KARI GIBB/MDN Minot High freshman Easton Bradley putts for birdie on the 18th green at Souris Valley Golf Course during the Minot Invitational on Friday.

The Minot Invite was held at the Souris Valley Golf Course. The invite also counted as an individual qualifier event for the North Dakota High School Activities Association Boys’ Golf Class A State Tournament. In what has been a recurring theme for the season, Bismarck Century and Minot North battled for the top spot. Century took the win with a team score of 305 over Minot North, who finished second with a team score of 309, on a day that had the players battling high winds.

Junior Bennett Bartsch finished tied for second place overall with a score of 74 for Minot North, one shot back of Williston junior Bode Ekblad, who took medalist honors with a 73. Sentinels’ junior Tyler Bast finished in fifth place with a 76 score, while classmate Kasen Rostad was ninth with a 78. With the top score a 73 for the day, the state qualifying score was 80 at the course. Bartsch, Bast and Rostad each posted state qualifying marks.

Minot North sophomores Walter Langhans and Kyler Weishaar shot 81 and 86 respectively for the round.

Minot High hosted the invite and as a team shot 347 on their home course. Freshman Easton Bradley posted an 84 while fellow freshman Connor Ressler shot an 86. Fellow freshman Nathan Peterson had an 88 while sophomore Mattson Burckhard was one shot behind with an 89 on the course.

The best round for the Magi would have belonged to eighth grader Parker Argent, who carded a 77, but due to a scorecard error, he was disqualified. Had Argent’s score counted, the Magi would have finished in sixth place.

“Parker Argent played solid golf,” said Minot High boys golf coach Michael DeLorme. “He has performed consistently the entire season. Parker had the correct scoring online but didn’t verify the hole by hole accuracy when he had the correct final score on paper. Paper cards are the official documents so it did not count.”

The next event for the teams is the Mandan Invite on Tuesday, May 7 before its Minot North’s turn to host its invitational at the Vardon Golf Club on Friday, May 10.

“We are a young team with only two guys returning with varsity experience,” said DeLorme. “The new guys are getting better as they get rounds played. With each round of play under their belt, we are seeing better stretches of golf.”

The Magicians have two juniors, one sophomore, six freshmen, four eighth graders and one seventh grader on the roster.