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Emeralds compete at Negaunee

CHAMPION — 10 varsity high school golf teams competed under sunny skies and temperatures in the low 50s at the Wawonowin Country Club on Tuesday.

It was just the second day the course has been open for the season, just in time for the annual Negaunee Kiwanis Invitational.

Norway topped the boys field with a team score of 326, edging West Iron County who had 328. Houghton rounded out the podium with 345, followed by Calumet with 371, Negaunee 394, Westwood 404, Hancock 406, Munising 413, Manistique 497 and L’Anse 502.

The Wykons were dominant on the girls side, defeting Houghton by 31 strokes. Negaunee finished third with a 488, followed by Westwood with 509, Munising with 517, Manistique with 534 and Calumet with 594. Norway and Hancock did not have enough players to register a team score, while the L’Anse girls didn’t field any players.

Earning the top score of the day indivdually on the 18-hole, par-72 course was Norway’s Logan Pauolini, who ended his day just six over par.

Houghton’s Jiseung Choi and Calumet’s London Johnson completed the podium, each shooting an 80. The Knights and Wykons made up eight of the top 10 spots who were awarded medalist honors.

Despite the Hancock girls not recording a team score, it was Payton Dube leading the way for both the Bulldogs and overall, shooting an 81 for the day for seven over par.

Tori Bociek of the Wykons came closest to Dube in second place, 23 strokes behind with a 104. Munising’s Taylor Downs took third overall with a 105 while Ishpeming’s Rylee Ring, playing for Negauneee as a co-op program, was fourth with a 108.

Negaunee head coach Dustin Hongisto said the tournament was close to being cancelled due to the course not being open for the season.

“We were just happy to get out there,” he said. “Literally the course opened (Monday) and we weren’t sure if we were even going to be able to play this. It was nice to get the kids out.”

Hongisto also commented on the close battles throughout the 10-team tourney, and praised his players for sticking it out without a lot of experience on Wawonowin this season.

“On the boys side it was really tight,” he said. “There were a ton of low 80s, (Pauolini) broke a 78, and then the team scores were very close as well. Norway shot a 326 while West Iron had the 328, you’re not really going to get much tigher than that.

“It was kind of a long day. For most of the kids, it was their first time out on the course. It was a little bit of a grind, but I’m happy with how it ended.”

Brylea Ranta was the next top Miners girls scorer with a 121. On the boys side, Luke Stenfors placed 20th overall, shooting a 95, tied with Calumet’s Andrew Eskola.

The Westwood boys were led by Tyler Annala and Colin Bjorne who finished 15th and 16th overall. Annala shot a 90 while Bjorne finished with a 92.

The Patriots girls were led by Laci Moffatt, rounding out the top five with a 57. After that, it was Hailey Mattila in a three-way tie for 11th place, shooting a 61 for the Patriots just four strokes back of her teammate in a tight front of the field.

The Mustangs top male shooter was Bryce Bowerman in a four-way tie for 16th place, shooting a 92. Bowerman tied with Bjorne, Houghton’s Jimmy Pietila and L’Anse’s Johnny Mantila.

Following Downs for the Munising girls was Sydney Curtis who was also in the three-way tie for 11th with a 117. The third in that grouping with a 117 was West Iron’s Madie Berutti.

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