Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's Golf team wrapped up a successful fall season this past week at the PGA Hope Invitational, taking second overall. The Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their weekly Golfer of the Week awards, presented by The Healthplan, and the Cardinal leader was honored for his work. Freshman Cormac Pearson was named the MEC Men's Golfer of the Week, securing his first collegiate tournament win to round out the fall.
The 2026 MEC Freshman of the Year put together a career-best tournament, shooting 135 (-9) across the two rounds of competition, beating the rest of the field by five strokes. He would end up earning the first two Eagle's of his career, splitting them between the two rounds, while racking up a season-high 11 birdies between the two rounds. His –9 was the lowest tournament score for any Cardinal this season, while he was able to tie the single-round record in round two, shooting a 65 (-7) over the final 18 holes. The big tournament helped move him up to #3 in the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Rankings and #134 in the country, jumping up one spot regionally and three spots nationally from the first rankings of the year. The freshman wrapped up the fall with two top three finishes and an average round score of 72.09 as they rounded out the fall.
His top round would come in that record-tying second round, where he shot a 65 (-7) across the final 18 holes. He would start things on the front nine, shooting a birdie on the first hole to get the day started. It would be the first of five birdies on the front nine, with his biggest stretch coming from holes four to six, where he racked up three straight birdies to get his score to –4. That would be his round score after the front nine, and he would keep the success going with a birdie on 10 that moved his score to –5. His best hole of the day would come on hole 12, where he earned his second Eagle of the tournament to bring the score to –7. He would end up balancing out two bogeys with two birdies to keep his score at –7 to finish the round.
With Pearson earning the Men's Golfer of the Week award, the Wheeling University Athletic Department has now had 13 student-athletes earn Conference Player of the Week honors this season. Pearson is the first Wheeling Men's Golfer to win Golfer of the Week honors this season, and the first since former Cardinal Troy Loughry earned the award back on March 26, 2026. The last Cardinals to be honored by the conference were Volleyball players Camryn Matus and Mara McDougal, who swept the MEC Volleyball Player of the Week honors back on October 19.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team now heads into the winter break, as they look to keep their momentum going into the spring season.
