WHEELING, W.V. – It was not a pretty last few days for Post University Men's Golf in the NCAA Regionals which were held at the Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia, but that lack of beauty was not on the greens, it was in the sky. Dealing with multiple weather delays each day of the event that forced the first round for the Eagles to be finished the next day followed by a second round of golf being played, it ended up being all worth it in the end.

For only the second time in program history and the first time since 2011-12, Post University is heading to the NCAA National Championship after finishing fifth overall in the NCAA Regional. Back during the 2021-22 season, senior Jace Carlisle had made it to the National Championship as an individual after finishing tied for fourth at the NCAA Regional and then went on to finish 93rd at the Nationals. 

THE BASICS 
 
Team Results – 5th Out of 15 Teams (+53, 905)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
Entering the day, the Eagles had been tied for fourth place but were not far off from one of the top five spots that would qualify them for the NCAA National Championship. Just 10 strokes separated third overall from 13th overall which was the difference between a spot in Nationals and missing the cut entirely. For the Eagles they sat one stroke behind the top five, entering the day in a tie for seventh, but some shuffling in the standings and scores as the day went on would propel them into the top five.

At the end of it all, Gannon easily took the event at 12-over-par and a 23-stroke edge over second place Charleston while East Region's St. Thomas Aquinas was two back of them at 37-over-par and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania finished fourth at 40-over-par. While the logjam was barely solved in the middle of the pack for that fifth and final spot, it would work out in favor of Post as they finished 53-over-par with just a two-stroke edge over sixth place in Davis and Elkins. 

That would be all the Eagles needed to clinch their spot into the NCAA National Championship for the first time in 12 years on a day that saw five teams, all from the Northeast 10, not finish their final rounds which kicked them off the leaderboard. One of those teams was Assumption University who entered the day tied for 7th overall with Post and would have potentially had a shot to knock Post out of that top-five spot that they ultimately held on to. 

As for the individuals, junior Joe Ensign closed out a solid three rounds with an 11th-place finish at seven-over-par which was nine strokes off from Shaunak Rama of Gannon who won the event. Graduate student Bill Koch finished tied for 14th, right behind Ensign, after finishing nine-over-par but improving with each passing round from a 77 down to a 72. 

Carlisle, who is no stranger to the NCAA National Championship, was in the middle of the pack in a tie for 41st place at 17-over-par while senior Ethan Phillips lurked close behind him tied for 52nd place at 20-over-ar. Rounding out the five who will be headed to Florida next week was freshman Braeden Shea with an 83rd-place finish at 45-over-par.
 
WHAT'S NEXT  
The Eagles get ready to head down to Winter Garden, Florida for their second National Championship appearance in program history from May 21st until May 25th.