Wheeling, W. Va. – During the fall season, a new era of Wheeling Men's Golf began under Head Coach Thadd Obecny. He brought in a roster that consisting of six newcomers, with most of those making their presence felt in the Cardinal's top four. The new era started strong, with the Cardinals taking fourth in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Men's Golf Championships as they set themselves up for a run at the regional stage this coming spring.
After taking over as Head Men's Golf Coach, Obecny made a statement right from the beginning, challenging his team to not only show up, but to compete at the conference championship. They took that challenge head-on throughout the fall season, finishing top 10 in four of their five regular season tournaments. They started the year strong with a 4th place finish at the Wheeling Inivtational and used that as momentum throughout the season. After taking their only non-top 10 finish of the season at the Golden Eagles Invitational, the Cardinals continued improving from their. They bounce back with a 7th place finish at the Stonewall Invitational, and followed that up by taking 5th at the Hannastown Invitational. Their top performance of the year came in their regular season finale at Pitt-Johnstown, where they placed third out of 17 teams with a season-best three-round score of 862.
They carried that momentum down to the Glade Springs Resort in Beckley, West Virginia, and kicked off the MEC Men's Golf Championships with a bang. The team would find themselves sitting in first place after 18-holes, putting together a score of 297. The Cardinals would have two golfers shoot under par at the event and led the tournament field by four strokes. As they headed into the second day of the event, Glenville State shot –6 through the round and the Cardinals would drop to third after shooting a 310. The Cardinals still had two golfers in the top five of the event heading into day three, and the team would rebound, taking eight strokes off their score to finish with a three-day total of 909 to finish fourth in the field.
The Cardinals got contributions up and down their lineup, but leading the way throughout the year was Sean Dobson. Dobson was the team's top golfer in three of the five tournaments this season and shot an average round score of 73.18 during the year and finished with four rounds shooting under par. He was one of two Cardinal players sitting in the top five heading to day three of the MEC Golf Championships, and put together his best performance at the Sunnehanna Invitational. It was there that he set his season tournament low, shooting a combined 208, as well as his single-round record of 67. He would finish in the top 10 of three different events this season, and his veteran leadership helped carry the young team throughout the season.
The Cardinal's top finisher at the conference championship event was sophomore Zak Collins, who earned a spot on the conference's All-Tournament team. He would finish fourth in the field at the event, putting together his best showing in the first round of the event. He shot a 71 (-1) to get things started, before adding an even par on his final round to round out the event. Collins was routinely near the top of the Cardinal lineup and made his impact felt throughout the year. The top performing freshman for the Cardinals was Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who was able to crack the top 20 at the Conference Championship event. Ekenes-Fosback would compete in the starting four in every tournament during the season and shot an average round score of 77.24 during the season.
With the Cardinals finishing fourth as a team at the 2025 MEC Men's Golf Championships, the Cardinals have put themselves into the talk about the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships. With top 10 finishes throughout the regular season against both conference and regional opponents, the Cardinals will look to use their spring season to continue their growth. All four of Wheeling's scoring golfers would finish in the top 20 of the championship event and all four will be looking to take their games to the next level this spring. The Cardinals have not been to a regional championship event since the 2022 season, when former Cardinal Yadhu Urs represented the program. As they prepare for the spring, the regional championship will be on their mind as they continue to grow this young program.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team now prepares for the spring season as they begin their push towards the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships.
