FARGO-Wahpeton's Justin Nelson admitted he has run into trouble before at Fargo's Edgewood Golf Course. But on Wednesday, the sophomore reversed his fortunes.
Nelson shot a 1-over-par 72 to earn medalist honors at the North Dakota Class A East Region boys golf tournament.
"I haven't played well at this course over the last few tournaments so I was happy with the round," said Nelson, who birdied two holes on the front nine to energize his round. "This score gives me a lot of confidence heading into state. I played pretty solid all day. I just had a few mishits, but overall it was a good day and I was happy with it."
Nelson has now won three tournaments this spring. The Class A state tournament is set for next Tuesday and Wednesday at Edgewood.
"Justin is solid," Wahpeton head coach Jeff Ralph said. "He puts himself in position to score well by hitting the fairways and greens. Justin works at his game. When we get back home he'll be on the course. That is just the kid he is."
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Ralph has coached the Huskies since 2003 and said in that time Wahpeton has never had a golfer take medalist honors at the region meet.
West Fargo's Cole Johnson finished one stroke behind Nelson for second place.
The Packers won the team championship scoring 309 points-two strokes better than Grand Forks Red River and Fargo Shanley. The top six teams qualify for state.
"The kids played well," West Fargo co-head coach Chuck Gad said. "Cole Johnson has had a rough year, but he has been getting better and better each meet. He came through for us. We thought we would have a chance if we played well, but we knew if was going to be tight."
The Roughriders won a tiebreaker with the Deacons for second place. Freshman Adam Van Raden paced Red River with a 4-over 75 finishing in fourth place.
"We bounced back well from our fifth place finish in Wahpeton at the last EDC meet of the season," Merle Mikkelsen said. "That was a disappointing meet for us so it was a lot of fun to see our guys come back and play well again. We played a little better here than we did at this course earlier in the year and that was encouraging as well."
The surprise score of the day came from Fargo Davies sophomore Mason Opheim. Opheim entered the tournament as the Eagles' No. 6 golfer, but shot a 3-over 74 for third place.
Shanley's top score came from junior Pat Traynor, who tied for fifth place with a 76.
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"The course played a little tough, but we have no excuses," Shanley head coach Don Johnson said. "We haven't been playing our best golf lately. We are missing some putts we should be making, but in a week (at state) we'll find out what happens."
Team scores: West Fargo 309, Grand Forks Red River 311, Fargo Shanley 311, Fargo Davies 314, Fargo North 322, Grand Forks Central 324, Wahpeton 325, Valley City 339, Fargo South 345.
Top 10 individuals: 1, J. Nelson, W, 72. 2, C. Johnson, WF, 73. 3, M. Opheim, FD, 74. 4, Van Raden, GFRR, 75. 5 (tie), T. Nelson, W, and P. Traynor, S, 76. 7 (tie), Hanson, GFC, Klein, FN, Moen, WF, and Steen, GFRR, 77.
Other finishers
West Fargo: Olson 78, Albright 81, Conzemius 83, Oien 88.
Grand Forks Red River: Stinson 79, Solc 80, Lamoine 81, Wolf 82.
Fargo Shanley: Bossert 78, L. Johnson 78, Carlson 79, Olson 86, B. Traynor 89.
Fargo Davies: Hendricks 78, Restemayer 81, T. Johnson 81, Z. Johnson 84, Blanchard 94.
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Fargo North: Swanson 81, Rud 81, Hartman 83, Philbrick 89, Morris 98.
Grand Forks Central: Thompson 79, Petersen 82, Belgrade 86, Barta 86, McGarry 92.
Wahpeton: Thiel 86, Neiber 91, Wohlers 92, Bowar 97.
Valley City: Lentz 80, Hoss 84, Nix 87, Schweitzer 88, Eggermont 93, Oberlander 97.
Fargo South: C. Opheim 82, McConn 86, Herrick 88, Rhode 89, Magness 92, Bjore 93.
Note: scores of 79 or lower qualified for state.
All-Eastern Dakota Conference
(top 10 scoring averages from season)
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Grand Forks Red River: Adam Van Raden, Keaton Wolf. Wahpeton: Justin Nelson, Thomas Nelson. Fargo Shanley: Pat Traynor, Lucas Johnson. Fargo Davies: Max Restemayer, Sam Hendricks. West Fargo: Cole Johnson. Fargo North: Grayson Klein.
East Region Senior Athlete of the Year
Thomas Nelson, Wahpeton
East Region Coach of the Year
Chuck Gad and Dan Wolf, West Fargo
