After a month and a half of competing, Powell golf’s season has concluded.

The Panthers ventured to Evanston over the weekend for the Class 3A State Tournament. Of the 15 squads that participated, the Powell High School boys finished ninth overall with scores of 381 and 377 on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“Those were two solid days for us on a course that we were not too familiar with,” head coach Troy Hildebrand said.

For the second year in a row, senior George Higgins finished as an all-state selection. Higgins shot a 79 on Friday, then, amid tough weather conditions on Saturday, fired a 78 to finish sixth individually.

Parker Paxton of Riverton won the event with a five-under-par, 70-68 showing. The Worland boys took the team title with scores of 304 and 316.

Though state was his last high school golf event, Higgins set a mark for other Panthers to strive for.

“His mental toughness and ability to focus on each hole Saturday was a great lesson for our younger players,” Hildebrand said. “George will be sorely missed next fall but his contributions to our program will be felt for the next few years.”

In second for the Panthers, freshman Isaiah Woyak had his best round on Friday, shooting an 89, and he followed that up with a 99 on Saturday.

“Isaiah gained a ton of valuable experience this fall and with a strong summer of work he has a chance to be one of our leaders next fall,” Hildebrand said.

Another freshman, Andrew Jones, put together back-to-back respectable rounds in Evanston of 104 and 101.

“Andrew does a nice job of getting on the course and playing some tournament golf during the summer and that will pay big dividends for him moving forward,” the coach said.

Gunnar Erickson shot a 109-99 on the weekend and  consistently hit the ball well, despite struggles on the putting green on Friday. Hildebrand noted Erickson’s ability to rebound after bad shots, saying, “I love how he approaches each round and how well he battles through tough times. As he continues to grow and get more time on the course he will only get better.”

Junior Brandon Wentz struggled on Friday, shooting a 114, but improved on Saturday with the best round of his varsity career — a 101.

“If Brandon can get out on the course next summer he has a chance to make a big jump for his senior season,” the coach said.

Powell’s lone girl at state, senior Maddi Hackenberg, shot a 113-127. The rounds were only the fourth and fifth of Hackenberg’s competitive golf career.

“She worked very hard this fall to make the most of the short season and this was a nice way for her to finish it up,” Hildebrand said.

Lovell freshman Erika Cook won the girls event by shooting 76-80, helping the Lady Bulldogs to the state title.

Though the program will be without its top golfer a year from now, Hildebrand thinks 2020 set his teams up for success going forward. He noted that he had one of the largest teams ever this fall — 23 players, including 13 freshmen.

“I am excited and optimistic about the future of our team with the players that we have returning,” Hildebrand said. “It will be interesting to see who is able to get out on the course next summer and put the work in to help us be successful next fall. We will have tremendous competition for the spots to travel each week in 2021.”