Indiana, PA. – With the conference schedule behind them, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team began the run to the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships on Tuesday. They traveled across state lines to the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational, hosted by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After 18 holes of play, the Cardinals sit ninth in the field, shooting a team score of 308 (+24), and finished third among the Mountain East Conference (MEC) opponents in the field.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was sophomore Zak Collins, who finished fifth in the field shooting a 72 (+1). He would tee off from hole 11 and got his day started strong with pars on each of his first three holes. He would be able to take his first stroke off his score with a birdie on hole 14, but a double on the next hole would have him working from behind. He added one more stroke before the turn, but got one back on the 18th hole with his second birdie of the day. He would hit his second birdie in a row on hole one, getting him back to par for the round before hitting a par on hole two. He added his final stroke on hole three before settling in with seven straight pars to round out the day. It would have him settle at +1 for the round, and it was enough for him to break the top five heading into day two.
Two other Cardinals would shoot sub-80 scores on the day with Troy Loughry and Sean Dobson each shooting in the 70's. Leading the duo was Loughry, who took 36th in the field with a score of 77 (+6) through 18 holes. His day would begin on hole 10, when he went back-to-back with a bogey and a birdie to get to even. He would end up shooting +4 on the back nine before hitting the turn. He would get back in track with two pars and a birdie coming off the turn and would end his day shooting +2 on the front nine, bringing his final score to +6. Dobson would finish 13 spots behind Loughry, taking 49th with a 79 (+8). Dobson would have his most success on the back nine, shooting +3 over the nine holes, including his lone birdie of the round. However, the front nine was too much to overcome, where he shot +5 to round out the first round.
The final scoring Cardinal golfer was Luke Wennberg, who shot an 80 (+9). It was the first time this spring season that Wennberg has factored into the team score after round one, as he helped the Cardinals round out the 308. He would pick up two birdies in the round, hitting them back-to-back on holes nine and 10. The two non-scoring Cardinals were Federico Cobos Kallmann and Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who shot 83 (+12) and 78 (+7) respectively. Kallmann was the final portion of the team event, and would finish with a birdie and nine pars in the round. Ekenes-Fosback competed as an individual and tied for the second lowest score of the day at 78. The front nine The front nine would be his most successful of the day, as he shot all three of his birdies in the round and finished +2 before finishing on the back nine.
Day two of the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15th, with tee times beginning at 10 AM.
