Huskies win SW Iowa Cup

Winterset won the boys competition and the overall title at the Southwest Iowa Cup golf tournament held Tuesday at Lakeshore Golf and Country Club in Afton and Crestmoor Golf Club in Creston.

Seven teams from the region competed in the event that began the day with the girls playing in Creston and the boys in Afton. They swapped locations for the second round of nine holes in the afternoon.

Original calculations Tuesday afternoon listed East Union as the overall winner, but tournament officials announced Wednesday that Winterset’s combined scores (437 girls and 322 boys) was the corrected winning total of 759 strokes. Mount Ayr was second at 766 followed closely by East Union at 769.

Creston was fifth overall at 833, taking third place in the boys competition at 344 and fifth in the girls event at 489. The Panthers were just one stroke behind the Mount Ayr boys, which took second at 343.

Creston’s individual highlight for the day was boys runner-up medalist Marshall Long, who shot a 76 for the day to finish one stroke behind the 75 by repeat medalist Zayne Eslinger of East Union.

“Marshall did well. He competed in tournaments over the summer last year and that helped him,” Creston coach Steve Shantz said. “He has always had a great swing and will continue to work on finishing strong.”

With events last week cancelled because of weather, it was the first competition for the 2025 Panther golf teams. Temperatures exceeded 80 degrees, but a southerly wind of 21 mph gusting above 30 made for some challenging golf conditions.

“It was our first competition for the year and being 18 holes, I think they were a little tired at the end,” Shantz said. “We had a fifth place finish overall. Ricci Johnston tied for 10th place as our No. 1 girls player for the first time.”

Likewise, East Union coach Dave Campbell was pleased with his team third-place overall finish, led by the Eagle girls winning their portion of the tournament with a score of 408. Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley tied for second at 423.

“For it being early in the season and with the weather we have had to practice, in, I was proud with how we competed,” Campbell said. “That was a great win by the girls team that’s showing improvement every day. The boys team is still trying to hit their potential, but they will keep working towards their goal. Zayne had a good day as he repeated as boys champion. He knows he can even play better.”

Defending state champion Jaylee Shaffer of Mount Ayr was girls medalist with a 74, finishing 13 strokes ahead of runner-up Mallory Russell of Nodaway Valley at 87. The East Union duo of Gwen Nixon and Kathryn Lack finished third and fourth, respectively, at 94 and 97.

Winterset boys (322) also won the Tri-County Shootout trophy, an event held annually between Creston, Clarke and Winterset long before this SW Iowa Cup was started. Creston was second in that competition at 344 and Clarke third at 373.

SW Iowa Cup

Overall scoring (boys-girls combined) — 1. Winterset 759; 2. Mount Ayr 766; 3. East Union 769; 4. Nodaway Valley 782; 5. Creston 833; 6. Lenox 845; 7. Clarke 876.

Girls team scoring (Creston-Afton) — 1. East Union 206-202 — 408; 2. (tie) Nodaway Valley 212-211 — 423 and Mount Ayr 214-209 — 423; 4. Winterset 209-228 — 437; 5. Creston 247-242 — 489; 6. Lenox 248-246 — 494; 7. Clarke 252-251 — 503.

Girls leaders — 1. Jaylee Shaffer, Mount Ayr, 74; 2. Mallory Russell, Nodaway Valley, 87; 3. Gwen Nixon, East Union, 94; 4. Kathryn Lack, East Union, 97; 5. Sophia Davis, Clarke, 100; 6. Katherine Johnston, Winterset, 100.

Boys team scoring — 1. Winterset 166-156 — 322; 2. Mount Ayr 179-164 — 343; 3. Creston 176-168 — 344; 320; 4. Lenox 182-169 — 351; 5. Nodaway Valley 178-181 — 359; 6. East Union 184-177 — 361 7. Clarke 186-187 — 373.

Boys leaders — 1. Zayne Eslinger, East Union, 75; 2. Marshall Long, Creston, 76; 3. Cael Hirsch, Winterset, 80; 4. Jaxson Greene, Mount Ayr, 82; 5. Laramie Stoaks, Lenox, 82; 6. Kody Nelson, Winterset, 82.

Boys Tri-County Shootout — 1. Winterset 310; 2. Creston 320; 3. Clarke 330.

Creston girls — Ricci Johnston 53-58 — 111; Kennedy Strider 57-62 — 119; Nora Barton 68-63 — 121; Izzy Spencer 64-64 — 128; Brooke Huck 72-67 — 139.

Creston boys — Marshall Long 37-39 — 76; Kylen Parsons 45-41 — 86; Branden Spencer 41-49 — 90; Garrett Troutwine 45-47 — 92; Gabe Blazek 45-55 — 99; Chasse Downing 61-55 — 116.

East Union girls — Gwen Nixon 48-47 — 95; Kathryn Lack 48-49 — 97; Mia Tallmon 55-54 — 109; Marlys Mitchell 57-52 — 109; Kaelee Buffington 62-56 — 118; Willa Hayes 55-64 — 119.

East Union boys — Zayne Eslinger 37-38 — 75; Slade Turner 47-47 — 94; Bryce Pettit 47-48 — 95; Kyson Kessler 47-51 — 98; Brock Jones 46-59 — 105; Coltyn Kelley 55-55 — 110.

Nodaway Valley girls — Mallory Russell 44-43 — 87; Brailynn Coffman 50-50 — 100; Taryn Gutierrez 53-54 — 107; Aubree Williams 65-65 — 130; Chloe Rardin 67-64 — 131; Aleyah Pilgreen 67-64 — 131.

Nodaway Valley boys — Ty Rardin 43-41 — 84; Sam Miller 45-41 — 86; Keyin Steeve 42-47 — 89; Jack Berg 51-49 — 100; Derek Raasch 51-61 — 112; Ty Strode 56-56 — 112.

Mount Ayr girls — Jaylee Shaffer 38-36 — 74; Izzy Gilbertson 52-55 — 107; Abby Larson 62-58 — 120; Claire Routh 62-60 — 122; Alyssa Doolittle 64-70 — 134; Dallas Newton 79-80 — 159.

Mount Ayr boys — Jaxson Greene 38-44 — 82; Tanner Streit 41-44 — 85; Tytan Gourley 44-42 — 86; Avery Wolfe 41-51 — 92; Drew Graham 50-49 — 99; Nathan Rusk 48-52 — 100.

Lenox girls — Genesis Wimer 61-56 — 117; Brynna Petersen 56-65 — 121; Lilli Vais 69-61 — 130; Sadie Brown 62-69 — 131; Jocelyn Smith 72-64 — 136.

Lenox boys — Laramie Stoaks 38-44 — 82; Adrian Schlapia 41-44 — 85; Dayton Tull 47-45 — 92; Cash Brammer 45-49 — 94; Cade Cordell 45-49 — 94; Winston Adams 46-50 — 96.