No. 15 Men's Golf moves up to second place on Day 2 of NCAC Championships

Junior Jake Yarbrough
Junior Jake Yarbrough

WESTFIELD CENTER — The No. 15 Wittenberg men's golf team moved up one spot to second place after Day 2 of the three-day North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday.

The Basics

  • Venue: Westfield Country Club North Course - Westfield Center, Ohio, Par 70, Yardage: 6,646
  • Hiram is serving as the host school for the tournament.
  • Wittenberg is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, which was released on Friday, and is No. 15 in the latest NCAA Division III Scoreboard rankings, powered by Clippd, which was released on Thursday.
  • The field contains two ranked teams, as Kenyon is ranked No. 23 in the Bushnell/Golfeweek Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Scoreboard rankings.
  • The top five individual finishers (including ties) earn All-NCAC First Team honors. Places six through 10 (including ties) earn Second Team recognition, and places 11-15 (including ties) earn Third Team accolades.
  • Wittenberg is seeking a second straight conference title and 13th overall. The Tigers won 10 consecutive conference championships from 2010 to 2019.
  • Seniors J.F. Aber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) and Nicklaus Pidgeon (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch) earned All-NCAC First Team accolades a year ago after finishing third and tied for fifth, respectively, in the 2023 NCAC Championships. Aber was named the 2023 NCAC Golfer of the Year and is a three-time All-NCAC honoree (First Team in 2022 and 2023 and Second Team in 2021).

The Tournament

  • After two rounds, Wittenberg is in second place in the team standings with a 5-over-par 286-279—565. Kenyon leads the eight-team field by five strokes with an even-par 280-280—560. DePauw and Wabash are tied for third at 8-over-par. Wittenberg entered Saturday in third place, trailing co-leaders Kenyon and Wabash by six strokes.
  • On the individual leaderboard, Aber holds a three-shot lead after two rounds of play with a 6-under-par 68-66—134. DePauw's Joe Murdock is second at 3-under-par, and Kenyon's Will Hulsey is third at 2-under-par. Aber entered Saturday in first place by one stroke.
  • Rounding out the standings for Wittenberg, junior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) is tied for fourth with an even-par 71-69—140, sophomore Mark Sulek (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) is tied for 12th with a 4-over-par 73-71—144, junior Joshua Wright (Wadsworth, Ohio/Akron Hoban) is tied for 25th with a 7-over-par 74-73—147, and Pidgeon is 27th with a 9-over-par 74-75—149.

Quote - Head coach David Wetterich

  • "We hung in there today and had a great team finish to get some momentum for the final round tomorrow."

Up Next

  • The Tigers return to action on Sunday for the third and final round of the NCAC Championships at Westfield Country Club beginning at 12:10 p.m.