MAYETTA — Free State golfers Henry Thompson and A.J. Kimzey finished the 6A state boys golf tournament in the top 20 of the individual leaderboard at Firekeeper Golf Course.

Thompson and Kimzey were the two Firebirds to qualify for the second round, and both improved upon their first-round score to finish their seasons in the top 20. Thompson shot a 73 on Wednesday, a four-stroke improvement from Tuesday. His two-day score of 150 put him tied for 15th individually.

“I felt pretty good coming in,” Thompson said. “I didn’t play as well as I wanted to. But that happens with golf. I thought I battled well today and earned myself a medal. I can’t really complain.”

Thompson had one birdie on Tuesday, finishing a par-four hole 12 in three strokes. He finished with a bogey on six holes, including four of the final six holes of the back nine. On the second day, Thompson had three birdies and four bogeys.

“I think I just played more free,” Thompson said of his day 2 performance. “I had a fun time. It was a good experience. It was a little windy at the end, but it’s a great course.”

Wednesday marked the end of Thompson’s Free State career, but it isn’t the end of his golf career. Thompson signed with Washburn University to continue golfing.

“I built a connection with the coach over the last couple of years,” Thompson said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s always been something I’ve wanted to do, but I knew it was going to be a possibility last year when I was getting recruited by some coaches… I played some solid golf last summer and put myself atop of some leaderboards.”

Thompson will continue to golf over the summer in tournaments to prepare for college golf.

Kimzey improved his score by two strokes in the second round. He had two birdies and finished above par four times Tuesday, including a triple bogey on the seventh hole. Kimzey hit for par on the seventh hole on the second day and a birdie and four bogeys.

“I think I hit the ball well today, I just couldn’t get anything to go down,” Kimzey said. “I played similar both days, but that (triple bogey) kind of screwed me over yesterday. It was a lot shorter (today), and yesterday I flew the green (on the hole), and today I hit the green.”

Kimzey’s summer will be full of golf tournaments as he works his way onto the radar of colleges. Putting will be the focus for Kimzey this summer to get college programs interested.

“For myself, I’m feeling all right,” Kimzey said. “I think I can have some good scores next year and fight for state. I’ve got a lot of tournaments coming up this summer, just to try to get ranked on the junior leaderboard for colleges.”

Other golf scores

Tonganoxie’s Lachlan McRae finished 16th in the 4A state tournament at the Hesston Golf Course with a 153 score across the two days.

McRae finished the first day with three birdies and three bogeys to finish at par. McRae had a rougher outing on the second day, shooting an 82 that was 11 over par. He had a birdie on the 16th hole but finished with eight bogeys, including five over par on the seventh hole.

Perry-Lecompton’s Toby Wagner was the lone Kaw to qualify for the second round of the 3A state tournament at Lake Shawnee Golf Course in Topeka, and he shot a 79 with one birdie and nine bogeys. Combined with his 75 score from the first round, Wagner finished 14 strokes above par for the tournament, which was tied for seventh-best.

Bishop Seabury’s Jace Hoffman improved by seven strokes between the first and second day of the 1A state tournament at Turkey Creek Golf Course in McPherson and finished tied for 12th individually. Hoffman had 10 bogeys and finished 14 strokes above par on the first day but cut the number of bogeys down to six and had two birdies on the second day.