Men's Golf finishes 5th at 2015 OAC Championships
By Tim Glon
WEST LAFAYETTE — Senior Ryan Wirtz fired a final round 3-over par 75 to lead the men's golf team to a fifth place finish in the 2015 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championships at River Greens Golf Course Friday-Sunday.
The Polar Bears were fifth of eight teams with a 306-308-317-305—1236 for the 72 holes at the 3-day championships.
Wirtz finished tied for 13th out of 40 golfers with a 79-75-80-75—309
Freshman Zach Goodchild tied for 19th with a 74-75-82-79—310, junior Rick Deichert was 26th with an 83-81-75-77—316 and freshman Blaine Ricketts tied for 27th with a 79-77-83-78—317.
Otterbein won the team title with an 1188, Capital was second with a 1202, Mount Union was third with a 1225 and John Carroll was fourth with a 1228.
Nick Popely of Mount Union won medalist honors by two shots with a 7-over par 295.
The top 10 finishers and ties earned All-OAC honors and Otterbein received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships May 12-15 at Greensboro, N.C.
ONU finished its season with a 43-20 overall record, its fourth winning season in the past five years.
Team Standings
1. Otterbein 297-297-299-295—1188, 2. Capital 310-296-297-299—1202, 3. Mount Union 312-303-292-318—1225, 4. John Carroll 311-303-314-300—1228, 5. Ohio Northern 306-308-317-305—1236, 6. Muskingum 319-308-305-310—1242, 7. Baldwin Wallace 311-318-316-308—1253, 8. Heidelberg 327-330-315-321—1293.
Top 10 Individual Finishers (All-OAC Honorees)
2. Nick Popely (MtU) 80-74-67-74—295, t2. Luke Kindelin (Ott) 74-75-74-74—297, t2. Adam Crider (Ott) 74-79-73-71—297, t4. Parker McComb (Cap) 76-74-73-77—300, t4. Daniel Shafer (Cap) 83-73-74-70—300, t6. David Monaco (Ott) 76-69-74-82—301, t6. Jeff Czerniakowski (Cap) 80-72-76-73—301, 8. Austin Wells (Ott) 73-80-78-72—303, t9. Phillip Martin 75-77-74-80—306, t9. Andrew Britton (JCU) 80-73-80-73—306.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
t13. Ryan Wirtz 79-75-80-75—309, t19. Zach Goodchild 74-75-82-79—310, 26. Rick Deichert 83-81-75-77—316, t27. Blaine Ricketts 79-77-83-78—317, DQ. Colin Burns 74-DQ-80-75.
