Lux earns trip to state

• Jakobi Lux

Jamestown High School sophomore Jakobi Lux fired a 78 Saturday at the Bismarck Century Invite at Tom O’Leary Golf Course to qualify for the state meet next month. (Dean Kraft / For The Sun)

Talk about it

Tom O’Leary Golf Course brought out the best in the Jamestown High School golf team on Saturday.

The smallish Bismarck track proved to be a good fit for the Blue Jays, especially Jakobi Lux.

The JHS sophomore earned a trip to the state meet with a season- and team-best round of 78. The score left him eight shots back of medalist B.J. Mahar of Williston. Qualifying for state required finishing within eight shots of the winner.

“Great accomplishment for Jakobi Lux,” JHS coach Dean Kraft said. “If you could call a golfer a gym rat during the season, Jakobi fits the bill.

“He’s worked really hard to improve his short game. He takes a lot of reps in practice and has seen the benefits of his efforts as much as anyone on the team.”

The Blue Jays finished a season-high fifth as a team (319) and had two other golfers miss qualifying by just one stroke. Brandon Stahlhut and Nick Stockert each posted 79s, one shot shy.

“I feel bad for them, that’s a tough pill to swallow at the end of the day,” Kraft said. “Nick battled the dreaded shanks this week so his 79 showed some mental toughness battling through that. Brandon gave us a nice weekend, his game seems to be rounding into better shape approaching the regional tournament.”

Austin Rene finished with an 83, but that number was distorted by a 10 on the par 5 7th hole.

“Austin has been playing well down the stretch, we’ve moved him to No. 1 in the lineup. He has a lot of talent and a good positive mental approach, it would be great to see him break through next week,” Kraft said.

The Blue Jays finished just six shots behind fourth-place Dickinson (313). A similar effort Wednesday at Heart River Golf Course could earn a return trip to state. Only the top six teams qualify, which will also be held at Heart River.

“Team-wise we couldn’t be happier with our finish. Hopefully this is a good indicator for next week though Heart River is a completely different animal than Tom O,” Kraft said. “If we continue to execute as we did this weekend and avoid the major blow-ups we should have a fighting chance to get in.”

Bismarck Century Invite

Tom O’Leary Golf Course

Team results

1. Bismarck 285. 2. Bismarck Century 291. 3. Bismarck St. Mary’s 299. 4. Dickinson 313. 5. Jamestown 319. 6. Minot 323. 7. Williston 324. 8. Mandan 329. 9. Turtle Mountain 378.

Individual results

(Top 10)

1. B.J. Mahar, Wil, 70. 2. (tie) Sam Wangler, Bis, Jake DeForest, SM, and Jacob Dehne, Cen, 70. 5. Trenton Schwehr, Bis, 71. 6. (tie) Nick Nustad, Bis, and Nick Stavn, Bis, Tyler Miller, Cen, 72. 9. (tie) Troy Ressler, Cen, and Tanner Halter, Dic, 74.

By team

Bismarck (285): Sam Wangler 35-35—70. Trenton Schwehr 37-34—71. Nick Nustad 35-37—72. Nick Stavn 36-36—72. Matt Schirado 41-43—84. Derek Weninger 48-38—86.

Century (291): Jacob Dehne 40-30—70. Tyler Miller 37-35—72. Troy Ressler 39-35—74. Drew Lingle 37-38—75. Jordan Beyer 41-40—81. Sean Ternes 45-40—85.

St. Mary’s (299): Jake DeForest 36-34—70. Josh McCormick 39-36—75. Jordan Smith 41-35—76. Grant Dvorak 42-36—78. Thomas Gilchrist 40-42—82. Joe Kassian 41-41—82.

Dickinson (313): Tanner Halter 37-37—74. Austin Fournier 37-40—77. Luke Hanel 35-44—79. Shay Ridl 41-42—83. Carter Donnan 42-44—86. Alex Priebe 44-47—91.

Jamestown (319): Jakobi Lux 42-36—78. Nick Stockert 40-39—79. Brandon Stahlhut 38-41—79. Austin Rene 46-37—83. Brandon Hart 46-45—91. Ty Spitzer 50-46—96.

Minot (323): Tyler Kast 42-37—79. Ty Jones 38-41—79. Braxton Heupel 41-40—81. Taran Albright 41-43—84. Jersey Kelly 40-44—84. Cody Reynolds 45-46—91.

Williston (324): B.J. Mahar 34-36—70. Paul Suess 41-40—82. Trevor Powell 42-41—83. Jacob Kvernum 89. Taylor Wagner 41-50—91. Keaton Leininger 42-50—92.

Mandan (329): Colton Murphy 39-38—77. Taylor Trenda 38-43—81. Zach Vollan 43-38—81. Tucker Bruington 45-45—90. Sheldon Senger 46-48—94. Jackson Westrom 46-51—97.

Turtle Mountain (378): Clarence Davis 47-39—86. Seth Gillis 43-43—86. Jackson Davis 47-41—88. Seth Azure 59-59—118.

State-tournament qualifiers: Bismarck — Nick Nustad, Schwehr, Stavn, Wangler. Century — Dehne, Lingle, Ressler, Miller. St. Mary’s — DeForest, Smith, McCormick, Dvorak. Mandan — Murphy. Dickinson — Halter and Fournier. Williston — Mahar. Jamestown — Jakobi Lux.

Note: State-tournament qualifiers must come within eight strokes of the medalist.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

Tags: golf, sports, jays