4A boys golf: Denver North’s Sawyer Klein leads 4A state championships individuals; Riverdale Ridge holds top team spot

WINDSOR - Round one of the Class 4A boys golf state championships wrapped on Monday with Denver North senior Sawyer Klein leading all individuals at 3-under par 72. Both Windsor sophomore Kellen Ball and Falcon senior Reese Knox are within striking distance, though, at just one stroke behind.

On the team side, defending 4A state champs Riverdale Ridge (217) holds a slim advantage over Cheyenne Mountain (219) and Windsor (223).

The field of 84 returns to Windsor’s Pelican Lakes course on Tuesday to crown an individual and team winner.

Klein’s trip to the current top spot was made a challenge when on the par-5 second hole — the course’s longest at 526 yards — he accidentally hit the ball on a practice shot, giving him a penalty stroke and an eventual bogey. He bogeyed the next hole, too, but rebounded with six birdies in his remaining 15 holes. Following the rough start, Klein said he focused on putting things into perspective, and his strong putting day didn't hurt, either.

“Staying in it mentally and knowing that there's a lot of golf left to play (helped),” Klein said. “One moment can't define you and (I had) really good coaching as well.”

Behind Klein, Ball helped his cause by shooting a double-birdie on the par-5 hole 11 of his home course. Ball’s 70-stroke day has him in a second-place tie with Knox, who was also pleased with his putting.

“I hit the ball pretty good today,” Knox said. “I made a couple of putts that were good. The course is nice, I like it. Coming down the stretch was a struggle, but it's a good course, it's fun.

Three golfers finished the first round tied for fourth place at 1-under par: Silver Creek senior Ben Harding, Riverdale Ridge junior Bradley Weinmaster and Cheyenne Mountain senior Thomas Herholtz.

Riverdale Ridge head coach Bobby Brunswick saw a strong composure from Weinmaster, who played the biggest role in propelling the Ravens to their current first-place spot. Fellow juniors Will Balliet and Aiden Sweeney finished the first day tied for ninth place at 1-over par. All three Ravens finished in the top 15 of last year’s state meet, too.

“Going into this, we knew it was going to be tough competition,” Brunswick said. “I think after day one, I'm really proud of our boys. It's fun, the competition that's there. There's a lot of really great golfers and I think a lot of people were able to highlight on their skills today — that is what you see when you look at the leaderboard”

FULL DAY 1 RESULTS

Pos	Team	Overall
1	Riverdale Ridge	217
2	Cheyenne Mountain	219
3	Windsor	223
4	Silver Creek	228
5	Falcon	229
6	Montrose	230
7	Pueblo West	232
8	Evergreen	233
9	Ponderosa	239
10	Grand Junction	240
11	Centaurus	249
11	Dakota Ridge	249
13	Littleton	252
14	The Classical Academy	263

Pos	TM	Player	Grade	Overall
1	Denver North	Sawyer Klein	SR	69
2	Windsor	Kellen Ball	SO	70
2	Falcon	Reese Knox	SR	70
4	Silver Creek	Ben Harding	SR	71
4	Riverdale Ridge	Bradley Weinmaster	JR	71
4	Cheyenne Mountain	Thomas Herholtz	SR	71
7	Evergreen	Tyler Long	SO	72
7	Ponderosa	Zane Aiken	SR	72
9	Cheyenne Mountain	Kale Parthen	SR	73
9	Riverdale Ridge	Will Balliet	JR	73
9	Riverdale Ridge	Aiden Sweeney	JR	73
12	Pueblo County	Niko Cozzetto	JR	74
12	Montrose	Noah Richmond	JR	74
12	Montrose	Kyden Adams	JR	74
15	Broomfield	Mason Hill	JR	75
15	Pueblo West	Noah Wagner	SR	75
15	Cheyenne Mountain	Charlie Doyle	SO	75
18	Lutheran	Jackson Lowe	SR	76
18	Vista Ridge	Bryce Raduziner	SR	76
18	Ponderosa	Bryar Moss	JR	76
18	Windsor	Tadese Keyworth	SO	76
18	Longmont	Trace Saunders	SR	76
18	Dakota Ridge	Ty White	SR	76
24	Silver Creek	Tyler Plaster	SR	77
24	Mullen	Ethan Karr	SR	77
24	Lutheran	AJ Papajohn	SR	77
24	Cheyenne Mountain	Carter Surofchek	SR	77
24	Windsor	Carter Hinkle	SR	77
29	Evergreen	Liam Houlihan	SO	78
29	Steamboat Springs	Michael Dinapoli	JR	78
29	Grand Junction	Jack Kaul	SO	78
29	Pueblo West	Preston Allen	JR	78
33	Falcon	Trevor Wolken	SR	79
33	Durango	Zachary Griswold	JR	79
33	Pueblo East	Jayden Padilla	SO	79
33	Fort Morgan	Jeriah Blake	JR	79
33	Eagle Valley	Jonathan Boyer	SR	79
33	Pueblo West	Michael Whittlef	SR	79
33	Centaurus	Asa Wentworth	SR	79
33	Centaurus	Matthew Vaver	JR	79
41	Littleton	Jack Finch	JR	80
41	Steamboat Springs	Jeremy Nolting	SR	80
41	Grand Junction	Ky Korte	SO	80
41	Falcon	Brayden La Rose	SR	80
41	The Classical Academy	Nathan Valentine	JR	80
41	Palmer Ridge	Caleb Peterson	SR	80
41	Green Mountain	Ryan Weatherwax	JR	80
41	Silver Creek	Quinn Lockwood	SR	80
49	Denver North	Aidan Larson	JR	81
49	Erie	Sean Cary	FR	81
49	Pueblo County	Roy Higinbotham	JR	81
52	Montrose	Rocco Manuel	SR	82
52	Grand Junction	Hunter Simmons	FR	82
54	Evergreen	Lincoln Mackay	SO	83
54	Littleton	Noah Abramson	SR	83
54	Silver Creek	Preston Waller	SO	83
57	Pueblo West	Parker Shaw	FR	84
57	Niwot	Jackson Sessa	FR	84
59	Coronado	Parker Shirola	JR	85
59	Dakota Ridge	Jake White	SR	85
61	Windsor	Landon Ball	SR	86
61	Grand Junction	Landon Scarbrough	SR	86
63	Montrose	Jake Legg	SR	87
63	Coronado	Carson Greene	FR	87
63	Lewis-Palmer	William Simpfendorfer	JR	87
66	Dakota Ridge	Jack Libby	SR	88
66	Air Academy	Sam Brennan	SO	88
66	Northfield	Trevor Manhart	SR	88
66	Erie	Hayden Jackson	JR	88
66	Evergreen	Duncan McIntosh	SR	88
71	Battle Mountain	Tyler Losa	SR	89
71	The Classical Academy	Zachary Valentine	FR	89
71	Broomfield	Sawyer Hyten	SR	89
71	Littleton	Dane Price	SR	89
75	Riverdale Ridge	Carter Seis	SO	90
76	Ponderosa	Zach Caldarella	SR	91
76	Centaurus	Will Thompson	JR	91
78	Roosevelt	dylan bigler	SR	92
79	Denver South	Quinn Lyons	JR	93
79	Mead	Booth Hayes	FR	93
79	Centaurus	Jameson Love	JR	93
82	The Classical Academy	Ryan Heiser	SR	94
83	Falcon	Patrick Glaser	SO	101
DQ	Mullen	Jack Newton	JR	79