BIWABIK — Sophomore Peyton Swanson earned a share of medalist honors on Wednesday, May 13, shooting a 7-over-par 79 to tie for first place and lead the North Woods Grizzlies boys golf team during a busy week of competition that included three tournaments across the Iron Range. Swanson tied Gordon Goutermont of Two Harbors atop the leaderboard at the Iron Range Conference Invitational at Giants Ridge, highlighting a week in which the Grizzlies also posted a second-place finish at Hoyt Lakes and a seventh-place showing at Virginia Golf Course. North Woods placed fourth in the eight-team field at Giants Ridge. Gage Aune added a 90 for the Grizzlies, while Jordan Herdman shot 96 and Reece Whitney carded a 100. NER/Ely finished eighth in the team standings. Rhett Johnson led the Nighthawks with a 105, followed by Ethan Nickolson at 136, Tyler Fritz at 141, and James McCarter at 144.

Hoyt Lakes
Eighth grader Herdman carded a 3-over-par 39 on Tuesday, May 19, to lead North Woods to a tie for second place at the Mesabi East ERC Invitational at Hoyt Lakes Golf Course.
North Woods finished tied with International Falls in the team standings, while NER/Ely did not field enough golfers for a team score.
Herdman placed third overall in the individual standings, just one stroke behind co-medalists Paxton Sivonen of International Falls and Jedd Benson of Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin, who each shot 38.
Sawyer Glass and Aune each added rounds of 43 for the Grizzlies, tying for seventh overall, while Whitney shot 44 to finish tied for 16th.
NER/Ely was led by Johnson, who carded a 49. Fritz shot 61, while Mason Spate-Kurnava added a 66 for the Nighthawks.

Virginia
North Woods placed seventh out of 14 teams on Thursday, May 14, at the Rock Ridge Invitational at Virginia Golf Course, led again by Herdman.
Herdman shot an 83 to tie for 26th overall in a large and competitive field. Aune followed with an 84, while Glass and Brayden Amundson each carded 89s.
Johnson led NER/Ely with an 82, tying for 19th overall. Jayden Zemke shot 91, Nickolson carded a 119, and Fritz finished with a 126.