Minot High sophomore Parker Argent tied for the WDA lead in average scoring with a 74.38. Argent won four tournaments this season, including the WDA Tournament. Nathan Beitler/MDN

Even without a senior on the roster, the Minot High boys golf team believed it had enough returning experience and talent from the previous season to take a step forward after a year in which it had four top-three tournament finishes but no victories.

That step turned into a giant leap.

The Magicians won eight of the 10 tournaments they competed in and won the WDA regular season title for the first time since 2021 with an average team score of 307.2. Minot High won its 14th overall WDA regular season title by more than eight strokes over second-place Williston (315.8).

“I think it was maybe a little bit of a surprise how many tournaments we actually won,” Minot High coach Michael DeLorme said. “I knew going into the season that we returned enough experience and enough quality players based on what went out of the West Region last year that we were going to be one of the top teams. But to go out and win all but two was a little bit of a surprise.”

The Magicians had three golfers finish in the top 10 in WDA scoring, which removes a player’s worst round of the season when accumulating their average scoring round. Minot High sophomore Parker Argent and Bismarck St. Mary’s Brody Horner tied for the lowest average round at 74.38. Argent earned medalist honors at four events this season by carding the lowest round.

Argent’s best round of the season came at the Minot North Invite at Vardon Golf Club, where he shot a 4-under 68 to win the tournament. He led his team in scoring at five tournaments this year.

“Parker has had a phenomenal year,” DeLorme said. “I’ve always kind of known he’s had the shots in his bag and now he’s figured how to hit them in a tournament round in golf and put a complete round of golf together. It’s been fun to watch. These last three events especially, things have really clicked for him. He’s starting to realize just how good he can be.”

Parker is the younger brother of Gavin Argent, who is the last Minot High golfer to win an individual state title, which he achieved in 2021.

Junior Easton Bradley was right behind Argent with a 76.5 average score per round. He led the team in scoring in three events and carded his best round at the Mandan Invite with a 73.

Minot High’s newest addition to the team paid dividends right away. Sophomore Tripp Toepfer – a transfer from Bismarck Century – finished fifth in WDA cumulative scoring with a 76.7. His top round of golf was a 73 at the Williston Invite.

“He brought a relaxed confidence,” DeLorme said. “He’s a guy that never really gets down on himself. He just goes out and does his thing. He’s really a quiet leader for us.”

Junior Connor Ressler was the fourth Minot High golfer to shoot an average round in the 70s, coming in at 79.8. Like Bradley, his best round was a 73 at the Mandan Invite.

Individually, the Magicians qualified seven golfers for the state tournament. Argent, Bradley, Toepfer, Ressler, junior Nathan Peterson and freshmen Paxton Wallner and Parker Wallner will all be eligible for the individual state title. Parker Wallner qualified at the last possible moment, playing his best round of golf at the WDA Tournament, where he shot a 78 to qualify by one stroke.

While depth is a luxury for the Magicians, it also makes for some difficult decisions for DeLorme when creating his lineup.

“It’s been a really challenging year,” DeLorme said. “That’s something we’ve talked about often at practices is the depth that we have. We really believe we have seven or eight guys and maybe even nine of 10 guys that can go out and give us a round in the 70s. If you’re capable of doing that, you’re going to be on varsity in almost every team in the state. Our depth plays a significant role and I think it keeps the guys focused and pushes them to be their best every day.”

There were only two tournaments this season where the Magicians didn’t walk away victorious. One of those events was last week at the WDA Tournament, where Minot High took second behind Mandan. The Braves carded a 297, three strokes better than the Magicians. Argent took home the individual WDA title with a 2-under 70 at Prairie West.

“We didn’t play a bad round of golf down there,” DeLorme said. “We shot below our season average. All four of our scores were lower than our season average and Mandan just played a really good tournament. We tip our caps to them, but it absolutely focuses us because we think we have a chance to go and do something this week and we’re going to strive to do the best down there.”

Next up, the Magicians head East to compete in the NDHSAA Class A State Tournament at Oxbow Country Club beginning on Tuesday, June 2 and concluding the following day. Minot High is one of six qualifying teams from the WDA, joining Mandan, Williston, Bismarck Century, Minot North and Bismarck Legacy. The six representatives from the East are West Fargo, Grand Forks Red River, Fargo Shanley, Grand Forks Central, West Fargo Sheyenne and Fargo Davies. The East and West didn’t cross paths at any point this season.

“Their 1-6 seeds were all within six shots of each other when it was all said and done,” DeLorme said. “You get on their side of the state and some of their courses, no one’s going to be a walkover over there. Everyone is going to show up. Everyone is going to be able to swing the golf club and post some good numbers.”

West Fargo won the EDC Tournament, its third victory of the season. Grand Forks Red River won the other nine and placed second at the EDC Tournament. Fargo North’s Carl DeBoer won the EDC individual title with a 2-under 70.

The top golfer in the EDC this year was Red River’s Kolby Koerner, who averaged a 72.11. Davies’ Connor Peterson was second at 73.78. Red River’s Silas Dusenbury (74.56) and Stetson Brown (75.56), and Fargo South’s Dylan Rogne (76.00) rounded out the top five.

“I think we have a few guys that have a chance to be in the top 10,” DeLorme said. “The way Parker’s swinging the golf club right now, nothing’s out of reach for him, but from the play I’ve seen out of our guys, I think we’re capable of putting a couple guys in the top 10. It’s just going to be a matter of if we can do it two days in a row. That’s the one thing the East has over us. They play a couple two-day tournaments over the course of the year.”

The East played in one two-day event during the Fargo North Invitational at Edgewood Golf Course. The West was scheduled for a two-day event with the Williston/Watford Bakken Classic, but inclement weather trimmed the tournament down to a single day. With a two-day tournament, the mindset is a bit different, DeLorme said.

“It becomes a little bit more of a marathon than a sprint,” DeLorme said. “I was always told when I started playing two-day tournaments that you can’t win a tournament on the first day, but you can certainly play yourself out of a tournament on the first day. Our goal is to go put up a good score on Day 1 and see where we sit and hopefully we’re in the running and have something to play for the next day.”

The defending state champion will also be in the field. Minot North became the first team from the West in 11 years to win a state championship last season and was one of the qualifying teams from the West Region, placing fifth at WDA.

The Sentinels finished sixth during the WDA regular season with an average team round of 322.4. They won the Turtle Mountain Invite and placed second at the Jamestown Invite for their two best tournament finishes of the season.

Kyler Weishaar led Minot North in scoring with an average round of 76.88. His best round was a 73 at the Minot Invite and he led the team in scoring at six tournaments and shared the team lead in another. Weishaar ranked sixth in WDA scoring and was named the WDA Senior Athlete of the Year.

He along with Teegan Dangel and Walter Langhans qualified for the individual state tournament. Both Langhans and Dangel qualified at the WDA Tournament. Langhans shot a season-best 72, while Dangel got in just below the 79 cut line, carding a 78. Dangel was Minot North’s lone individual winner this season, earning medalist honors with a 76 at the Turtle Mountain Invite.