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Vikings Set Out to Defend Title at Villanova Wildcat Invitational

Vikings Set Out to Defend Title at Villanova Wildcat Invitational
Posted: Mar 24, 2017

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's golf team returns to action at the Villanova Wildcat Invitational on Monday and Tuesday (March 27-28) at the par-71, 7,055-yard White Manor CC in Malvern, Pa.

The Vikings are the defending tournament champion, carding a final round 291 to move up from eighth place after round one to claim the title. It marked the first in-season title since the Vikings won the John Piper Intercollegiate from Sept. 17-18, 2012, in Bowling Green.

In last year's event, the Vikings opened the tournament with a 302 and were in eighth place. However, CSU was just four shots behind a trio of teams who were tied for second place and 13 shots behind first round leader Wagner.

Playing in the third to last group of the day, the Vikings shot 291 - the lowest round of the day - to finish six shots clear of Lehigh in the final standings.

This year's event features a 19 team field with CSU and host Villanova being joined by Binghampton, Bucknell, Colgate, Delaware, Drexel, Fordham, Lehigh, LeMoyne, Manhattan, Monmouth, Navy, Rider, Siena, St. John's, Saint Joseph's, St. Peter's and Wagner.

CSU last competed at the Seahawk Intercollegiate on March 19-20, placing eighth. Sophomore Nick Infanti led the Vikings as he just missed a top-10 finish, placing 11th. Following an opening round 78, he shot a one-under-par 71 in round two and an even-par 72 in the final round.

The field at the Seahawk Intercollegiate featured several top-100 teams including 65th ranked host UNC-Wilmington, who the Vikings finished ahead of in the tournament. After the first 36 holes, the Vikings also trailed 26th-ranked North Carolina by just one shot.

Senior Patrick Luth leads the squad with a 72.6 scoring average, while Anton Krecic posts a 74.5 average. Juniors Blake Prince (74.9) and Joey Krecic (75.0) are next with Infanti at 75.5 this year.

CSU will return to action on April 14-15 at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, Ind. It will be the final regular season event for the Vikings ahead of the Horizon League Championship in Florida from April 23-25.