WATERLOO — West Marshall junior golfer Hunter Polley claimed meet medalist honors just once this season, but he picked one heck of a time to do it.

Polley proved last year’s fourth-place finish was no fluke when he fired off 10 birdies in two days at Gates Park Golf Course to become West Marshall’s first state golf champion, claiming the Class 2A title after Wednesday’s final 18 holes.

The slender left-hander led the field by one stroke after shooting 3-under-par 69 on Tuesday, and he closed it out with Wednesday’s 1-under 71 for a winning 140 total. He paced the field by four strokes, holding off 2023 state champion Judd Jirovsky of Grundy Center and two others who finished at 144.

“Oh man, I’m almost in disbelief,” Polley said. “It’s something you work towards for years and you finally get it, it almost doesn’t feel real yet.”

Polley, who played the back nine first, played bogey-free for his first 11 holes on Wednesday before consecutive bogeys brought his round back to even. He settled in with four-straight pars before closing with a picturesque birdie on the ninth and final hole.

“I had a really good putt on 18 to close it out,” he said. “Probably a 25-footer for birdie, and that’s about the best way I could ask to end it.”

By ignoring the rest of the scores as best as he could, Polley played his game without worrying about anybody else’s.

“I had a good idea at that point,” he said. “I didn’t want to get too excited before I knew any scores, but I knew if I made that putt, there was a good shot that I would at least be in a playoff or be in a good position to win it.”

Jirovsky was actually tied with Polley at one point, likely unbeknownst to both golfers. The Grundy Center junior made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to get to 6-under for the round, but closed with double bogey-bogey-par to play an even 36 on the back nine and settle into a tie for second after his 33-36–69.

Instead, Polley’s closing birdie was just the cherry on top.

“I try and stay away from the scores as much as I can,” Polley said. “I don’t want to make any decisions based off of the leaderboard. I just want to keep playing my game the whole time.

“I tried to keep everything consistent and really just build off of yesterday, and I didn’t want to change anything that was obviously working and just tried to keep a level head the whole time and keep trucking.”

Polley took the opening-day lead with a 3-under 69 that was sparked by a stretch of six birdies in seven holes. Waterloo Columbus senior Drew Lindsay was within one stroke after Tuesday’s 70, but Lindsay fell back to that three-way tie for the second-best score of the tournament.

Jirovsky took the runner-up trophy after winning a cardback over Lindsay and Rock Valley sophomore Trey Swanson, who shot a blistering 4-under 68 on Wednesday to charge into contention.

“It means so much to me to be able to represent the school and hopefully start something that can go on for a few years and get a good culture going,” Polley said.

Steeped in culture, Grundy Center boys golf got its sixth runner-up trophy after coming up short against Waterloo Columbus in the race for the 2A team title. The Sailors claimed their ninth state championship, and first since 2013, with a 14-stroke cushion on the Spartans.

Columbus won with a 600 total, followed by Grundy Center (614), Aplington-Parkersburg (636), PCM (639) and first-time qualifier East Marshall (641).

Waterloo Columbus was the only team to finish ahead of Grundy Center this season — all of them in Waterloo: at the Sailor Invitational at Sunnyside Golf & Country Club; at the district meet at South Hills Golf Course; and this week’s state meet at Gates Park.

The Spartans shot 309-305–614 with counting scores coming from Jirovsky, Preston Martens, Jaxon Kiewiet and Eli Wegmann all four days. Martens, who tied for fifth last season, settled in with seventh place (75-73–148) in his final high school meet.

Alex Kiewiet (81-90–171) and Jalen Kirkpatrick (90-84–174) also competed for the Spartans, who were state champions in 2023.

East Marshall’s maiden voyage to state was a strong one as the Mustangs moved up from being seeded seventh to finishing in fifth behind three fellow North Iowa Cedar League schools (Columbus, Grundy Center and A-P) as well as PCM. East Marshall finished behind only those three NICL teams during the regular season while also beating PCM to win the West Marshall Tournament on April 21 at Lincoln Valley Golf Course in State Center.

“We were always close to the other NICL teams, but we just couldn’t seal the deal to get paired with them for today and then couldn’t get past PCM to take fourth like we did at conference,” said East Marshall head coach Jordan Augspurger. “They played well. It was fun to play against teams we hadn’t seen before, but overall, by the time all the scores were in, I think everybody was happy with how it went.”

East Marshall was just two strokes behind PCM in fourth place and five back of Aplington-Parkersburg in third in the 12-team tournament.

“We came in seeded seventh so we were just hoping to improve from there,” Augspurger said. “We would have liked to obviously get fourth so we could get some medals or even third so we get a trophy, but we still did alright.”

East Marshall junior Cody Weaver claimed sixth place after shooting an even-par 72 on Wednesday for a 75-72–147 total. Weaver parred all 18 holes in the final round.

“He had some decent birdie looks, but then he also made some tough par-save putts, too,” Augspurger said. “I’ve never see that. It was a completely blah scorecard — no squares, no circles, just numbers.”

Weaver’s younger brother Rylan, who celebrated his first hole-in-one over the weekend at Wakonda Club in Des Moines, shot 79-76–155 to tie for 14th place. Jackson Bidwell carded consecutive rounds of 81 for his 162.

Wyatt Stalzer’s first-day 84 counted to the Mustangs’ total, and on Wednesday it was Austin Crandon’s 93 contributing to the team score. Stalzer shot 84-96–180, Crandon came in with 98-93–191, and lone senior Gage Searle shot 103-98–201.

“They gained a lot of valuable experience,” Augspurger said of his squad. “It’s a little bit different pressure, teeing off in front of a gallery, but overall it was a great experience for the guys and the families and the coaches as well.”

Waverly-Shell Rock won the 3A team title at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls, while Boyden-Hull got the 1A crown at South Hills.

Iowa High School Boys State Golf Championship

CLASS 2A

At Waterloo

Gates Park Golf Course, par 72

Team Standings — 1. Waterloo Columbus 302-298–600, 2. Grundy Center 309-305–614, 3. Aplington-Parkersburg 318-318–636, 4. PCM 319-320–639, 5. East Marshall 319-322–641, 6. Ridge View 325-323–648, 7. Panorama 322-329–651, 8. Central Lee 325-329–654, 9. (tie) Carroll Kuemper 331-327–658, Pella Christian 336-322–658, 11. Earlham 339-321–660, 12. MMCRU, Marcus 349-341–690.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Hunter Polley, West Marshall, 69-71–140; 2. Judd Jirovsky, GC, 75-69–144; 3. Drew Lindsay, WC, 70-74–144; 4. Trey Swanson, Rock Valley, 76-68–144; 5. Max Schuchmann, WC, 76-70–146; 6. Cody Weaver, EM, 75-72–147; 7. Preston Martens, GC, 75-73–148; 8. (tie) Brandon Tournier, Oelwein, 77-73–150; Heath Voigt, Osage, 75-75–150; Jeffery McDanel, PCM, 75-75–150.

GRUNDY CENTER (614) — Jirovsky 75-69–144, Martens 75-73–148, Jaxon Kiewiet 79-81–160, Eli Wegmann 80-82–162, Alex Kiewiet 81-90–171, Jalen Kirkpatrick 90-84–174.

EAST MARSHALL (641) — Cody Weaver 75-72–147, Rylan Weaver 79-76–155, Jackson Bidwell 81-81–162, Wyatt Stalzer 84-96–180, Austin Crandon 98-93–191, Gage Searle 103-98–201.

WEST MARSHALL — Polley 69-71–140.