HHS golfers finish second at Grand Slam event

COLERAINE—The Hibbing High School boys golf team wound up in second place at the Grand Rapids Grand Slam held Friday at the Pokegama Golf Course and Saturday at Eagles Ridge.

Bemidji won the two-day event with a score of 625, followed by the Bluejackets with 640. Hermantown was third at 657, followed by Proctor/Esko at 663, Grand Rapids 668 and Rock Ridge 686.

Duluth Marshall had a 711, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 726, Grand Rapids Black 748, Grand Rapids White 767 and Grand Rapids Orange 833,

Hibbing was led by Ethan Sundvall and Andrew Slatten, who both fired 77s on the second day of the event in wet, rainy conditions.

“I’m proud of my boys because the conditions were less than favorable,” Hibbing coach Kayla Beise said. “Ethan, with his hole-in-one on Friday, put himself in front of the pack. I was impressed with his ability to get a birdie after his hole-in-one. He was able to keep his head steady.

“With this weather, you could see some doubt creeping into some of the boys, especially around the greens, but they built some confidence back up. It was nice to see Ethan get some pars, and get that confidence back up.”

Drew Bussey had an 80, Gavin Schweiberger 84, Sam Gabardi 94 and Tim Ranta 97.

The Wolverines were led by Ian Mikulich, who shot an 80. Eli Devich had an 81, Jace Kauppi and Conner Swan 81s, Dylan Nelson 89, Jace Kauppi 91 and Kyle Beaudette 95.

Overall, Eli Tuomala and Ryan Daman of Bemidji tied for first with 150s. Sundvall was third at 151; Bennett Scissons of Duluth Marshall was fourth at 152, Slatten was fifth at 153, Caiden Carpenter of the Titans as sixth (NSA); Holdyn Evjen of Hermantown was seventh at 158; Colton Stupar of Grand Rapids was eighth at 159; and Mikulich was ninth at 160.

Teams that only came to one day of the tournament were Duluth East 313, Superior 332, Deer River 371, Duluth Denfeld 341, International Falls 389 and Mesabi East 437.

“This was awesome because it should help build their confidence quite a bit knowing they can compete at a high level against bigger schools,” Beise said. “We’re not that far behind them, so that gets me excited.

“It’s nice to see us do that well out of the gate. It was exciting to see Hibbing toward the top of the leaderboard. We’re looking forward to our meet this week.”