Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg Tigers captured their fifth straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship in dominating fashion and earned the program’s 20th NCAA Division III Tournament berth. To the victors go the spoils, as a whopping five Tigers earned first-team PING All-Great Lakes Region honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America.
All five Tigers competing in this week’s NCAA Division III Tournament earned all-region recognition: seniors David Wetterich (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster) and juniors Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy), John Chaney (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) and Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson). Wittenberg and St. John Fisher led the nation with five all-region honorees apiece.
Wetterich was a second-team All-American in 2012, he is now a three-time all-region selection, and he has earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) honors three times in his career. In the 2013-14 season, Wetterich was a first-team all-league honoree after placing fifth in the NCAC Championship Series with a four-round score of 297. He has four top-5 finishes, five top-10s and a stroke average of 75.04, which ranks fifth on the team, in 2013-14.
Hogenkamp earned his second straight All-Great Lakes Region award to go along with his second first-team All-NCAC honor claimed a week earlier after claiming the Bob Nye Award as the medalist of the NCAC Championship Series. Hogenkamp ranks second on the team with a 73.88 stroke average while finishing in the top-10 seven times in 11 tournaments.
Andrews heads into the NCAA Division III Tournament with a stroke average of 74.95, which ranks fourth on the team. The winner of the NCAC’s Bob Nye Award as conference medalist and the Dick Gordin Award as Player of the Year in 2013, Andrews has won one tournament and posted five top-10 finishes during the 2013-14 season. A first-team All-NCAC honoree in both 2012 and 2013, Andrews also earned first-team all-region and second-team All-America a year ago.
Chaney has enjoyed a breakthrough in his second season in the Red & White, leading the Tigers and ranking in the top 20 nationally with a 73.83 stroke average. He was a first-team All-NCAC selection after winning one tournament and recording five top-5 finishes during the 2013-14 season.
Wissinger also has put together his finest collegiate season, ranking third on the team with a 74.40. He earned second-team all-league honors after finishing in a three-way tie for seventh place in the NCAC Championship Series after winning two tournaments and claiming five top-10 finishes during the 2013-14 season.
The team’s victory in the NCAC Championship Series earned the Tigers their fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg has made a total of 20 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and 21 national tournament appearances overall, including a 1974 berth in the NCAA College Division Tournament.
Wittenberg finished first in seven of its last eight tournaments during the 2013-14 regular season. The Tigers hoisted championship trophies at the prestigious Gordin Classic, the DePauw Small College Classic, Huntingdon’s Wynlakes Intercollegiate, Ohio Wesleyan’s Strimer Invitational, Denison’s Ted Barclay Spring Invitational, and both NCAC Championship Series events.
Written By: Ryan Maurer