“My putting saved me a lot,” Kucera said. “I made a lot of long puts to save par and make some birdies. Scrambling for par saved me a lot. There were definitely some times where I could have given up some doubles, but I had a good shot and was able to save par.”

Kucera’s finish was 20 spots higher than in last year’s tournament as the freshman continues to improve his game.

“It shows a lot,” Kucera said. “I’ve been working hard. Happy to show that at state. Hoping to get a little higher, but it was tough conditions, so can’t complain too much. I’m only a freshman, so 16th is still pretty good.”

SEU placed fifth as a team in the tournament with a 642, improving from its seventh-place finish from a year ago. Blaine Arneson finished 27th with a 157, while Anders Coulson placed 46th with a 164. Isaac Christensen took 59th (168), Eli Christensen placed 77th (180) and Dylan Krebs finished 88th (242).

Photo by Jake McNeill New Ulm’s Mason Buegler prepares for a hit during the Class AA State Boys Golf Tournament Monday at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.

“We definitely showed improvement from last year,” Kucera said. “We didn’t play our best game, definitely could have shot better, but we’re just happy to be there and have a good time.”

SEU head coach Bryant Mages said that the higher finishes at state represented the work that the team had put into the sport.

“Overall we had a really great year,” Mages said. “A lot of improvement. The guys put in a ton of work in the offseason, and it’s shown throughout the year. Maybe we could have done a few strokes better, our goal was third, but in the end it doesn’t take away from the season we had. The lowest scoring averages in the

Also on the boys side of the tournament, Cedar Mountain’s Carson Schiller finished 35th with a 160.

“Golfing there before and knowing the holes and the course from my first year helped,” Schiller said. “Another big thing was the fairways I was able to hit. I was able to set myself up to hit the greens, which was really nice. I kind of struggled with that [Wednesday], just having to scramble on the holes, which kind of took me out of scoring on those holes.”

Photo by Samantha Davis Sleepy Eye United’s Nolan Kucera putts the ball during Day 2 of the Class A State Boys Golf Tournament Wednesday at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

Schiller excelled in Day 1, finishing the round 1 under par to sit at second place in his personal-best round of his career.

“I was just having fun with it,” Schiller said. “I wasn’t really missing fairways, I was hitting all the shots I needed to, I was making some putts. I wasn’t really worried about my score, I was just golfing and enjoying the nice weather. By the end of it, I shot my new PR, 71 on 18 and was able to finish second, which was a really cool experience. To be second at any time was really cool. Never really been in this kind of situation before, so I don’t know if that contributed to some of my nerves [on Wednesday]. But definitely a good learning experience for sure.”

While Schiller was unable to repeat the performance on the second day, his 35th-place finish represents a big improvement from his trip to the state tournament his sophomore year, where he placed 76th.

“I would never have guessed that I was going to shoot my best round at the state tournament of all places,” Schiller said. “It was so cool. Kind of had my whole town rally behind me, which was really neat. They all got pretty invested. Came up short today, but it was a really, really cool experience and there’s a lot to take from it.”

Heritage Christian Academy won the team side of the tournament with a 603, with HCA’s Alex Rhode winning individually with a 143.

Photo by Samantha Davis Cedar Mountain’s Carson Schiller lines up a put during Day 2 of the Class A State Boys Golf Tournament Wednesday at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

In the Class AA boys tournament at Ridges at Sandy Creek in Jordan, New Ulm’s Mason Buegler was just 3 over par on Day 2, finishing tied for 29th with a 152 overall.

“I knew the course a little bit better, so I could attack it a little bit more,” Buegler said .”Go after pins, go after putts, so that helped. I played a little bit more free, it wasn’t my first time here. A little less stress this year.”

Buegler birdied three times on the back nine for a strong finish.

“I do like the back nine a little bit more,” Buegler said. “I got warmer as the day went along, started feeling my swing a little bit more. And the putts were rolling a lot better.”

Buegler, a junior, improved from a 40th-place finish last year and has one more season to go.

“It helps a lot for next year,” he said. “I kind of know what I can do here. I didn’t even play super great, and I still fired two pretty solid scores. Next year I can for sure feel a lot better coming in.”

Southwest Christian’s Henry Johnson won Class AA individually with a 138.