Johnstown, PA. - The lights shine a little bit brighter in Vegas, and the Wheeling University Men's Golf team will be able to bask in those lights. The team made history at the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic/East Regional Championship, qualifying for the 2026 NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championships for the first time in program history. Wheeling would end up taking the last qualifying spot, finishing third in the field with a three-day total of 866, claiming the final spot by two strokes over Glenville State.
"This means absolutely everything. Winning and qualifying for something big in team golf is awesome, but it is even better when it is around a bunch of kids who really really work at it. This group of kids have worked so hard for this moment, and now they have accomplished something that no one can ever take away from them. I am so proud of everyone on this team. My assistant is only an assistant by title only- he has worked so hard to get us to this point this season. We will enjoy this one, but it is back to business on Monday to get ready to compete for a National Championship! Go Cards!"
After a big comeback day in round two, freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback would carry that momentum into the final day to lead the Cardinals. The freshman would finished tied for sixth in the field with a three-day score of 214, putting together his second straight even par round. He would have to battle right from the tee box after stringing together a pair of bogeys, but he slowly worked his way back into the round. He hit par on the next three holes, before getting his first stroke back with a birdie on hole six. He would hit par on two of the next three holes, but added one more stroke to sit at +2 heading to the turn. He had worked his way into the top 10 of the event, and would put together the best back nine effort of the tournament to round things out.
He got back on his stride with a par on hole 10, before regaining his two strokes on holes 10 and 11. He would earn his second and third birdies of the round, and brought things back to even with six holes to play. He kept things consistent down that stretch, picking up five straight pars to head into hole 18 sitting even and officially in the top five of the event. He would need to shoot par on the final par four of the night, and was able to close out the round to keep his score even and finish fourth in the field. He strung together back-to-back pars in the final two rounds to finish top five in the region as a freshman, putting together his best round of the spring.
"I just try to always grind it out," said Ekenes-Fosback. "This week has been unbelievable for me. As a freshman that ha struggled getting into the lineup, to be able to step up and play the way that I have this week feels amazing. The team means everything to me and I'm beyond happy to contribute to sending us to nationals."
Another big part of the Cardinal's hanging on was the performance of graduate student Troy Loughry, who dropped six strokes from his round two score. He shot a tournament best 73 on the night, thanks to a strong back nine performance. After shooting +4 on the front nine, Loughry hit the back nine strong with a pair of birdies on holes 10 and 11. He would add a par on hole 12, before getting two strokes back on 13 and 14. However, the additions didn't last long as the graduate student got back on track with a par, and added a birdie on hole 16 to get back to +3 for the round, and –1 on the back nine. He cleaned things up with back-to-back pars, shooting a 34 on the back nine to round out a big day. He would end up leading the Cardinals with four birdies on the night, with the fourth of those coming on hole eight, as he made his way in the scoring foursome for the round.
Rounding out the top three for the Cardinals was Sean Dobson, who finished +4 (74) for the round and +5 (215) for the tournament. He shot equal +2's on both the front nine and the back nine, with his more consistent half coming to start the day. He hit par on the first three holes of the night, and would par on seven of the nine holes before hitting the turn. E would end up adding two strokes on his first three holes of the back nine, and would have to go to work the rest of the way. He would hit par three times on the next four holes, adding a birdie on hole 17 to get to +1 for the back nine. The round would end with a bogey on hole 18, but he was able to sit at +4 for the day and bring his two-day total to +5 for the event. He would finish in a tie for ninth in the field with a three-day score of 215 for the event.
Meeting him in that tie for ninth was his own teammate Zak Collins, who equaled Dobson's mark of 215 across the three days. Round three would see him post his highest score of the event at +5 (75) but a sub par effort on day one followed by a +1 on day two was able to keep him in the top 10. After starting the day with a +3 on the front nine, and a +5 after 11 holes, Collins had to battle back to help his team keep their top three spot. He bounced back with a birdie on hole 12 and added five pars on the final six holes to finish his round at +5. It rounded out a day that saw three Cardinals in the top 10 of the event as they look to carry their momentum to the national stage. The final golfer for the Cardinals was Lodin Femoen, who rounded out his regional tournament shooting a +7 (77) for the day and a 226 across the three day competition. After shooting a +5 on the front nine, Femoen came back strong with two birdies on the back nine to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Monday, May 18th, when they tee-off the 2025 NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championships.
