Not much has changed in the last year of boys 6A golf as the Lone Peak Knights won their fifth consecutive state title Tuesday afternoon, with its second straight led by Kihei Akina as the individual winner.
The sophomore matched his -8 from Monday’s first round of competition at TalonsCove in Saratoga Springs, finishing the tournament with a 16-under 128 and eking out a one-stroke victory over senior teammate Cooper Jones.
The Knights finished the day with a new state tournament record, breaking the previous record by eight strokes and ending with a 43-under 533.
“That’s awesome about the state record,” Lone Peak head coach Derek Farr said. “That’s an awesome thing for the kids. That’s a record that they earned and well deserved. I didn’t know.”
In addition to the team record, Akina’s 128 tied the individual state tournament record, improving on his title run from a year before by eight strokes.
“The last two weeks during region and here at state I’ve played really good,” Akina said after sharing that he struggled at the beginning of the season. “The past two weeks the putting has been on, and it’s helping me win.”
Heading into Tuesday, the now two-time individual state champion trailed Jones by three strokes. Akina made up the difference on the front nine, tying his teammate at -12 midway through the day.
From there, Akina did just enough to separate himself from Jones, earning two birdies on the final three holes to repeat as state champion.
“We’re best buds,” Akina said of his relationship with Jones. “We help build off each other, we’re so competitive.”
Nearing the end of the day, Lone Peak was well ahead of the rest of the field, allowing Akina and Jones to shift their focus to the individual race.
“I was pretty much just going for the individual by the end,” Akina said. “Me and Cooper are so competitive that we both wanted to win really bad.”
Said Farr: “It’s so fun watching those guys. To watch Coop these last two years, it’s been a privilege … because he is as good as there is in the country.
“He and Kihei had fun, but I think the best thing about both is they genuinely were happy for each other, and you usually don’t see that. They genuinely were happy when one would score. It was awesome that way.”
Jones will be moving on to golf for BYU, but Akina will have two additional years to add more trophies to an ever-growing collection.
The tournament’s two best performers were followed by senior Knight Quin Abbott’s -11 on the leaderboard.
Abbott had an impressive second day on Tuesday, using a 10-under 62 to move his way into third place by the end of competition.
“Quin was awesome,” Farr said. “All of them were awesome. I mean, all the kids one through six did what we needed to. The kids just played.”
The Knights’ fourth top scorer was senior Luke Seaquist, whose -1 checked in for a four-way tie at No. 14 on the leaderboard.
Corner Canyon finished in second place, shooting a 16-under 560. Herriman rounded out the top three with a 7-under 569 and was the only other team to finish in the red.
The Knights, however, hit themselves deep into the red, adding an impressive record and another state championship to their ongoing dynasty — a dynasty that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
6A Boys state golf tournament
At TalonsCove Golf Club
Day 2 Team scores
- Lone Peak, 533
- Corner Canyon, 560
- Herriman, 569
- Fremont, 576
- Farmington, 586
- Riverton, 589
- Bingham, 600
- Layton, 613
Day 2 Individual results
• 128 – Kihei Akina, Lone Peak
• 129 – Cooper Jones, Lone Peak
• 133 – Quin Abbott, Lone Peak
• 135 – Bowen Mauss, Corner Canyon
• 137 – David Liechty, Layton
• 141 – JJ Tomsick, Herriman
• 141 – Zach Labrum, Corner Canyon
• 141 – Ryker Lind, Herriman
• 142 – Cole Taylor, Farmington
• 142 – Max Landon, Davis
• 142 – Gavin Dosch, Corner Canyon
• 142 – Elliot Bond, Herriman
• 142 – Alex Edwards, Corner Canyon
• 143 – Luke Dalebout, Fremont
• 143 – Chase Burton, Fremont
• 143 – Luke Wathen, Riverton
• 143 – Luke Seaquist, Lone Peak
• 145 – Jack Wadsworth, Fremont
• 145 – Karson Tesch, Fremont
• 145 – Jack Tobler, Bingham
• 146 – Kyson Crowther, Riverton
• 146 – Lincoln Blake, Corner Canyon
• 146 – Ian Miyasaki, Herriman