Wheeling, W. Va. - After sitting sixth place after 18 holes of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Spring Classic, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team was looking to climb the leaderboard as they headed into round two. Wheeling would lower their team score by five strokes and jumped one spot in the team standings, finishing fifth overall with a two-day score of 581. The Cardinals rounded out the day by placing three golfers on the All-MEC list, including their first First Team All-MEC honoree since the 2022 season. 

Earning that First team All-MEC honor was sophomore Zak Collins, who finished 10th in the field with a two-day score of 144 (+2). After shooting an even par on day one, Collins would start his day strong, rattling off par on five straight holes heading into the back nine. He would hit his first slip up on hole 11, and added three strokes to his score over the next three holes. He would have to go to work, and did just that with back-to-back birdies, including a tough birdie on a par five on hole 14, and got back to +1 for the day. He would add two more pars before making the turn back to the front nine, but a bogey on hole 18 brought his score back to +2 with five holes to play. He would get back to +1 with a birdie on hole two, and hit par on two of his final three holes to finish +2 on the day. After earning a spot on the MEC All-Tournament team in the fall, Collins was able to wrap up the year strong with First Team All-MEC honors. 

Up next was Wheeling's leader in the event, graduate student Sean Dobson, who was just 0.4 of a shot away from First Team honors. He would finish the event with an even 144 through 18 holes, and finished seventh in the field. Round two was his best showing yet, as he dropped two strokes off his score to shoot –1 through the final 18 holes. He would get off to the best start of the day for any Cardinal, hitting five straight pars after starting on hole five, and following it up with a birdie on hole 10 to sit –1. He would get that stroke back on hole 11 and went over par for the first time on the day on hole 15. He was quickly able to knock that stroke off, with a birdie on hole 16, and hit the final turn sitting at even par. The front nine started strong, with Dobson hitting back-to-back birdies to get to –2 and he was able to keep it under par for the over the final two holes, to shoot a –1. 

The final Cardinal to earn All-MEC honors was Troy Loughry, who made it as an Honorable Mention All-MEC honoree. Loughry would also see a drop in his score, taking two strokes off his day one effort to finish at 146 (+4) for the event. He started the day with a +1, but pared on four of the final five holes before getting that stroke back with a birdie on hole eight. He would hit a par streak after finishing the front nine with a par, hitting the even mark on six straight holes. He finished the back nine with a birdie on hole 18, and was sitting at +2 as he played his final three holes. He would hit his final birdie on hole one and finished the event at +1, jumping two spots to 21st overall in the tournament field. 

Rounding out the scoring portion of the event was Luke Wennberg, who jumped 10 spots in the individual standings to finish 42nd in the field. He would drop five strokes off his score, shooting +2 over the final 18 holes and tied for the team lead with four birdies on the day. Things started with a +2 over the first three holes, but he was able to get back to even with two birdies. He added two more birdies throughout the day, and was able to finish at 151 for the event. Rounding out the team portion of the event was Federico Cobos Kallmann, who finished at 153 (+11). He would finish with a birdie on hole 11, and had a strong back nine that saw him shoot +1 over the nine holes. However, on the front nine, he would par just five times over the first nine holes. 

While not factoring into the main team's score, the Wheeling B team also jumped one spot in the field, going from 11th to finishing in the top 10 of the event. They shot a 605 over the 36 holes of competition, and they were led by the effort of Elias Ekenes-Fosback. The freshman would take 37th overall in the field, shooting a 150 (+4) over the two days. Will Munhall would shoot the lone Eagle of the tournament, hitting it on hole one where he was able to get a chip shot to fall into the hole. Makstr McIntyre and Lodin Femoen would each drop strokes off their scores to round out the night and lead the way for the Cardinals. 

The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Tuesday, April 14th, when they compete at the IUP Invitational.