The Ankeny Centennial boys’ golf team made a lot of progress on Tuesday.
Crosstown rival Ankeny, however, seems to be in a rut.
The Jaguars placed fifth among 16 teams in the Fort Dodge Invitational. They posted a 301 total on the Fort Dodge Country Club course for the second straight year.
“It was a big step in the right direction,” said Centennial coach Andrew Reedy, whose team lost a tiebreaker to Waukee for fourth place. “I asked the kids to compete against nobody but themselves and try to get a bit better than our last time out. I always ask them to compete on every shot, and they did an awesome job of those things in the heat today. Those were some tough conditions to play in when you are hot and tired.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished with a 317 total. The Hawks won a tiebreaker against Sioux City Heelan for eighth place.
“Today kind of felt like a repeat of last week at Legacy,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “We played a course that we were not very familiar with, it was a challenging course, and we played better but not great. In saying that, I am reminding myself that we are only a few meets into the season with a fresh varsity lineup of guys still finding their way. The team as a whole has the talent and plays some great golf; they just haven’t been able to limit the mistakes that are raising our scores. A couple three-putts here and an errant shot there leads to bogeys and double bogeys, and that is kind of where we are right now.”
Dallas Center-Grimes won the team title for the second time in three years. The Mustangs edged defending champion Waukee Northwest by one stroke, 285-286.
The Wolves had edged Dallas Center-Grimes by two strokes to win last year’s title. The Mustangs finished three shots ahead of Northwest in 2024.
Dallas Center-Grimes’ Chase Perrin carded a 67 to earn medalist honors. Lucas Laffoon of Johnston was the runner-up with a 68.
Everett Bloyer and Max Gladson each fired a 74 to lead Centennial. They were part of a four-way tie for 13th place.
“We mixed up our lineup with Max getting back onto the varsity and responding well,” Reedy said. “Everett has been playing great lately. I told him the last seven to 10 days that I feel like the Everett from last year was almost back.”
Charlie Knoll shot a 75 for the Jaguars, while Kinnick Nelson had a 78. Ricky Beckwith shot an 81, and Bennett Lewis added an 86.
“Charlie played his best, most complete round he has played as a young Jaguar, and that’s really fun to see for a kid that works really hard at it,” Reedy said. “Kinnick made a few mistakes that cost him, but he did a good job of toughing out a score the team could use. I am really proud of the improvement we made and look forward to building on this momentum.”
Drew Boyd led Ankeny with a 76. He posted the Hawks’ lowest score for the third time in four meets.
“Drew continues to impress me with his maturity on the course and shot another solid score for us today,” Weddingfeld said. “He just goes out and plays his game not making many mistakes, so it is nice to have him step up and be a leader for us.”
Drake Shadwick carded a 79. Trey Huynh fired an 80, Oliver Bormann had an 82, Ashton Weddingfeld shot an 86, and Ethan Klocke finished with a 90.
“Drake, Trey, Oliver, Ashton and Ethan all played some great holes of golf today as well, but they just had too many small mistakes to keep their scores lower,” Weddingfeld said. “Ethan last week and Ashton today are new to the varsity lineup. I am rotating some guys into our 5 and 6 spots as we haven’t had anyone really claim those spots, and we need to find some guys that can help out those top four when they have an off day. Being able to have all six guys score for us would really help lower our scores.”
The Hawks will host the Ankeny Invitational on Wednesday at Otter Creek. Centennial will be among the other 10 teams in the field.
Valley is the two-time defending champion.