Albert Lea senior Mike Falk showed his season-opening round of 69 was no fluke Tuesday in the Section 1AAA boys’ golf meet at Bellwood Oaks Golf Course in Hastings.

Falk, the tournament’s first-day leader with a 74, earned a trip to the Class 3A state tournament with a second round 78 to finish tied for second with three others with a 152.

Falk is the first Albert Lea golfer since Dan Breuer in 2003 to reach the state tournament and he got there by grinding out a tough back nine.

Falk shot 37 on the front but immediately ran into trouble on No. 10 with a double bogey. He followed that with a bogey on No. 11 and No. 13 and a double on No. 16 to fall to 5-over and was on the cusp of falling out of contention.

“I started out the back nine just terrible,” Falk said. “I had to gather myself after that. The back nine at Bellwood is very challenging and has eaten up a lot of people before.”

Falk needed to par the final two holes to be in the running for a trip to state and he got it done, coming through with a par on No. 17 and a clutch birdie on 18.

“I guess I didn’t realize how big it was at the time, but it turned out to be huge,” he said.

Falk stuck his second shot on No. 12 to 12 feet of the pin and sunk the putt to avoid a playoff and help lead the Tigers to a fifth place finish at the section meet.

“He had that 69 at the beginning of the year so we knew what he was capable of and he found that magic just in time,” Albert Lea head coach Riley Worth said.

The Tigers shot 311 on the second day, their best four-person score in relation to par, but weren’t able to make catch any teams as nearly ever team improved by double digits.

Lakeville North defended its section title with a two-day total of 625, shooting 309 on the second day. Century placed second with a 628 after a 309 and Austin shot 309 to place third with a 629.

Albert Lea had three players break 80 on the second day, including Sam Matheson who followed a first-round 84 with a 1-over 74. Tyler Brackey shot 79. After starting the first four holes 7-over, Brackey finished the final 14 1-under. Grant Stadheim shot 80 for the Tigers.

“We had beautiful bookends to a good season,” Worth said. “This was definitely our best meet of the season and what a meet to do it at.”

Albert Lea looks to be strong for next season as well with six of its top 10 players returning.

The state tournament begins June 2 at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids.

Team results: Lakeville North 625, Rochester Century 628, Austin 629, John Marshall 633, Albert Lea 634, Lakeville South 658