Colfax boys’ golf team welcomes large number of first-year players
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THE COLFAX Boys’ Golf team was schedule to tee off on a new season this past Tuesday, April 8, at the conference meet in Mondovi. The team features ten golfers. Front row (L to R): Austin Johnson, Tucker Niggemann, Trey Larson, Axton Kahl and Seth Mayfield. Back row (L- to ): Levi Elwood, Gavin Swartz, Orion Nichols, Mihretu Emch and Carson VanNess. —photo submitted
COLFAX — After competing as a cooperative with Elk Mound the past several seasons, Colfax will once again have its own boys’ golf team.
With Elk Mound moving to the Cloverbelt West Conference at the conclusion of the current school year, the cooperative agreement, which ended last season, could not be renewed.
Last year’s cooperative squad, led by first team, all-conference golfer and 2024 Elk Mound graduate Zane Brice, finished third in the final Dunn-St. Croix Conference standing just 3.5 points behind runner-up Glenwood City and ended the season by competing in the cooperative’s first-ever WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Arcadia where it placed 11th.
“We are in a unique spot in that we technically lose half of our team coming into this season,” stated first-year head coach Ryan Krall. “Splitting from Elk Mound forces us to replace a number of players on both our varsity and junior rosters and ‘go it alone’.”
Last spring’s graduation also saw the departure of Colfax seniors Christian Ebert and Chance Smith.
“Christian was a consistent member of the varsity squad over the past two seasons whose leadership and dedication to the game will be missed,” noted Krall.
“Chance always brought a positive attitude and a love for golf to the course that was great for the young kids to emulate. That will need to be picked up by some of our older leaders this season,” he added.
Despite losing a sizable portion of its team members due to the dissolution of the cooperative, Coach Krall, who served the past four seasons as the assistant to the former cooperative’s head coach Jordan Kongshaug and is the current head coach of the Colfax/Elk Mound girls’ golf cooperative, has ten players out this spring including five returning players headlined by junior Orion Nichols.
“Orion Nichols will lead us as far as we are going to go this season. He is blessed with a natural talent that is hard to find,” Krall stated.
Nichols will need him to carry this year’s squad if its is going to experience the type of team success it is hoping for in its first year by itself according to Krall.
The coach feels that returning players Mihretu Emch (the team’s lone senior), Carson VanNess, Trey Larson, and Levi Elwood will bring some match experience to the table.
“They will be thrown into more pressure-filled roles this year without the Elk Mound guys as teammates,” continued Krall. “We are excited to see what all of these guys can do when they are expected to carry more of the load for us this year.”
Krall did say the team is lucky to have a large number of first-year and new players joining the ranks this season including four freshmen.
“We weren’t sure how many we would have when we split from Elk Mound, so to have ten guys this year is better than I could have hoped for,” expressed Krall.
The coach sees freshman Seth Mayfield as a player that could push the older guys for a varsity spot by year’s end.
As for his squad’s strengths and weaknesses, Krall said it is too early to know.
“We really need to get outside and see these guys play to know what skills we can rely on consistently and which areas need the most work,” Krall said.
“I can say that the guys we have were constantly wanting to work on their game in the winter, using our indoor simulator to get some swings in during the winter months. That’s the kind of interest in the game you always hope for as a coach – hopefully we can turn that into some positive results this spring,” he added.
As for the team’s goal, well that’s simple – compete for and win a conference championship.
“We talk constantly about playing to “put numbers on the wall” – we want to leave a legacy by adding numbers to the boys’ golf banner in the gym,” Krall said. “I think if we really focus on the little things that lead to better scores we can accomplish that goal right away.”
As for his team’s competition for a D-SC title, Krall sees defending champion Durand-Arkansaw and runner-up Glenwood City as the teams to beat.
“Durand and Glenwood City are the perennial powerhouse teams in our conference,” Krall stated. “I’m not sure there is any reason to expect anything different this year. Durand was the runaway best team in the league last year and Glenwood City is only a year removed from sending a team to the WIAA State tournament. If we can hang with those guys we will prove that we belong – and I think we have the potential to do that.”
Assisting Krall this year will be Joe Doucette.
2025 Roster
Senior: Mihretu Emch
Juniors: Orion Nichols, Austin Johnson and Levi Elwood
Sophomores: Trey Larson and Carson VanNess
Freshmen: Seth Mayfield, Axton Kahl, Gavin Swartz and Tucker Niggemann