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RIVERTON — Kihei Akina's duel with fellow Utah junior golf standout Bowen Mauss came down to the final few holes of their respective senior seasons.
Akina, the top-rated boys golfer by USA Today from Lone Peak who has committed to BYU, shot 9-under-par 63 in Tuesday's final round en route to a Utah high school record-setting tournament total to hold off Mauss for his third individual title in four years at the 6A boys' golf state meet at Riverbend Golf Course.
Mauss, an Arizona State commit who, like Akina, was coming off an exemption to play the first two rounds on the PGA Tour at the Black Desert Championship, finished second with a two-day total of 14-under 130.
But Mauss' teammates helped the Chargers win back-to-back team titles by seven strokes over the Knights. Ben Wilson was one shot off Akina's low round of the day at 64 to finish third at 10-under 134, and Ty Brady added a fourth-place finish at 8-under 136 to help Corner Canyon coast to a two-day team total of 38-under 538.
Lone Peak freshman Ryder Huish rounded out the top five with a two-day total of 7-under 137 for a Knights squad that finished seven shots back of the team title to a Corner Canyon squad that shot 22-under Tuesday.
"We've got a lot of depth, and a lot of team chemistry," said Mauss, the reigning Salt Lake City Amateur champion who took medalist honors last year. "We all get along really well, and we just feed off each other. We have two guys playing as individuals, which tells you how deep our team is."
Akina started the day with a one-shot lead over Mauss at the top of the leaderboard, and carded 10 birdies with one bogey as he watched his lead grow. After opening at 3-under 33 through nine holes, the senior from Alpine four of the final five holes en route to a two-day total of 127 — one shot better than the previous state record for a 36-hole final he set in 2022 at TalonsCove.
Mauss birdied four of the final five holes of the front nine to shoot 32, then added birdies on three of the first foul holes on the back before Akina's late surge clinched medalist honors.
"We played a few practice rounds together at Black Deseret, too, which was cool," Akina said of Mauss. "I'm really good friends with Bowen; we've played a lot of golf together and traveled to a lot of tournaments together. He's a good kid, and it was fun to play with him — while we battled."
Less than 72 hours after competing at Black Desert, Mauss and Akina were teeing off together in the final high school meet of the junior careers. Between practice rounds and competitive play unlike anything either duo had seen, it led to a bit of a blue, the Corner Canyon senior admitted.
"It's been tiring, for sure," Mauss said. "But it's been going fast and fun. We do it for a reason, and we love the experiences out here."
6A boys golf state meet
Riverbend Golf Course in Riverton
Top 10 individuals
- 127 — Kihei Akina, Lone Peak
- 130 — Bowen Mauss, Corner Canyon
- 134 — Ben Wilson, Corner Canyon
- 136 — Ty Brady, Corner Canyon
- 137 — Ryder Huish, Lone Peak
- 138 — Elliot Bond, Herriman; Blake Brown, Lone Peak
- 139 — Ty Anderson, Corner Canyon; JJ Tomsick, Herriman
- 140 — Max London, Davis; Jaxon Erickson, Riverton; Gavin Van Woerkom, American Fork; Austin Jones, Lone Peak
Team totals
- 538 — Corner Canyon
- 545 — Lone Peak
- 570 — Herriman
- 581 — American Fork
- 586 — Riverton
- 595 — Farmington, Fremont
- 597 — Davis
- 606 — Layton
- 611 — Weber
- 622 — Lehi
