MARSHALL — After winning the Section 3AA championship and qualifying for the state tournament as a team last year, the Marshall boys golf team graduated four of its six state meet participants. Still, with key returners such as Luke Ehlers and Deacon Wing, the Tigers will look to play another competitive season of golf in 2025.

Ehlers qualified for the state meet as an individual in his sophomore season and contributed to the Tigers’ fifth-place finish at the Class AA meet as a junior. Now in his senior season, Ehlers has a veteran role. While he’s one of six seniors on the roster (along with Xander Antony, Logan Eickhoff, Grady Meulebroeck, Brenden Weller and Owen Wilts), he’s the only one who competed at the state or section meet last year.

Marshall head coach Kari Ehlers said she and Luke had a conversation recently about Luke’s time being an eighth grader on varsity, and how his experience then can inform his role now.

“It’s a great opportunity for Luke to reflect on his career at Marshall High School with the gold team and just to share his experiences with the younger guys,” coach Ehlers said. “All of us coaches know that sometimes when we tell our players something, it usually sticks, but maybe the boys listen a bit better when one of their peers is also telling them. So Luke has a lot of knowledge to share, not just for the golf game, but also how to handle being really nervous or handling adverse weather conditions, or how to not give up and really kind of put your nose down and power through when you’re not playing your best golf.”

Deacon Wing is Marshall’s lone other returning scoring member from last year’s state meet. As a freshman, Wing shot a 3-over 122 across the two-day event to place 46th out of 88 golfers.

In addition to the large group of sophomores and juniors on the roster, Marshall also has an eighth grader in Eli Winn and a freshman in Colton Werner. In its season debut on Saturday, Marshall had Winn as its third-seeded golfer.

“[Winn] has proven with the boys, playing qualifying rounds with them and hitting at the range, that he has a lot of talent,” coach Ehlers said, adding that Winn has looked ready to go after playing in competitive tournaments throughout the summer. “I’ve been very impressed to watch his demeanor on the golf course. He’s very calm, and I’d say he’s got a really bright future.”

Ehlers also cited sophomores Jaylen Koster and Ethan Wendorff as players to watch for the season, saying that Koster has tightened up his game over the summer after getting limited varsity experience as a freshman early last year and that Wendorff has long, beautiful swing that looks ready to transition to the varsity level.

After putting together some competitive postseason performances last season, the bar is set high for the Tigers. The Tigers are looking to place top 3 in the Big South Conference meet and the section meet, coach Ehlers said, adding that last year’s section win serves as a reminder to the group that they’re capable of big things if they play their best golf on the right days.