HERSHEY, Pa. — The Wittenberg Tigers put the finishing touches on one of the best seasons in school history with a tremendous final round at the NCAA Division III Tournament, hosted by Elizabethtown College at Hershey Links and Hershey Country Club.
Starting on No. 10 while playing Hershey Links for the third time in four days, the Tigers made one of the day's biggest moves, advancing from 10th place at the start of the day to a sixth-place tie with defending national champion Oglethorpe thanks to a blistering 292. The Tigers' team score improved four straight days - from 310 in the rain and cold on Tuesday to 292 in good scoring conditions on Friday - to finish at 1201, good for sixth place in the 37-team field.
The best finish in school history came in 1990, when Wittenberg placed fourth, followed by a fifth-place finish the next year. Wittenberg was making its first appearance in the national competition since 1993 after capturing its first North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) title since 1992.
Freshman Craig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) became the first Wittenberg All-American since Rick Lyons in 1992. Osterbrock checked in with a one-under-par 71 in the final round to finish in a tie for 17th with a four-day total of 296. He earned third-team All-America honors to cap a remarkable inaugural collegiate campaign.
Osterbrock was not the Tigers' top scorer in the final round, however. Junior Bleu George (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) smoked the front side of Hershey Links in 31 strokes to finish at two-under-par 70 on the day at 299 overall, good for a tie for 27th place.
Rounding out the Tigers' scorers were sophomores Ricky Boerner (Hilliard, Ohio/Watterson) and Ben Smith (North Bend, Ohio/Elder) with scores of 75 and 76 respectively. Boerner placed 48th individually, while Smith finished 84th. Sophomore Jordan Millice (Cable, Ohio/Triad) rounded things out with an 81 to end up 92nd.
After a thunderstorm rolled through near the end of the round, top-ranked Methodist pulled a one-stroke team victory with a total of 1177. Guilford carded the round of the tournament with a five-under-par 283 on Friday, but the rally fell one stroke short at 1178.
Third-year Head Coach Jeff Roope said he was "very proud" of his team and the accomplishments few saw coming in 2009-10. Sixth place was a tremendous accomplishment, he said, and hopefully "a sign of things to come."
"It's great to have an All-American," Roope said. "I'm really pleased that the guys battled back so well from those first two tough days. We rallied to beat a lot of the top teams in the country and even tie the defending national champion."
Finally, by virtue of the Tigers' top-10 national finish, Wittenberg has earned an automatic invitation to compete in the annual Gordin Invitational. The 2010 event will take place in October on the course that will host the 2011 NCAA Division III Tournament in Greensboro, NC.