Aug. 14—MITCHELL — The Mitchell High School boys golf program is back in a familiar position to start the 2023 season.
Just as it did a year ago, the varsity squad returns several of its top golfers from last season and hopes to use that experience to work their way toward a place among the state’s best by season’s end.
“We’re excited to see where we’re at,” said head coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt. “We bring back a lot of kids who have a lot of varsity experience as part of a really competitive group. We’re a little young in some spots, too, but I have kids who have played golf all summer and are excited to get rolling and are ready for a shot.”
Of the six golfers to compete at the 2022 state championships for MHS, four return this season, led by Asher Dannenbring, a freshman who tied for 13th individually at state last year as an eighth grader. Also returning are seniors Noah Larson and Jager Juracek, along with junior Marshall Widstrom.
With 37 boys from grades 6-12 in the program, Kreutzfeldt lauds the depth he has outside of the top returners. Adding to the quality of the roster top to bottom, he added the boys program will continue to benefit from MHS girls golf coach Jeff Meyerink serving as an assistant coach, as he returns for a second season.
Among those that Kreutzfeldt expects to challenge for the six-man varsity lineup to start the season are Everett Morrison, Carter McCormick, Samuel Titze, Brady Reiners, Jordan Meyerink and Matthew Mauszycki, though he notes there are almost too many to name.
“There are just a lot of kids that have the ability to play varsity golf and that’s going to make it really competitive from tournament to tournament,” Kreutzfeldt said. “Hopefully, we’re able to challenge each other a little bit. Kids are going to be held accountable for playing well, and if they don’t, they’re gonna have to work for their spot back.
“We haven’t always had that. We’ve normally had six guys who were head and shoulders above,” he continued. “But this year, it feels like it could be any one of 10 or 11 guys, so that’s a good thing to have.”
The Kernels start their season at the Brandon Valley Lynx Invite on Monday, Aug. 14, held at the Brandon Golf Course, the site of this season’s state tournament on Oct. 2-3. Other notable events on Mitchell’s schedule include hosting the annual Marchand Cup dual with Yankton on Aug. 29, hosting the Mitchell Invitational on Sept. 15 and heading to the Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet on Sept. 25, in Yankton.
Kreutzfeldt feels another top-five placement at the state tournament is attainable for the 2023 roster, though he noted the competitiveness of Class AA boys golf and the necessity for the Kernels to focus on their own improvements and not what the rest of the state is doing.
“Boys golf in South Dakota is really good. We saw it last year; we had a good team, but there were some events where we just couldn’t touch some of these other teams,” Kreutzfeldt said. “A really good year for us would be finishing top-five again in the state tournament, but we just want to keep building and try to get better every week.”