—Submitted photo Brad Hoefing (left) and Justin Yetmar were crowned the champions after the first day of the Middleton Classic Saturday.

MANSON — It was a successful year in more ways than one for the expanded Middleton Classic, which had two eventful days of action at the Manson Golf and Country Club last weekend.

Tournament director and founder Elias Johnson announced that in its 10th year of existence, the event more than doubled the high-water mark raised in any of the previous nine seasons.

“This tournament and all the people who donate to it and play in it are directly improving the lives of deserving kids,” said Johnson, a Manson Northwest Webster and Iowa Central graduate. “We’ll have to wait and see the final count, but I already know we’ll be giving away more money at senior awards night next May.”

The Middleton Classic — a two-day, two-person best ball tournament — is held in honor of the late Joe Middleton, a former MNW high school science teacher and coach. A total of 144 golfers competed in this year’s event.

Scott Middleton, Joe’s twin brother, served as the honorary chair this year.

Derek Girard and Keyla Benavides accepted their scholarships as recipients from the 2019 MNW senior class.

James Tiedeman and Matt Spaulding of Fonda were the overall champions. Saturday’s winners were Brad Hoefing and Justin Yetmar. Sunday’s action saw Ryan Reeder and Cole Jaeschke prevail with a record-low 15-under par total.

Jim Schmidt of Okoboji and Jim Rodenborn of Twin Lakes were the senior victors.

There were over 30 local and national sponsors supporting the 2019 Middleton Classic. Through 2018, a total of 16 MNW seniors have been awarded scholarships totaling more than $40,000.