Ohe Picks up Where He Left off Last Year in AAA Boys; Jirele Leads AAA Girls

COON RAPIDS -- A year ago, Jake Birdwell hit "The Shot Heard Around the State," when he launched a bomb on the last hole of the Class AAA portion of the Minnesota state high school tournament. His drive flew over the trees at the corner of the 390-yard, dogleg-left 18th hole (No. 9 West) at Bunker Hills Golf Course. The ball ended up 18 feet from the cup, and the Spring Lake Park junior was left with an easy two-putt birdie. That gave him a 2-under-par 70, a 36-hole total of 136, and a two-stroke victory

But the player who shot the low score on the second day of the 2023 state tournament was Edina sophomore Torger Ohe. He had a 68, after opening with a 72, and his 140 total earned him a third-place finish, behiind only Birdwell and Cretin-Derham Hall sophomore Joe Honsa (68-70--138). Only one other player, Rosemount sophomore Joey Mackinac, broke 70 on Day 2 last year. He shot 69, after a first-round 80, and tied for 20th at 149.

On Tuesday, the first day of the 2024 state tournament, Ohe was at it again. He started out birdie-bogey on the first two holes at Bunker Hills, but he made three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the fourth through the seventh, taking advantage of the two par 5s on the front nine, the 486-yard fourth and the 535-yard sixth, and adding a birdie at the toughest hole on the front nine, the 220-yard, par-3 eighth. He made two birdies in a row again on the back nine, the 373-yard, par-4 13th and the 560-yard, par-5 14th.

When he was done, the now Edina junior -- who has committed to the University of Minnesota for 2025 -- had a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Sam Udovich, a junior at Cretin-Derham Hall who has committed to TCU for next year.

Udovich was probably the favorite in Class AAA going into the first round, based on his performance in the Section 4AAA tournament, which was played at Bunker Hills. He put together a 65-67--132 and claimed medalist honors easily. But on Tuesday, even though he made an eagle 3 on the fourth hole, he was even par when he arrived at the 11th tee. He proceeded to birdie the 11th, the par-3 12th (195 yards), the 13th and the par-5 14th. The former National Drive, Chip and Putt champion (2021) gave one back when he bogeyed the daunting, 240-yard, par-3 17th, but he hit a 60-yard wedge to 15 feet at the 18th and made the birdie putt for a 32 on the back nine and a 68 for the day.

Centennial sophomore Cooper Daikawa got the last available spot from Section 5AAA, but he's making the most of his presence at the state tournament. He shot 69 and is in third place going into Wednesday's final round.

(Joey Mackinac, for anyone who might be wondering, is in the tournament again this year. The Rosemount junior shot 76 Tuesday and is part of an eight-way tie for 29th.)

Maple Grove senior Ryan Stendahl, who was named Mr. Golf on Sunday night, didn't have great day, although it wasn't that bad, either. He shot 74 (so did defending champ Jake Birdwell) and is tied for 16th. But one of his teammates, junior Davis Tripp, is tied for fourth at 70, along with Mahtomedi junior Jacob Wilson. Another Crimson player, sophomore Zachary Johnson, is tied for 10th with a 73. And with three playes in the top 20, Maple Grove, which finished second to Edina last year, leads the teams standings with a first-day aggregate of 294.

Edina isn't in the tournament this year, a rare occurance. Nevertheless, the Crimson can't afford to let up, because there are four teams within six strokes of them -- Rosemount (297), Waconia (298), Alexandria (299) and Benilde-St. Margaret's (300).

It's no surprise that Ohe and Udovich are perched at the top of the Boys AAA standings. As for the girls standings after Day 1, there probably weren't too many people who expected to see Owatonna sophomore Carmen Jirele leading the way. She came into the tournament ranked No. 19 in the state, but she did win the Big 9 Conference individual championship, and she was the medalist in Section 1AAA.

Her card was pretty clean on Tuesday. Starting on the back (West) nine at Bunker, she birdied the 333-yard, par-4 10th hole and the 430-yard, par-5 11th. Her only bogey came at the par-3 17th (180 yards), but she got that stroke back with a birdie at the 278-yard, par-4 second, and she made one more birdie at the 170-yard, par-3 eighth.

Jirele doesn't have a lot of breathing room as she goes into Wednesday's finale. Right behind her in a tie for second place with 71s are three seniors -- Amelia Morton (Maple Grove), Saachi Deshmukh (Wayzata) and Jovie Ordal (Lakeville South). Morton is ranked No. 2, Deshmukh No. 8 and Ordal No. 13. Morton didn't make her first par until the fifth hole. She bogeyed the first hole, then birdied the next two, and she made an eagle at the 405-yard, par-5 fourth. She bogeyed the ninth, but she took advantage of her last chance to birdie a par 5, at the 430-yard 14th, and was actually tied with Jirele for the lead with three holes to go. But she bogeyed the par-4 16th and par-3 17th.

Ordal started on the back nine and birdied the 11th but bogeyed the 13th. The 14th is the easiest of the last five holes, but Ordal parred it -- and then birdied three of the next four holes -- 15, 16 18 -- and was 3 under when she made the turn. She lost two strokes in a hurry on the front nine, with bogeys at the first and second holes, and her birdie at the sixth was negated by a bogey at the par-3 seventh.

Deshmukh made her first bogey where Ordal made her last, at the seventh, but she bounced back with a birdie at the 320-yard, par-4 eighth. She got into red numbers with a birdie at the 11th. A bogey at the 13th had her back at even par, but Deshmukh, like Ordal, birdied the 16th, and she parred in from there.

Morton's Maple Grove teammate McKenna Hogan, a senior, is alone in fifth after a 73. The tournament favorite, two-time -- and defending -- champion Reese McCauley is another shot back at 74. The Simley senior (she's home-schooled but lives in the Simley district) is tied with Wayzata sophomore Laura Chambs for sixth. McCauley, the 2024 Minnesota Ms. Golf, had a lot of chances for birdies but made only three. She was even par after she hit a 50-yard wedge to 12 feet and made the putt at the 13th. But she lipped out a 2-footer for birdie at the 14th, hit her drive into the trees at the 15th and made bogey, missed a 10-footer for birdie at the 16th, missed a 12-footer for birdie at the 17th and three-putted from 16 feet at the 18th, knocking the first one 6 feet past and lipping out the par putt.

There is a five-way tie for 10th at 76, and three players ranked among the top seven in the state are in it -- No. 5 Ava Hanneman, a junior from Orono; No. 6 Abigail Labrador, an eighth-grader from St. Michael-Albertville; and No. 7 Lily Vincelli, a senior from Cretin-Derham Hall. Vincelli, who won the MGA Mixed Team Championship with her father, Tony Vincelli, in 2022, hit what had to be the most spectacular shot of the day. She was on the edge of the water hazard to the right of the fairway on No. 16 (7 West), and made a full swing. The ball hit a rock and exploded -- backward -- not missing Vincelli's face by all that much and ending up 40 or 50 yards behind her, but in the middle of the fairway. She made a bogey from there, but birdied the 17th.

Maple Grove was girls team champion last year, and Wayzata was second, 10 shots behind. Considering that Maple Grove has two individuals in the top five so far, and that Wayzata has two in the top seven, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's a two-team race between Maple Grove and Wayzata once again. But it's closer this year. The Crimson are just a single shot ahead of the Trojans, 305 to 306. Minnetonka is a distant third at 326, and fourth-place Alexandria is another 20 behind at 346.


Minnesota State High School Tournament

Class AAA Girls

At Bunker Hills Golf Course

Par 72, 5,605 yards

Class AAA Girls

First-round results

1. Maple Grove 305

2. Wayzata 306

3. Minnetonka 326

4. Alexandria 346

5. Northfield 349

6. East Ridge 353

7. Mahtomedi 355

8. Elk River 362

Individuals

1. Carmen Jirele, Owatonna 69

T2. Saachi Deshmukh, Wayzata 71

T2. Amela Morton, Maple Grove 71

T2. Jovie Ordal, Lakeville South 71

5. McKenna Hogan, Maple Grove 73

T6. Reese McCauley, Simley 74

T6. Lauren Chambs, Wayzata 74

T8. Avery Nelson, Chaska 75

T8. Briana Simek, Two Rivers 75

T10. Lily Vincelli, CretinDerham Hall 76

T10. Ava Hannaman, Orono 76

T10. Nora Benson, Orono 76

T10. Abigail Labrador, SMA 76

T10. Sophia Karsnia, Brainerd 76

Class AAA Boys

At Bunker Hills

Par 72, 6,991 yards

First-round results

1. Maple Grove 294

2. Rosemount 297

3. Waconia 298

4. Alexandria 299

5. Benilde-St. Margaret's 300

6. Cretin-Derham Hall 307

7. Rochester Mayo 314

8. Elk River 320

Individuals

1. Torger Ohe, Edina 67

2. Sam Udovich, Cretin-Derham 68

3. Cooper Daikawa, Centennial 69

T4. Davis Tripp, Maple Grove 70

T4. Jacob Willson, Mahtomedi 70

T6. Jack Holtz, Alexandria 71

T6. Andrew Ballou, Chanhassen 71

T8. Wyatt Holmes, Rosemount 72

T8. Bennett Olsen, Alexandria 72

T10. Lucas Arntsen, Chanhassen 72

T10. Ryder Haskins, Waconia 73

T10. Cale Thompson, Farmington 73

T10. Patrick Hastings, BSM 73

T10. Zachary Johnson, M. Grove 73

T10. Riley Baisch, Waconia 73