Rangers Hunt for State Title

As early spring snows kept them from the links, the Forest Lake boys golf team dreamt of the warmth of June, when they just might be raising their school's first-ever State title. "We have a real strong team," coach John Buck said. "The guys are looking pretty good this year." The Rangers came into the 2008 season with a saturated lineup of quality performers, in spite of losing last season's section champion, Kyle Lewis, to graduation. "We have a lot of depth," Buck, in his fourth season as Forest Lake coach, said. Supporting Buck's claim, the Rangers return the other five State participants from 2007, including Jeremy Tetrault, who finished in a three-way tie for ninth place with the aforementioned Lewis and Park of Cottage Grove's Billy Barnhart. Tetrault is one of four seniors who will look to help guide Forest Lake to the championship after finishing second to Minnetonka in last year's Class AA tournament. Joining him are Peter Follese, a fellow top-10 section finisher who took 29th at State in 2007, Andrew Kelly, who Buck called "the team's most consistent" golfer for much of last season and placed 39th at State and Joe Pelton, who ascends from the junior varsity ranks to the top squad. "There are some big shoes to fill with Kyle leaving," Buck said. "But we have a very good crop of seniors." It's not all about the upperclassmen, however, as two of the Rangers top players are not making their collegiate plans just yet. Doug Jeans began his sophomore season by winning the season-opening River Oaks Invitational in Cottage Grove after placing 63rd at State to wrap up his first year on the varsity. An All-Conference honoree as a freshman in 2007, Jeans fought off wind gusts that bettered 45 miles per hour and confounded the 21-team field to record a 77. "It was a rough day out there," Buck said. "Tough way to start the season, but Doug did very well." Fellow underclassman John Young, a strapping junior who also has seen success on the gridiron and hardcourt for the Rangers, finished 25th at State last year and will be called on to attain greater heights this spring. "He's a very consistent player," Buck said of Young. "We're looking for him to take that next step." Two other juniors, Ryan Hanson and Paul Moberg, started the season on the junior varsity, but will be called on if injury or performance issues warrant. "Both are capable of playing varsity," Buck said. The Rangers will have to be at the top of their game in 2008, as a stacked Suburban East Conference that features two fellow 2007 State qualifiers (Cretin-Derham Hall and Stillwater) will offer the team no quarter before a powerful section lineup guards the gates to this year's State Tournament. "It's a real good group," Buck said. "We've got four defending section champions in our section." Expected to battle the Rangers for the Section 7 title later this month are Grand Rapids, Princeton, Anoka and Elk River. Whoever emerges from the two-day tussle at Grand National Golf Course in Hinckley will compete for the inaugural Class AAA crown. "It doesn't change much for us," Buck said of the move from Class AA to AAA. "We're still playing pretty much the same teams." The Minnesota State High School League added the new classification in the offseason, meaning that there will be a trio of State champs crowned June 6 at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids. Forest Lake intends to lay claim to the "big school" title. "We're going to try to win the conference, section and State," Buck said. "We set the goals high — I'm always thinking positive." It's that kind of positive thinking that has the Rangers playing for today while dreaming of what could come tomorrow. "Golf is a fickle game," Buck said. "I just tell our kids to remain humble, because you never know how it's going to go."