Grundy Center boys golf earned the runner-up trophy at the Class 2A state tournament at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo on Wednesday.

The Spartans shot a 326 over the two-day tournament. Waterloo Columbus shot a 312 for the state title; Aplington-Parkersburg was third with a 348 score.

Judd Jirovsky led Grundy Center at even par for the tournament, shooting 3-under on the final 18 holes for a 144 (75-69) total and winning a 3-man cardback to take second overall behind champion Hunter Polley of West Marshall, who shot 69-71–140.

Jirovsky had four birdies on the front nine and three on the back on Wednesday — his last birdie of the day came on No. 15, which kept him within a stroke of the lead, but a double bogey on No. 16 and bogey on No. 17 knocked him out of contention as Polley made par on his final three holes.

“It’s just a long two days and you’re on the rollercoaster ride,” Jirovsky said. “Yesterday I was hitting the ball great, put myself in a lot of great spots around the green and couldn’t make a lot of putts, and then today I struggled hitting the ball, spraying it off the tee box, but my short game was great, so I was able to save a bunch of strokes just punching out and getting up and down for par. … You’re just trying to give every shot your best.”

Joining Jirovsky as a top-8 individual medalist was senior Preston Martens, who finished his high school golf career in seventh overall with a 148 (75-73).

“I made a couple mistakes that I wish I could get back, but I feel like I played as best as I could today,” Martens said. “It’s just a matter of digging deep, and knowing that we’ve got a chance [at a team title], we pushed ourselves for two days and especially down the stretch, we just kept fighting.”

The Spartans only lost three tournaments this season — the winner of each of those tournaments was Waterloo Columbus.

“I don’t fault anyone’s effort on our team,” Jirovsky said. “Hats off to Columbus, they played two pretty flawless days of golf. … We can try to apply as much pressure as we want, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.”

Jaxon Kiewiet finished tied for 23rd with a 160 (79-81) total and Eli Wegmann had the other counting score for the Spartans on Wednesday, finishing with a 162 (80-82). Alex Kiewiet shot 171 (81-90) and Grundy senior Jalen Kirkpatrick added a 174 (90-84).

“Columbus has got a great squad and we’ve got a nice squad, too,” Grundy Center head coach Dennis Dirks said. “The team that I have is just super, super talented. … Our success this year was no accident, they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them and prepped coming here to Gates Park over these last two months, it’s been beyond exceptional.”

It was the final round for Martens and Kirkpatrick as Spartans.

“These two have been awesome all year,” Jirovsky said of the seniors. “I’ve grown up with these guys, we’ve been on the course forever, we’re the ones driving around with the lights on on our carts because it’s nine o’clock at night and we’re still playing. … I know that they were giving it their everything today.”

Kirkpatrick added: “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else in my high school career, and to have these accomplishments and share them with my childhood friends is just really awesome. … We’ve got good athletes in every sport and I know this will just fuel the guys for next year to hopefully come back next year and hoist another trophy.”