TEE TIME — Blue Earth Area’s Manning Lane cranks his tee shot during second-round action at the Class AA state golf meet Wednesday at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan. (Photo by Greg Abel)

JORDAN — The end of an era.

Blue Earth Area finished fourth in the team standings of the Class AA state boys golf meet Wednesday at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.

The Bucs recorded a two-day team total of 621, leaving them just off the podium with Delano placing third at 618, Totino-Grace taking second at 616 and Cloquet leaving as champions with a score of 598. It was the best the Bucs’ have finished in their four consecutive appearances at the state meet.

Ashton Lloyd, one of the Bucs’ two underclassmen on this year’s state lineup, led the way for the fourth-place finishers.

Lloyd followed his Day 1 total of 78 by carding an even-par round of 34-38-72 on Day 2 for a two-day score of 150.

“Throughout the round, I was thinking back to what I did yesterday and it helped me stay away from some tough spots,” Lloyd said of his performance. “We’ve been here four times now, but this year was different. We knew we had an opportunity to get a plaque, and I improved a lot and I’m glad I could help out the team more this year.

“I played well over the two days, I didn’t let too many hazards get to me and I played one ball the whole tournament. It was quite the experience.”

Lloyd’s stellar performance placed him in a tie for sixth as an individual and on the medal podium, alongside Totino-Grace’s Andrew Ramos and Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa’s Anders Larson. Lloyd birdied the par-5 1st and 7th holes, while hitting 14 pars.

Braden Gudahl notched the Bucs’ second score of 153 over the two-day event. He carded a round of 73 on Day 1, then followed with a 40-40-80 on Day 2. Gudahl sank 11 pars on Day 2 to end 13th as an individual.

Gavin Storbeck matched Lloyd’s front-nine under-par performance of 34, then shot a 42 on the back nine for his Day 2 round of 76 to complement his Day 1 total of 82. Storbeck’s two-day score of 158 placed him in a tie for 33rd as an individual. Storbeck connected on four birdies on the par-4 4th and 6th, the par-5 10th and the par-3 17th holes, while sinking 10 pars.

“Just getting better every year,” BEA assistant coach Dustin Lane said. “They had higher expectations this year after playing so well at sections, but improving every year and playing with the best golfers in the state, they will realize here in a day or two how cool of a run the past few years have been. How much fun we had coming up here every year and just expecting to be here. It’s been a great run and I already see the smiles coming back.”

Manning Lane recorded the final BEA counting score of 79-81-160.

Lane birdied the par-4 8th hole and carded eight pars on the way to a Day 2 round of 40-41-81, placing him in a tie for 36th as an individual.

Nathan Murphy recorded the fifth BEA score of 88-95-183 after shooting a Day 2 round of 49-46-95 on the strength of five pars.

Max Ehrich rounded out the Bucs’ effort with his total of 201. Ehrich made three pars to card a Day 2 total of 51-53-104 after shooting a 97 on Day 1.

Cloquet’s Sam Baker shot the two-day winning total of 141, while Staples-Motley’s Beck Erholtz carded the second-place score of 142 and sank a hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth hole.

Fairmont’s Brock Lutterman finished in a tie for 53rd as an individual after shooting a two-day score of 164 with a Day 2 score of 44-41-85. Lutterman birdied the 10th and 14th holes, while connecting for six pars.

In the Class A Meet at Pebble Creek in Becker, Martin County West’s Hunter Schmidt tied for 35th as an individual with his two-day total of 84-85-169.

Schmidt hit a round of 43-42 on Day 2 on the strength of four consecutive pars to start the day, complementing seven more pars in his round.

Class AA Boys Golf State Meet

(Results courtesy of iwanamaker.com)

Final Team Standings: 1. Cloquet 598; 2. Totino-Grace 616; 3. Delano 618; 4. Blue Earth Area 621; 5. Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 627; 6. Roseau 636; 7. Staples-Motley 643; 8. New London-Spicer 650.

Individual Results (Top 10): 1. Sam Baker (Cloquet) 141; 2. Beck Erholtz (Staples-Motley) 142; 3. Peyton Coahran (New London-Spicer) 145; 4. Sam Udovich (St. Croix Lutheran) 146; 5. Karson Young (Cloquet) 149; 6. (tie) Ashton Lloyd (Blue Earth Area), Andrew Ramos (Totino-Grace) and Joseph Scripture (Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 150s; 9. Anders Larson (Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 151; 10. (tie) Charlie Hanson (Morris Area), Riley Schuth (Glencoe-Silver Lake) and Trevor Oja (Delano) 152s. Other BEA scores: 13. Braden Gudahl 153; T33. Gavin Storbeck 158; T36. Manning Lane 160; T84. Nathan Murphy 183; 88. Max Ehrich 201.