6A golf sees a pair of repeat individual champs; Thunder Ridge finishes 4th in boys, Highland 5th in boys and 8th in girls

NAMPA — Thunder Ridge’s Justin Anderson is now a two-time state golf champion, after beating Mountain View’s Gavin Mlynarik in a playoff at Nampa’s RedHawk Golf Course Friday.

The senior is joined by Coeur d’Alene sophomore Ella Wilson, who backed up her 2024 title — as a freshman — with a dominant performance and another individual title this year.

Wilson won the girls’ championship last year at Pocatello’s Highland Golf Course by eagling the playoff 18th. This year, she cruised to a much smoother victory, shooting 69-71 for a two-day score of 140 (-2), beating Canyon Ridge’s Danika Humphries (75-71, 146) by six strokes.

Highland’s Megan Merrill, who finished eighth last year, was the top local finisher in the girls tournament. The senior 80-81 for a total score of 161 (+19) to finish in a tie for 12th.

The Rams, District 5-6’s lone team qualifiers, finished fifth out of seven teams, with a 712 (+144) total team score.

Anderson went under-par in both rounds, shooting a three-under 68 on Thursday and backing that up with a one-under 70 Friday.

He was the only top-10 finisher among east Idaho’s boys qualifiers. His Titans though, finished fourth out of eight teams, shooting 614 (+46), well off the pace set by boys team champs Mountain View, 579 (+11).

The Mavericks also won the girls team banner, with a 607 (+39).

While they were in Nampa, the Thunder Ridge golf team used its free time to build 67 “winter kits” for donation to those in need.