BUTTE — The stage wasn’t too big for 15-year-old Justus Verge. Not yet, anyway.
The Bozeman freshman shot a 4-under-par 66 on Thursday to take a five-stroke lead after the opening day of the Class AA state golf invite at the Butte Country Club. Verge leads fellow Bozeman Hawk J.R. Small, as well as Billings West’s Blake Loberg and Billings Skyview’s Cody Brunner, by five.
Verge, along with twin brother Jordan, was expected to lead a balanced Bozeman team into the two-day event as a heavy favorite. The Hawks totaled 284, well ahead of second-place Billings West’s 309. Billings Skyview is in third place with 310 total strokes, while Missoula Sentinel and Kalispell Glacier are tied for fourth with 312.
Justus Verge blitzed the back nine, shooting 4-under after turning the corner according to the official scorecard. Jordan Verge (73) is all alone in fifth place after the first 18 holes.
Jack Johnston of Missoula Sentinel, the highest-returning golfer in the boys field, sits in a tie for ninth place after shooting an opening-round 76. Johnston placed sixth in the 2017 state invite.
Billings West sensation Carrie Carpenter leads the girls race after 18 holes, shooting an opening-round 73. Missoula Sentinel’s Emily Garden is in second place, four strokes off the lead, while Bozeman’s Annika Danenhuaer and Kalispell Flathead’s Marcella Mercer are tied for third with identical 78s.
Carpenter earned a fourth-place finish at last year’s state invite, carding a two-day total 166. Defending champion Laurel Ward of Bozeman is tied for sixth place after totaling an 83 on Thursday. Fellow Hawk Danenhauer is the defending runner-up, while Cora Rosanova, last year’s fifth-place finisher, is currently in fifth with an 81.
Bozeman owns an eight-stroke lead in the girls team standings.
The Class AA state golf meet will conclude on Friday.
Individual scores and team scores can be found below.
2018 Class AA golf state meet
Boys individual results
| Bozeman | #2 | Justus Verge | 66 |
| Bozeman | #3 | J.R. Small | 71 |
| Billings West | #2 | Blake Loberg | 71 |
| Billings Skyview | #1 | Cody Brunner | 71 |
| Bozeman | #1 | Jordan Verge | 73 |
| Butte High | #1 | Kaven Noctor | 74 |
| Bozeman | #4 | Jack Thorsen | 74 |
| Billings Senior | #1 | Brady Cady | 74 |
| Billings Skyview | #2 | Adam Nedens | 76 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #1 | Jack Johnston | 76 |
| Glacier | #2 | Will Salonen | 76 |
| Great Falls High | #1 | Connor Mora | 78 |
| Billings West | #4 | Mason Johnson | 78 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #2 | Joe Opitz | 78 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #3 | Connor Kessler | 78 |
| Glacier | #1 | Keaton Cassidy | 78 |
| Glacier | #3 | Sam Manaker | 78 |
| Billings Senior | #2 | Tyler Hall | 79 |
| Billings West | #1 | Jace Rhodes | 79 |
| Helena High | #1 | Gavin Anderson | 79 |
| Helena High | #2 | Caleb Binfet | 79 |
| Helena Capital | #1 | Gabe Witham | 79 |
| Billings Skyview | #3 | Ben Pope | 80 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #4 | Jaden Dennis | 80 |
| Glacier | #4 | Ethan Purdy | 80 |
| Bozeman | #5 | Ramey Lloyd | 81 |
| CMR | #1 | Tucker Pietrykowski | 81 |
| Billings Senior | #3 | Siam Wilailuck | 81 |
| Billings West | #3 | Peyton Streiff | 81 |
| Butte High | #3 | Carsten Quam | 82 |
| Billings Senior | #4 | Jhett Braley | 82 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #2 | Ryan Harvey | 82 |
| Missoula Hellgate | #1 | William Philliber | 82 |
| Billings West | #5 | Dylan Ahgren | 83 |
| Billings Skyview | #5 | Ben Ebel | 83 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #1 | Zach Harvey | 83 |
| Butte High | #4 | Ty Insko | 85 |
| Great Falls High | #3 | Trenton Olson | 85 |
| Missoula Hellgate | #3 | Aiden Gappert | 85 |
| Great Falls High | #2 | Tyson St. John | 86 |
| CMR | #3 | Connor Ferguson | 87 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #3 | Carson Suchecki | 87 |
| Helena Capital | #2 | Trevor Swanson | 88 |
| Helena Capital | #3 | Cas Bloomquist | 88 |
| Helena Capital | #4 | Brett Stoos | 88 |
| Helena High | #4 | Tucker Hauer | 89 |
| Helena High | #5 | Austin Zeiler | 89 |
| Flathead | #1 | Ezra Epperly | 89 |
| CMR | #2 | Landen Blades | 90 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #5 | Zach Hangas | 90 |
| Glacier | #5 | Caden Willis | 90 |
| Flathead | #2 | Joston Cripe | 90 |
| Billings Skyview | #4 | Killian Yeager | 91 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #4 | Hayden Ellis | 91 |
| Missoula Hellgate | #4 | Kade McCulloch | 92 |
| Billings Senior | #5 | Reece Mayala | 94 |
| Flathead | #3 | Drew Lowry | 94 |
| Butte High | #2 | Danny McCloskey | 95 |
| CMR | #5 | Fox Weymouth | 95 |
| Helena Capital | #5 | Cale Hines | 96 |
| CMR | #4 | Brevyn Goosen | 97 |
| Butte High | #5 | Kellen Lean | 98 |
| Missoula Hellgate | #2 | Luke O’Leary | 98 |
| Helena High | #3 | Luke Thomson | 98 |
| Missoula Hellgate | #5 | Thomas Huguet | 99 |
| Flathead | #4 | Spencer Christy | 101 |
| Flathead | #5 | Sam Huckeba | 108 |
| Great Falls High | #4 | Briggs Johnson | 114 |
Boys team scores
Bozeman — 284
Billings West — 309
Billings Skyview — 310
Missoula Sentinel — 312
Kalispell Glacier — 312
Billings Senior — 316
Butte — 336
Helena High — 336
Missoula Big Sky — 343
Helena Capital — 343
Great Falls CMR — 353
Missoula Hellgate — 357
Great Falls High — 363
Kalispell Flathead — 374
Girls individual scores
| Billings West | #1 | Carrie Carpenter | 73 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #1 | Emily Garden | 77 |
| Bozeman | #2 | Annika Danenhauer | 78 |
| Flathead | #1 | Marcella Mercer | 78 |
| Bozeman | #1 | Cora Rosanova | 81 |
| Bozeman | #3 | Laurel Ward | 83 |
| Billings West | #4 | Kadence Fischer | 83 |
| Helena High | #2 | Ginny Kerr | 84 |
| Butte High | #1 | Kodie Hoagland | 85 |
| Helena High | #1 | Reyla Williams | 85 |
| Billings Skyview | #2 | Aliay Morrow | 86 |
| Butte High | #5 | Emily Kelly | 88 |
| Helena Capital | #1 | Kylee Longenecker | 88 |
| Bozeman | #5 | Maya Priebe | 89 |
| Glacier | #1 | Kate Trunkle | 89 |
| Billings West | #5 | Patyn Viker | 90 |
| Billings Skyview | #4 | Cierra Sundheim | 91 |
| Butte High | #2 | Grace Luoma | 92 |
| Billings Senior | #1 | Gigi Montague | 92 |
| Billings Skyview | #3 | Meilyn Armstrong | 92 |
| Butte High | #4 | Kennedy Lean | 93 |
| Bozeman | #4 | Sami Yates | 93 |
| Billings West | #2 | Nevin Larsen | 93 |
| Great Falls High | #1 | Kelly Jones | 94 |
| Helena High | #3 | Lauren Williams | 94 |
| Helena High | #4 | Pilar Santos | 94 |
| Billings Senior | #3 | Sami Benson | 95 |
| Billings West | #3 | Raelynn Bruyere | 95 |
| Billings Senior | #4 | Cassidy Venner | 96 |
| Flathead | #2 | Jillian Wynne | 96 |
| Butte High | #3 | Ella Prigge | 98 |
| Billings Senior | #5 | Bryn Turnquist | 98 |
| Billings Skyview | #5 | Amanda King | 98 |
| Great Falls High | #3 | Hannah Fehres | 99 |
| Billings Senior | #2 | Sidney Overby | 99 |
| Billings Skyview | #1 | Kyra Hart | 99 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #2 | Marissa Breum | 100 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #3 | Kate Nelson | 101 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #4 | Erin Murphy | 102 |
| Great Falls High | #2 | Morgan Sunchild | 103 |
| Missoula Sentinel | #4 | Sofia Fero | 104 |
| Glacier | #4 | Abi Manger | 104 |
| Glacier | #2 | Hailey Iverson | 105 |
| Helena Capital | #3 | Makayla Lawrence | 107 |
| Helena Capital | #2 | Lexi McNew | 108 |
| CMR | #2 | Bailee Potratz | 109 |
| Glacier | #3 | Avery Andersen | 110 |
| Flathead | #3 | Cassidy Lavin | 110 |
| Flathead | #5 | Tess Huckeba | 112 |
| Glacier | #5 | Hannah Nikunen | 114 |
| Helena Capital | #5 | Zita Graveley | 115 |
| CMR | #1 | Morgan Zuidema | 116 |
| CMR | #3 | Nichole Linder | 116 |
| Helena High | #5 | Jordan Johnson | 116 |
| Flathead | #4 | Sierra Dilworth | 117 |
| Missoula Big Sky | #5 | Morgan Jacobson | 118 |
| Great Falls High | #5 | Morgan Sukut | 121 |
| Great Falls High | #4 | Alexa Fjelstad | 122 |
| Helena Capital | #4 | Kendra Fuller | 137 |
Girls team scores
Bozeman — 331
Billings West — 339
Helena High — 357
Butte — 358
Billings Skyview — 367
Billings Senior — 381
Missoula Sentinel — 382
Kalispell Flathead — 396
Kalispell Glacier — 408
Great Falls High — 417
Helena Capital — 418
Great Falls CMR — no team scores (not enough qualifiers)
Missoula Big Sky — no team scores (not enough qualifiers)
