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Editor’s Note: Sports writer Roger Merriam is compiling a “20 Favorites” series highlighting some of his favorite athletes in a variety of high school/other sports since he started working at the Watertown Public Opinion in December 1984. The series is about northeastern South Dakota athletes, but some played at colleges all over the state and others have moved to other areas.
This is the fourth story on area high school golfers and it centers around some of the best players for Watertown High School’s boys golf teams since what is esstentially the fall of 1985.
Of course, we know Watertown’s boys won their first state championship last fall since 1971. The Arrows did have four state runner-up teams, three state champion golfers and two state runner-up golfers during this span.
The first state high school boys golf tournament was held in 1928 and the one class system continued through 1973 when a two-class system was adopted. The three class system, with Class AA and A boys golf in the fall began in 2001 and continues to this day.
Up next in the series will be a story on amateur baseball.
Let’s hit the start button on the Arrow boys’ golfers.
20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984
20. Others
Here are Watertown golfers who either medaled or notched top-25 finishes once in state tournaments since 1985 who are not included in the group below. They are essentially honorable mention performers.
The names are Jonathan Lake, Colton Hanson, Jade Hemiller, Kyle Hulscher, David Hinderaker Mark Buche, Zach Waba, Gavin Hibbert, Jake Whitlock, Stuart Stein, Kasey Chapin, Charlie Mack, Ross Kranz and Brett Sime. Sime led our area Class A-B boys’ golfers list along with his brother Bart, but he did place ninth and led the Arrows to a third-place finish in the 1988 state Class A tournament before moving back to Britton. Let’s also mention Nick Crank, who won the Eastern South Dakota Conference golf tournament in 2004.
I’d also like to mention Drew and Gabe Norberg. Drew was a three-year regular on the Arrows’ varsity golf team before deciding prior to his senior year to go out for football again. He served as Watertown’s quarterback in 2021. Gabe, who is entering his senior season, played on Watertown’s state championship team in 2023.
Drew Norberg: Did You Know Our Quarterback Used to be a Golfer?
19A. Paul Robson
Robson only medaled once in a state tournament, tying for 18th in the 1991 state A tournament, but gets a spot on the list because he’s accomplished something (so far) that no other player on the list has. He also coached Watertown High School’s girls golf team for at least a year.
Earlier this year, he was inducted into the Northeast Community College Hall of Fame for his exploits as a golfer for the school, He won the 1999 Region IX Men’s Golf Tournament and qualified for nationals (taking 15th, one of top finishes in school history). He also took third in the long drive contest at the national tourney.
19B. Jesse Stolp
Stolp kicks off a group of five-straight golfers who each medaled or had top-25 finishes in two state tournaments for the Arrows.
He placed 16th on a state runner-up team in 1996 and tied for 21st in 1998.
18. Shawn Crick
A rare left-hander on this list, Crick placed 21st in the 1992 state Class A tournament and moved up to No. 13 in 1993.
17. Jaden Solheim
Solheim is only heading into his senior year with the Arrows but has medaled twice at state, taking seventh in 2022 and 14th in 2003 on Watertown’s state championship team.
Don’t bet against him medaling a third time this fall.
Watertown High School’s boys golf team ended a 52-year drought by winning the state Class AA boys golf championship on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 at the Brandon Golf Course. The Arrows shot 578 over two days and won by five shots. Team members include, from left, assistant coach Ryan Neale, Kaden Rylance, Gabe Norberg, Jake Olson, Ty Lenards, Johnny Lake, Jaden Solheim and head coach Corey Neale.
16. Dustin Kriech
Kriech was a key player on Watertown’s state runner-up teams in 1996 and 1997.
He finished 10th at state in 1996 and fifth in 1997.
Update: Dustin is now the head golf professional at the Central Valley Golf Course in Hartford. Should have known that, but now I do and so do you.
15. Chris Saylor
Saylor recorded a pair of top-10 finishes in state Class A tournaments for Watertown in 1999 and 2000.
He placed eighth in 1999 and sixth in 2000 on a third-place team.
14. John Campbell
I apologize for not really knowing, or remembering, the whole story behind Campbell. He medaled only once at state and that came in 2001 when he finished as the state Class A runner-up.
He was one of three Arrows in the top 20 and they finished third in the standings. He fell just out of the top 25 (28th) as a junior in 2000.
13. Bobby & Colby West
Both West brothers each medaled twice in state Class AA tournaments for the Arrows. Bobby placed seventh at state on Watertown’s runner-up team in the first AA tourney in 2002. He returned the next year ot take third at a senior.
Colby came later and placed 23rd in 2008 and 22nd in 2009.
I do remember that Bobby spent a few years chasing his dream of becoming a professional golfer.
Watertown golfer Nick Mahowald hits an approach shot during the 2015 state Class AA boys golf tournament at the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City.
12. The Mahowalds
Andy Mahowald was a pretty darn good football and basketball player for the Arrows not long after I arrived in Watertown and his four sons (Drew, Nick, Sam and Mark) each played golf in the fall for WHS.
Drew placed sixth in the 2013 state AA tourney, Nick 13th in 2014 and 10th in 2015 and Sam ninth in 2020. Mark also played in at least one state tournament for the Arrows.
Drew later played at St. John’s University in Minnesota and Nick at the University of Northwestern (Minn.).
11. Ty Lenards
Another senior-to-be for the Arrows, he also was a key player on the 2023 state champions and has medaled three times in state tourneys. I promised a couple of his grandparents (Francis and Faye Lenards) that I’d give them some credit for his exploits.
Ty placed 21st in 2021 and 19th in 2022 (on third-place teams at state) and tied for 24th on the state championship team last fall.
10. Matt Roby
Roby was a three-time state medalist as a golfer for the Arrows but may be better remembered for serving as Watertown’s City Attorney from 2017-2022 and beginning a quest to serve as a South Dakota legislator.
He placed 15th in 1999, 19th in 2000 and 13th in 2001 in state A tournaments. The Arrows finished third in both 2000 and 2001.
9. Josh Weismantel
Weismantel spearheaded other Arrow teams that looked to challenge for state Class AA titles in the late 2000s.
He placed 16th in 2008, seventh in 2009 and 16th on a third-place team in 2010.
Weismantel later golfed at least one year at North Dakota State University before I think injuries took over.
Watertown’s Brett Peterson watches his birdie putt on No. 2 roll duirng the 1986 Watertown Boys Golf Invitational at the Watertown Country Club.
8. Brett Peterson & Alex Fischer
These two guys tied on my tiebreaking system for how to break up the three-time state medalists. Larry Peterson taught at Huron before moving his family to Watertown in 1997. I believe his older son Brad golfed for the Arrows in the early 80s and Brett followed.
Brett Peterson tied for sixth in the state A tourney as a sophomore in 1986, tied for 11th in 2007 and then tied for 14th in 1988. Those three places added up to 31. He also won an ESD title in 1988.
Fischer placed ninth in 2000 and 19th in 2001 (state Class A tourneys) and then leaped to third on the state runner-up team in 2002 (state Class AA). Those three places also add up to 31. He played on third-place teams in 2000 and 2001.
7. Charlie Jacobson
Jacobson placed 14th in 1995 on a fourth-place team and then 10th in 1996 and 15th in 1997 on state Class A runner-up teams.
OK, I know what you’re thinking. His numbers are lower on the tiebreaking system than Peterson and Fischer.
Jacobson, however, has earned plenty of extra credit. He has played in number South Dakota Golf Association tournaments and combined with Brad Jacobson of Bryant (no relation) to win SDGA Mid-Amateur Two-Man Championships in 2016 and 2021. Earlier this spring, he and Ryan Trasamar of Sioux Falls qualified to compete in the USGA 4-BallChampionship in Philadelphia.
Watertown High School’s 1996 boys golf team won the Eastern South Dakota Conference champions and finished second in the state Class A tournament. Team members include, from left, Dustin Kriech, Ryan Cooley, Charlie Jacobson, Troy Adams, Jesse Stolp and Charlie Mack.
6. Ryan Cooley
Cooley was the best player on Watertown’s state runner-up teams in the 1996 and 1997 state A tournaments. He finished third both years.
As a sophomore in 1995, he took 12th and helped the Arrows place fourth. He later tried to play at the University of Nebraska before transferring to South Dakota State University and playing for the Jackrabbits.
5. Sam Batta
There’s some athletic lineage here since Sam’s grandfather Tom was a longtime assisant coach in the National Football League from 1984-2002 (even working for the Minnesota Vikings). Sam’s dad, also named Tom, was inducted into the University of Saint Thomas (Saint Paul, Minn.) Hall of Fame in 2001 after scoring more than 1,400 points for the school’s men’s basketball team.
Sam focused on swimming and golf, medaling three times in state Class AA tourneys (13th in 2015, sixth in 2016 and eighth in 2017). He later played golf at South Dakota State University.
4. Kaden Rylance
There’s also rich athletic history with the Rylances. His late grandfather Ray was the first baseball player inducted into the Coyote Sports Hall of Fame at the University of South Dakota and his father Heath was a standout all-around athlete for Watertown High School (football, basketball and baseball) who later enjoyed a stellar career as a quarerback at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. He played four seasons in the Canadian Football League (1995-99).
Kaden, a soon-to-be senior at WHS, has already committed to play baseball for South Dakota State. He already is a four-time state medalist in golf that including a runner-up finish in the 2020 state Class AA tourney as an eighth-grader. He took 11th in 2021, tied for seventh in 2022 and added a third-place finish for the state championship team lst fall.
Watertown’s Troy Engstrom follows through after hitting a tee shot to start the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with teammate Sam Wilson in the 1989 Region 1A boys golf tournament.
3. Troy Engstrom
One of Kaden Rylance’s teammates on the Watertown Post 17 American Legion Baseball team this summer is Will Engstrom, the son of 1990 state Class A champion golfer Troy Engstrom. I know Troy also placed sixth as state as a junior in 1989 and also may have medaled in 1988.
Will and his older brother Jaxon also played golf for the Arrows.
2. Nick Gottsleben
Here’s another four-time state medalist and state champion for the Arrows. Gottsleben was a junior when he won the state Class AA title in 2010.
He also placed 10th in 2011, 20th in 2009 and 25th in 2008.
Gottsleben, who also won the Eastern South Dakota Conference title in 2011, later played a year of golf at the University of Sioux Falls.
Watertown’s Jake Olson stares down a putt on the No. 14 green during his round in the 2020 Yankton Invitational boys golf tournament at the Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton.
1. Jake Olson
Was there any doubt who was going to lead this list? The 2024 Watertown High School graduate is the only Arrow golfer in this timeframe to win two state Class AA championships (one in 2021 and the other in 2023). He also placed 18th in 2020 and second in 2022.
There’s more. How about three Eastern South Dakota Conference individual titles. He was a key member of three ESD championship teams and Arrow squads that have placed second, third, third and first in the past four state Class AA tournaments.
More: Senior standout Jake Olson tops individuals, carries Arrows to first team title since 1971
The lefty could also shoot the 3 in basketball, but there was never any question that golf was his thing. He’s headed to play at NCAA Division 1 South Dakota State.
I know he’s got a line of people waiting to be his caddy if he ever makes it on the PGA Tour. It’s just too bad that I’m getting old, can’t walk well and probably couldn’t carry a putter around a golf course for 18 holes. So my hopes of a late-career change as a caddy doesn’t seem likely for Jake or anybody else.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 20 Favorites series story about Watertown High School boys golf
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