for the Lakers on rounds of 89 and 83, while Kash Christman was 39th (89-84–173), Austin Gugisberg was 42nd (89-86–175) and Odin Sherlin placed 44th (92-92–184).  “We have a great future for the boys golf program and look forward to seeing them improve over the next few years,” Gugisberg said.  

Section 3AA Finals

Boys team scoring:  

(1) NLS 297-299–596  (2) New Ulm 308-309–617  (3) Marshall 317-306–623  (4) Morris Area-CA 314-318–632  (5) Minnewaska 323-315–638

Boys top five:  (1) tie, Zach Gugisberg, Minnewaska 71-69–140; and Jaxon Buegler, New Ulm 69-71–140  (3) Charlie Hanson, Morris 75-69–144  (4) Gabe Truscinski,  NLS 71-74–145  (5) Max Truscinski, NLS 76-71–147 . . also to state-(6) Mason Buegler, New Ulm 149  (7) Palmer Dalton, NLS 150  (8) Deacon Wing, Marshall 151

Minnewaska results:  (1) Zach Gugisberg 71-69–140  (10) Thatcher Sherlin 74-79–153  (37) Tyler Moscho 89-83–172  (39) Kash Christman 89-84–173  (42) Austin Gugisberg 89-86–175  (44) Odin Sherlin 92-92–184