Pair shares boys state golf title

His emphatic fist pump after making birdie on the 18th hole had the personification of someone who had just taken the individual lead in the Class 3A golf tournament. The ear-piercing yelp from his mother, stationed behind the final green at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids, was a pretty good indication, too.

But Paul Moberg didn't know until a short time later that the putt was good for co-medalist honors along with Eastview's Joe Petrulo, the first-round leader.

Instead, all that reaction was because Moberg's 8-foot putt at the last was good for a 1-under 71 -- the senior's first below-par round in competition. Ever.

"I had no idea how close I was to the lead -- I didn't think I'd make top 10," said Moberg, who has routinely been third or fourth in the lineup for Forest Lake this season.

A hockey goalie at heart, Moberg missed the first part of this golf season while playing for Team Minnesota at a hockey showcase tournament in Chicago. He then missed practice rounds at Bunker Hills last weekend while trying out for the United States Hockey League.

Add to that his Day 1 score of 5-over 77 and his sharing top honors is even more unbelievable.

"He knows how to get the job done under pressure; he understands," Rangers coach John Buck said. "He gets that look in his eyes. I love having kids like that."

While it's Moberg who is the lefthanded golfer, Petrulo said he's the one who felt like Phil Mickelson on Wednesday.

Petrulo bogeyed five holes in the final round against zero birdies.

"I bogeyed the easiest hole [No. 4] on the front nine," he lamented. "But this is exciting. No one can take this away from me."

He sank a 6-foot putt on No. 18 to clinch a tie with Moberg, who finished one group ahead.

"We're happy to be co-champs, I think," Petrulo said. "No one wants a playoff where one goes home sad."

Moberg wasn't the only resident of Forest Hills Golf Club to take home the gold. Forest Lake junior Betsy Kelly won the individual girls title. Her two-day total of 151 was four shots better than Steffi Neisen of New Prague.

First-round leader Gretchen Huhnerkoch wound up tied for third with Eastview's Sara Detlefsen.

"I was really hoping to do [this] today," said Kelly, who finished 12th, third and ninth in her previous three trips to state. "My short game was good today, thank God. I was in every bunker possible, on the beach all day."

After consecutive pars on the front nine, Kelly finished with four bogeys, three birdies and two pars on the back.

"I kind of went on a roller coaster," Kelly said. "But it's sweet another Forest Lake player could win."

Just to advance to state, Wayzata's boys' team needed to overcome a six-shot Day 1 deficit in the Section 6 field. It did so with flying colors, eventually finishing seven strokes ahead of Edina.

So when Trojans players entered Wednesday's final round two shots down to Eden Prairie, they knew the mission.

Wayzata took the championship with a team score of 606, five ahead of runner-up Forest Lake and 11 clear of the Eagles.

"I knew that we'd have to go all-out," said Blake Vettel, who did his part when he birdied No. 18 to finish one-shot off the individual lead. "We're a second-day team."

In the girls' team race, Lakeville North's 692 edged defending champion Woodbury by a stroke.