Wheeling, W. Va. - Just two weeks ago, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team made history when they qualified for the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic/East Regional Championships. After a strong weekend at the Sunnehanna Country Club, the Cardinals were able to keep history going, taking third in the field and making the National cut. Following the Regional Championship tournament schedule, the team and individual finalists were announced for the 2026 DII Men's Golf National Championships. The Cardinals were announced as one of 20 teams making the trip to Boulder City, Nevada May 18th – 22nd, qualifying for the first NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championship in program history.
The honor comes after a big week at the Sunnehanna Country Club that saw the Cardinals hold a top three spot throughout the tournament. The success got started right on day one, with the Cardinals putting together their strongest day of individual success. They would have two golfers shoot par or better, and sat in a tie for third in the field with a team score of 289. Day two saw them take their game to the next level, dropping four strokes off their score, and jumping two spots in the field. They found themselves sitting in first place in the regional field heading into the final round, but had to fight through some adversity as they dropped as low as sixth in the field with half the round to go. However, the Cardinals battled back with a strong back nine, and claimed the third spot in the field by a two stroke lead over Glenville State.
Individually, the Cardinals would finish with three golfers in the top 10 of the event, with freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback leading the group. After sitting in a tie for 42nd after the first round, he went to work with back-to-back pars in rounds two and three to jump 36 spots in the field to finish tied for sixth overall. Sophomore Zak Collins and graduate student Sean Dobson were the other two to make the top ten, with each golfer finishing in a tie for ninth. Collins got things started strong with a 69 (-1) on round one, and sat as high as a tie for second before finishing in a tie for ninth. Dobson was steady over the first two rounds, posting scores of 70 (E) and 71 (+1) to hover around a top five spot, before posting a 74 (+4) to round out the tournament with a top 10 finish.
In total, three teams from the NCAA DII Atlantic/East Region made the National Championship, with two of those three being from the Mountain East Conference (MEC) The 2026 Atlantic/East Regional Championship went to Gannon University, after winning in a playoff round. Finishing as runners-up were the University of Charleston, with Wheeling rounding out the top three. The rest of the tournament field consists of the qualifiers from the other three regional championships. Joining the teams from the Atlantic/East region will be Grand Valley State, Missouri – St. Louis, Central Missouri, and Washburn from the Central/Midwest Region, Nova Southeastern, West Florida, Lee, Georgia Southwestern, Florida Southern, Columbus State, and Wingate from the South/Southeast Region, and Western Washington, West Texas A&M, Cal State East Bay, Colorado Christian, Cal State San Marcos, and Cal State San Bernardino from the Southwest/West Region.
The 2026 NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championship will run from Monday, May 18th through Friday, May 22nd at the Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City, Nevada. The first three rounds of the event will feature all 20 teams in the field, and will be played May 18th, 19th, and 20th. After three rounds of play, the top eight teams in the field will move on to Stroke play, which will round out the event on May 21st and May 22nd. The 2025 NCAA DII Men's Golf Championship was won by the University of West Florida in a playoff against Colorado Christian. Wheeling will be looking to become the first team ever from the Atlantic/East Region to win the National Championship. This year's National Championship event will be hosted at the Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City, Nevada.
The 2026 NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championship kicks off on Monday, May 18th, with tee times to be announced as the week goes on.
