Submitted photo Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Ben Pearson tees off at the Class A State Golf Tournament on Wednesday at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker.

BECKER — Sleepy Eye United’s Carson Erickson saw a two-shot improvement from his state appearance last year, but stiff competition ultimately saw him finishing his senior year of golf just shy of a state medal Wednesday at Pebble Creek Golf Club.

Erickson finished this year’s Class A State Golf Tournament tied for 10th place overall. But with heavy competition, including being paired with this year’s boys state champion Cole Witherow (New Life Academy of Woodbury), Erickson had his work cut out for him.

Erickson said the added competition in his group didn’t impact his approach, however.

“I don’t think it really plays that much of an impact,” Erickson said. “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to play your own game and do your best.”

Witherow ended up holding onto his Day 1 lead by shooting a 69 on Wednesday for a 139 total.

The top eight individuals receive state medals. Erickson finished three strokes under the eighth-place finisher at state, Carson Besonen of Lac qui Parle Valley.

Erickson shot a two-day total of 157 overall last season and finished with a 155 this year, with a second-day score of 75. He sank two birdies on Tuesday and three on Wednesday on the Par 72 course.

“Really I think it was knowing the course a little better,” Erickson said. “But putter was definitely holding me back. If the putter would’ve been rolling, I could have been top-five finish.”

While he was aiming to get into the top five, Erickson was happy with his top 10 finish.

“I’m pretty happy I was able to get top 10, but overall I just had fun up there,” he said.

Also competing from the area on the boys side was Minnesota Valley Lutheran junior Ben Pearson. Last year, Pearson finished 16th overall with a 162 final score.

Pearson also improved on his score from last season at state and shot a 77 on Wednesday for a two-day total of 158 and a tie for 24th place.

“My goal for this year was to do better than last year, obviously, since I know the course better now and everything,” Pearson said. “I honestly underperformed a little bit, I could have shot better, but that’s pretty much every round. … It was all right, I could have played a lot better, but I could have done a lot worse.”

Pearson, who recorded two birdies on Day 1 of this year’s state meet and three birdies on Day 2, said that he’s continuing to work on being consistent.

“The biggest thing for me is just consistency,” Pearson said. “I can have some good shots, I just need to have those shots more often.”

MVL head coach Craig Morgan said he did see consistency from Pearson and was proud of how he bounced back from a couple of rough spots on Day 1.

“He was one under after two and then had two hiccups, but then to his credit he fought through that and got his second nine on Day 1 that was much improved,” Morgan said. “And [Wednesday], he just played consistent. He had a couple more birdies and just played hard throughout the rest of the day. But the field this year was much better than it was last year, and Ben’s score was much better than it was last year, so it’s a combination.”

The boys team title was won by Lakeview, which scored a 636.

The SEU girls golf team ended up finishing sixth this year at state with a two-day total of 396, led by freshman Sam Price’s 187. Price shot a 92 on Wednesday after her 95 on Tuesday.

While she led the team in scoring, Price was quick to credit her team’s success all season.

“We’ve had a really good connection all year and we’ve had that strong bond,” Price said. “Just to really play well is really nice, and it’s amazing that we can really stick together and do well. And I have three years left, and I hope to do a lot better and get better and do well the next three years at the state tournament.”

Price’s 187 put her at 29th place overall for the girls side of the tournament. SEU seniors Liz Schwint (193, tied for 40th) and Jaci Domeier (202, tied for 54th) followed their freshman teammate’s score.

Price said the team’s senior leadership meant a lot to her and the team this season.

“I learned from them that playing calm is the key to the game,” Price said. “And really leading the whole team, Liz is captain and she would always set [expectations] for everybody. … In the very beginning of the year, the team set goals for the whole season. We kind of knew that we had the conference championship in our hands, we had a pretty big lead, same with the section, but we wanted to really get like a jumpstart and work towards those goals. And Liz and Jaci really helped that happen and really gave us that boost that we needed.”

Also for the SEU girls, Kiara Murphy shot a 223 total for 73rd, while Chloe Walter and Meriden Andres each turned in a 224 to tie for 74th.

Cedar Mountain’s Keanna Hultquist shot a 202 to tie for 54th with Domeier.

Raquelle Nelson of Legacy Christian Academy was the individual girls champion with a 161. The LQPV girls golf team shot a 696 to take home the girls state team title, finishing one stroke ahead of Fillmore Central.