Miles Kuhl claims 5A state title as Fairview golfers go 1-2; seniors sweep as Hunter Simmons (4A), Nicholas Brooks (3A) and Noah Pearson (2A) also win
By Gary Baines – 10/7/2025
On Friday night, Fairview senior Miles Kuhl received a Future Famer award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.
On Tuesday, he reinforced the notion.
The San Diego State-bound Kuhl closed out his high school golf career in fine fashion by claiming the individual title at the Class 5A boys state high school tournament at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction. And it also didn’t hurt that his Fairview teammate, sophomore Ash Edwards, placed second, giving the Knights a 1-2 finish in the state’s largest classification.
And Kuhl wasn’t the only one to wrap up his time as a high school golfer with a victory on Tuesday. Fellow seniors Hunter Simmons of Grand Junction (4A at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont), Nicholas Brooks of Lutheran (3A at Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle) and Noah Pearson of Swink (2A at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo) joined Kuhl in a senior sweep of this year’s boys state individual championships.
Earning team titles on Tuesday were Cherokee Trail (5A; Note: Fairview didn’t have the required three or four state qualifiers to compete for the team championship), Mead (4A), Lutheran (3A) and Frontier Academy (2A). It was the first boys state high school golf team championship for Cherokee Trail, Mead and Frontier Academy, and the second for Lutheran.
Here how things went in each classification:
— 5A at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction: Kuhl — a member of Team Colorado, an elite junior golf group representing the state as part of a fledgling USGA national development program — switched places with his Fairview teammate Edwards on Tuesday as the Knights were 1-2 after both rounds.
Kuhl birdied the final hole at Bookcliff and played his final 12 holes in 4 under to emerge with the individual victory. He made six birdies and two bogeys on day 2 for a 4-under-par 67 which left him at 9 under overall. This win goes with two in the AJGA Wyndham Clark Presented by the CGA as some of the bigger ones of Kuhl’s junior golf career. He also played in last year’s U.S. Amateur and won two Colorado junior majors in 2023. Kuhl finished third at the state tournament last year and second in 2023.
Edwards, the first-round leader and the winner of the Colorado Junior PGA Championship this year, birdied his final two holes — and five of his last seven to go with a bogey — to finish runner-up at 8 under par. The son of University of Colorado men’s golf head coach Roy Edwards, Ash made 15 birdies in 36 holes at state. He placed sixth at state as a freshman in 2024.
Senior Brayden Forte of Cherokee Trail, the CGA State Junior champion this year, finished third — two back of Kuhl — after shooting a tournament-best 64 on Tuesday. He eagled the 18th hole and went bogey-free in the second round. Like Kuhl, Forte is headed to San Diego State for college.
Defending champion Gavin Amella of Castle View, a senior who is CU-bound, was among those who tied for fourth.
Forte’s stellar final round helped Cherokee Trail to the team title as it beat Denver East in a playoff after both finished at 4 under par. Joining Forte on the championship team were senior Dalton Sisneros (eighth place individually), freshman Jeffrey Chen (24th) and senior Braydon O’Neill (38th).
With Denver East finishing runner-up in the team race, Arvada West (+10) took third.
— 4A at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont: Just one player — champion Simmons from Grand Junction — managed to finish under par for 36 holes on the challenging Fox Hill Club course. Simmons, one of three players tied for the lead after round 1, overcame a double-bogey 7 on the seventh hole Tuesday and birdied No. 18 for a 1-under-par 69 — and a 1-under total overall.
He had five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on Tuesday to emerge as the champion a year after placing 10th at state.
Senior Stryker Leick of Mead (71-70) and junior Everett Lewis of Northridge (70-71) shared second place at 1 over par. Defending champion Brayden Destefano, a junior from Cheyenne Mountain, placed seventh (74-72).
At 20 over par, Mead claimed the team title by 10 over Broomfield, with Highlands Ranch placing third. Joining Leick on Mead’s all-senior championship squad were Booth Hayes (ninth place) and Howie Thompson (17th). Oddly, it was just Mead’s second team victory of the season.
— 3A at Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle: It only seems appropriate that the player who this past summer posted the third-lowest 54-hole score in AJGA history would record the best total, relative to par, in this week’s state tournaments.
Brooks, a left-hander who is headed to Butler next year, ended up at 10 under par for two rounds at Eagle Ranch, going 66-68 and winning by seven. Over the two rounds, he made a chip-in eagle (at the 303-yard, par-4 14th hole on Tuesday), 12 birdies and four bogeys. He was 12 under through 32 holes, but bogeyed Nos. 15 and 18 on Tuesday.
Brooks won the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior this past summer — going 22 under par in the process — and became the first Coloradan since 2017 to advance to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur. He placed ninth last year at state.
Seniors also finished second and third on Tuesday, with Peak to Peak’s Jack Brayman (71-70) being the runner-up and Eaton’s Dayne Schmidke (71-71) next best.
At 4 over par, Lutheran cruised to an 11-stroke victory in the team competition. Timnath (+15) was second and Mullen (+16) third. Along with Brooks, on the winning team were junior Crew Fitzgerald (sixth place), junior Gavin Pittman (33rd) and sophomore Van Simmons (39th).
— 2A at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo: Pearson prevailed in a playoff — via a tap-in birdie on the third hole of sudden death — for the individual title after he and Frontier Academy sophomore Isaiah Fowler tied at 3 over par through 36 holes of regulation. Pearson went 70-73 and Fowler 73-70 to force extra holes.
Pearson, who tied for seventh at last year’s inaugural 2A boys state meet, played his final two holes of regulation in 1 under par on Tuesday, while Fowler was 2 over on that same final stretch.
Freshman Gage Poulsen of Liberty Common (71-75) and Cedaredge sophomore Ashton Park (73-73) tied for third place at 6 over par.
Frontier Academy claimed the team title by 14 strokes, ending up at 32 over par. Fowler, a Drive, Chip & Putt National Finalist earlier this year, was joined on the winning team by senior Hayden Leblount (20th place), junior Canton Sandstrom (20th) and junior Owen Steward (41st).
Forge and Brush (+46) tied for second in the team competition.
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)
Cherokee Trail 219-203—422 (won playoff)
Denver East 218-204—422
Arvada West 219-217—436
Arapahoe 216-221—437
Erie 225-216—441
Individual
Miles Kuhl, Fairview 66-67–133
Ash Edwards, Fairview 65-69—134
Brayden Forte, Cherokee Trail 71-64—135
Gavin Amella, Castle View 66-72–138
Campbell McFadden, Valor Christian 71-67–138
Nick Clinton, Arapahoe 67-71–138
Elijah Johnson, Denver East 71-68–139
Dalton Sisneros, Cherokee Trail 74-66–140
Connor Young, Columbine 68-73–141
Wyatt Montoya, Chatfield 70-71–141
Gregory White, Eaglecrest 71-70–141
Collin Black, Fruita Monument 71-70–141
Alexander Kukreja, Denver East 72-69–141
4A AT PAR-70 FOX HILL CLUB IN LONGMONT
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Mead 225-215—440
Broomfield 218-232–450
Highlands Ranch 228-226–454
Monarch 232-224—456
Dakota Ridge 227-229–456
Individual
Hunter Simmons, Grand Junction 70-69–139
Everett Lewis, Northridge 70-71–141
Stryker Leick, Mead 71-70–141
Will Sallee, Loveland 73-69–142
Cayden Besler, Falcon 73-70–143
Zack Lacrosse, Skyline 73-72–145
Brayden Destefano, Cheyenne Mountain 74-72–146
Billy Verstraate, Highlands Ranch 72-75–147
Wyatt Bogue, Longmont 77-71—148
Parker Shaw, Pueblo West 74-74–148
Booth Hayes, Mead 76-72–148
3A AT PAR-72 EAGLE RANCH GOLF CLUB IN EAGLE
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Lutheran 221-215—436
Timnath 227-220—447
Mullen 221-227—448
Aspen 229-225—454
Resurrection Christian 223-233—456
Individual
Nicholas Brooks, Lutheran 66-68–134
Jack Brayman, Peak to Peak 71-70–141
Dayne Schmidke, Eaton 71-71–142
Greysen Kilburn, Timnath 73-71–144
Jackson Beldy, Mullen 69-76–145
Hayden Dorsey, Manitou Springs 72-75–147
Crew Fitzgerald, Lutheran 77-70–147
Zach Zaitz, Kent Denver 76-72–148
Levi McDowell, Resurrection Christian 74-75–149
Houston Benvenuto, Aspen 75-74–149
Liam Holt, Timnath 76-73–149
2A AT PAR-70 ELMOOD GOLF COURSE IN PUEBLO
Team (Best 3 Individual Scores)
Frontier Academy 229-223–452
Brush 236-230—466
Forge 232-234—466
Telluride 233-238–471
Sterling 236-237–473
Jefferson Academy 240-233—473
Individual
Noah Pearson, Swink 70-73–143 (won playoff)
Isaiah Fowler, Frontier Academy 73-70—143
Gage Poulsen, Liberty Common 71-75–146
Ashton Park, Cedaredge 73-73–146
Teague Murrey, Jefferson Academy 74-73–147
Banks O’Brien, Telluride 75-72–147
Connor Mellott, Monte Vista 71-76–147
Joey Banks, Forge 69-80–149
Braylon Ball, Windsor Charter Academy 78-72–150
Jonah Lodge, Dawson 78-73–151
For all the results, CLICK HERE.
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