NORWAY — Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski said he wasn’t playing his best at Friday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals in boys golf.

His last hole, and what happened to be the team’s final one for the day, went exceedingly well, though. 

After his tee shot landed right down the middle of the fairway, he hit a 9-iron to within 10 feet of the hole and drained the putt.

“I was pretty pumped up,” the senior said. 

It was good for an eagle. And made the difference as the Bulldogs won the tournament by two strokes.

Hancock repeated as D-2 champion, edging Jeffers 324-326 at Oak Crest Golf Course in Norway.

“What we’ve always stressed to these kids is always play to the end,” Hancock coach Paul Sintkowski said. “You never know. I always tell them before every meet that every shot counts. Even though you’re not playing good — 87, if you would have shot an 89, we don’t win. Those kids did that today, they played till the end and I think that is part of the reason why we won again.”

It all worked out in the end — thanks in part to the big-time eagle by Jackson Sintkowski, who finished with 78, good for third place individually. 

Each Hancock player shot under 90. Kirby Storm joined Sintkowski with 79 to finish fourth. Teammate Nolan Hanner carded 80 to finish sixth.

Four golfers among the top 11 wasn’t quite enough for Jeffers to avoid finishing runner-up for the third straight year. Jets junior Griffin Heinonen finished individual runner-up with 77, Max Nordstrom had 81 to take seventh, Easton Therrian was eighth with 82 and Benton Rajala 11th with 86.

Cedarville-DeTour placed third as a team with a 363, Ironwood was fourth with 369 and Newberry rounded out the top five with 375. The rest of the 12 schools with full teams — Munising had two individuals — was Dollar Bay 385, Norway 405, Brimley 406, St. Ignace 409, Forest Park 415, Stephenson 427 and Pickford 467.

Stephenson’s Owen Kuehnau had the round of the day, carding 71 to run away with the individual title, as runner-up Heinonen was six strokes back.

“It feels good,” he said. “It was always a goal of mine, so it definitely feels good.”

The senior finished third at the finals last year and ninth the year before that. 

It wasn’t easy to win it Friday.

“The pin positions were really tough, so you just had to go in the middle of green and hope to two-putt,” Kuehnau said. 

His score was the lowest recorded by a U.P. D-2 champion since the MHSAA created the division in 2001. 

Munising senior Carter Deatsman rounded out the top five with 79, while Mustangs senior Michael Robinson had 97.

Newberry was led by freshman Jarrett Zellar finishing just out of the top 10 in 12th with 87, while sophomore Oliver Sevarns had 90, senior Spencer Neeb 95, freshman Oren DeWitt 103 and Quentin Magnuson 115.

Jason Juno is the sports editor of the Ironwood Daily Globe. He was reporting this story for the Michigan High School Athletic Association website, mhsaa.com.