Wheeling, W. Va. – As the regular season rolls on, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team continues growing on the course. On Wednesday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their weekly Golfer of the Week awards, and the Cardinal's Men's Golf Program was recognized for the second week in a row. Freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback was named the MEC Men's Golfer of the Week, after picking up a top 15 finish for the team.
Ekenes-Fosback put together a career performance over the three rounds of competition, shooting a 223 to set a new PR. The freshman competed against players from seven teams around the MEC, finishing third among the conference competition in the field. He was consistent throughout the tournament, sitting tied for 16th with a 74 oin round one, and followed that up with a 75 in round two that kept his hold on 16th overall in the field. As he headed into round three, it was make or break to ensure that he stayed in the top 15 and he came through. He jumped two places in the individual standings by shooting a 74 and it was enough to get him into the top 15, finishing 14th overall in the field. His +13 was his lowest three-round score of his career so far, beating his previous score by seven strokes. Ekenes-Fosback finished eight strokes behind Point Park's Milo Thim for the top spot in the conference and it was a strong third round that helped him finish a strong weekend.
With his two-day score sitting at 149, Ekenes-Fosback started out strong, shooting back-to-back pars on holes eight and nine to start his day. It was a strong showing for the freshman on the back nine that fueled his day as, after adding two strokes to his score on holes 10 and 11, he would finally hit his groove. He would hit par on the final seven holes of the back nine, and finished with a +2 as heade the turn to finish his day. The par streak continued onto hole one, and ended with a bogey on hole two. However, Ekenes-Fosback would get that stroke back plus one more with back-to-back birdies that brought him to +1 on the day. He would add three more strokes to his score over the final three holes of day, but his strong play on the back nine was enough to carry him to the 74. He has quietly been one of the strongest golfers for the Cardinals, finishing +20 or better in three of the four tournaments he has played, and looks to continue his success as they play through the schedule.
Elias Ekenes-Fosback is the 10th Wheeling University student-athlete to win conference player of the week honors this season in the first four weeks of 2025-2026. It is the second week in a row that a Wheeling Men's Golfer has been named, after teammate Sean Dobson won the honors last week for his work at the Stonewall Invitational. Ekenes-Fosback joins Wheeling Football's Day Day Bates, Ade Olanegan, and Leonard Sherrod III and Wheeling Volleyball's Camryb Matus in taking home honors this week.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Monday, September 29th, when they compete on day one of the Pitt-Johnstown Invitational.
