Ash Edwards (65 in 5A), Nicholas Brooks (66 in 3A), Joey Banks (69 in 2A) and 3 golfers (70 in 4A) lead at halfway point of boys state high school tournaments
By Gary Baines – 10/6/2025
A couple of junior golfers who proved over the summer that they can go low on the scorecard did just that on Monday to take the individual leads in their respective classifications at the boys state high school tournaments.
Fairview High School sophomore Ash Edwards, the son of University of Colorado men’s golf head coach Roy Edwards, made nine birdies en route to shooting a 6-under-par 65 at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction and grabbed a one-stroke lead in the 5A tournament. This past summer, Edwards won the Colorado Junior PGA Championship by seven strokes after closing with a 64.
Meanwhile, Lutheran senior Nicholas Brooks chalked up seven birdies while posting a 6-under-par 66 that gave him three-stroke lead in the 3A tournament at Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle, west of Vail. Over the summer, Brooks won the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior with a 22-under-par total for three rounds. That’s the third-best score, relative to par, in the long history of the AJGA.
With one round remaining in the four boys state high school tournaments, here’s how things stand:
— 5A at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction: Fairview didn’t qualify a full team for the 5A state meet, but the two players the school did send to the tournament sure stood out on Monday.
With Edwards firing a 65 and teammate Miles Kuhl, a senior, managing a 66, they’re 1-2 in the individual standings at Bookcliff. Sharing second place with Kuhl is defending champion Gavin Amella, a senior at Castle View who will play his college golf at CU.
Kuhl, who was presented a Future Famer award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on Friday, went bogey-free in round 1. He’s San Diego State-bound next year. Amella chalked up seven birdies and two bogeys.
In all, eight players broke part on Monday at Bookcliff.
Arapahoe leads the team standings at 3 over par, but it’s a very tight affair as eight teams are within six strokes of the Warriors. Ralston Valley (+4) is in second place and Denver East (+5) in third.
— 4A at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont: The 4A individual competition is even closer, with three golfers tied for the lead and another five within two strokes at Fox Hill.
Seniors Jack Moats from Air Academy and Hunter Simmons from Grand Junction share the top spot at even-par 70 with Northridge junior Everett Lewis. Moats carded three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey. Hunter and Lewis each made two birdies and two bogeys.
One back of the leaders, in fourth place, is Mead senior Stryker Leick. Defending champion Brayden Destefano of Cheyenne Mountain opened with a 74 and shares 14th place.
Broomfield leads team-wise by five after recording an 8-over-par total. Loveland (+13) is second and Mead (+15) third.
— 3A at Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle: Brooks, the first Coloradan since 2017 to advance to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur, put some distance between himself and his nearest competitors by finishing with seven birdies and a bogey in his round of 66.
The left-hander, who is headed to Butler next year, is three ahead of the second-place individual at Eagle Ranch, Mullen senior Jackson Beldy, who had a roller-coaster round with an eagle, four birdies, one bogey and a double bogey.
Sharing third place at 71 are seniors Dayne Schmidke of Eaton and Jack Brayman of Peak to Peak.
Lutheran and Mullen are tied for the team lead at 5 over par, while Resurrection Christian is two behind.
— 2A at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo: In the second 2A boys state golf tournament ever held, Forge freshman Joey Banks managed the only under-par score of the day as he posted a 1-under 69 at Elmwood.
Banks made three birdies and two bogeys in the opening round.
Swink senior Noah Pearson birdied two of his last three holes to card an even-par 70, good for second place, Liberty Common freshman Gage Poulsen joined Monte Vista junior Connor Mellot in a share of third place at 71. Frontier Academy sophomore Isaiah Fowler, who competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National this year, recorded a 73 and shares fifth place.
In a tight team race, Frontier Academy (19 over par) leads Forge by three and Telluride by four.
Top Team and Individual Scores at the Boys State High School Golf Tournaments
5A AT PAR-71 BOOKCLIFF CC IN GRAND JUNCTION
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Arapahoe 216
Ralston Valley 217
Denver East 218
Cherokee Trail 219
Valor Christian 219
Arvada West 219
Individual
Ash Edwards, Fairview 65
Miles Kuhl, Fairview 66
Gavin Amella, Castle View 66
Nick Clinton, Arapahoe 67
Connor Young, Columbine 68
Wyatt Montoya, Chatfield 70
Sean Wisler, ThunderRidge 70
Will Farber, Regis Jesuit 70
Brayden Forte, Cherokee Trail 71
Elijah Johnson, Denver East 71
Campbell McFadden, Valor Christian 71
Jack Sawarynski, Arvada West 71
Mac Buckley, Arapahoe 71
Gregory White, Eaglecrest 71
Mason Meyer, Ralston Valley 71
Collin Black, Fruita Monument 71
4A AT PAR-70 FOX HILL CLUB IN LONGMONT
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Broomfield 218
Loveland 223
Mead 225
Air Academy 226
Dakota Ridge 227
Individual
Jack Moats, Air Academy 70
Everett Lewis, Northridge 70
Hunter Simmons, Grand Junction 70
Stryker Leick, Mead 71
Max Music, Broomfield 72
Rev Bonniwell, Broomfield 72
Cole Underwood, Loveland 72
Billy Verstraate, Highlands Ranch 72
Will Sallee, Loveland 73
Cayden Besler, Falcon 73
Landen Stubblefield, Dakota Ridge 73
Collin Tampa, Dakota Ridge 73
Zack Lacrosse, Skyline 73
3A AT PAR-72 EAGLE RANCH GOLF CLUB IN EAGLE
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Lutheran 221
Mullen 221
Resurrection Christian 223
Basalt 226
Timnath 227
Individual
Nicholas Brooks, Lutheran 66
Jackson Beldy, Mullen 69
Dayne Schmidke, Eaton 71
Jack Brayman, Peak to Peak 71
Hayden Dorsey, Manitou Springs 72
Bobby Flaherty, Holy Family 72
Cayden Hajek, Resurrection Christian 73
Hudson Arnold, Basalt 73
Greysen Kilburn, Timnath 73
Levi McDowell, Resurrection Christian 74
2A AT PAR-70 ELMOOD GOLF COURSE IN PUEBLO
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Frontier Academy 229
Forge 232
Telluride 233
Brush 236
Vail Christian 236
Sterling 236
Individual
Joey Banks, Forge 69
Noah Pearson, Swing 70
Gage Poulsen, Liberty Common 71
Connor Mellott, Monte Vista 71
Isaiah Fowler, Frontier Academy 73
Ashton Park, Cedaredge 73
Teague Murrey, Jefferson Academy 74
Banks O’Brien, Telluride 75
Bryson Elam, Rangely 75
Collen Todd, Golden View Classical Academy 75
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com