JUCO Golf meet canceled; MCC gains another Top 20 nod
GOTHENBURG – Thursday's Nebraska Junior College Golf Classic at Wildhorse Golf Club has been canceled because of weather. The event was to have been hosted by MCC with all four junior college golf teams in the state competing: MCC, Southeast Community College, Central Community College and Northeast Community College.
With the cancelation, MCC finishes the fall season leading the Region IX standings at the halfway point, earning 54 points and leading Eastern Wyoming by three points. Teams earn 10 points for placing first, seven points for second, five for third, three for fourth, two for fifth and one point for sixth place.
On Wednesday the website Golfstat.com released its first junior college rankings of the season and MCC is ranked No. 16 in the nation with two golfers ranked individually in the top 20. Sophomore Ethan Gough (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) is ranked No. 13 in the Golfstat.com rankings and freshman Cade Cryer (Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) is ranked No. 18.
"This is a pretty big deal and well-deserved," said MCC Coach Tyler Loop.
The National Junior College Athletic Association also ranks MCC in the top 20. In their first poll of the season last month, MCC was ranked No. 17. The next NJCAA poll is expected soon.
This fall, MCC earned first-place points in four of the six tournaments (at McCook, Torrington, Wyo., Sterling, Colo. and Lamar, Colo.) and second in the other two (Riverton, Wyo. and La Junta, Colo.).
Eastern Wyoming tied MCC in the first tournament of the fall at Heritage Hills and at Torrington, Wyo. on Sept. 16, and won the Otero meet Sept. 27. The Lancers earned seven second-place points at the NJC meet, the CWC meet and the Lamar meet.
Central Wyoming, Northeastern Junior College and Otero Junior are all tied for third place in the region with 20 standings points. Lamar is in sixth place with 18 points.
MCC will resume Region IX play March 23 at Lamar, Colo.
In the individual standings MCC golfers hold five of the top 10 spots.
Gough leads all Region IX golfers with 50 standings points. Competing in all 12 rounds this fall he also tops the field with the lowest average gross score of 70.3 with his low mark coming Sept. 23 in the first round of the NJC meet when he shot a 65. He shot below par golf in his final four tournaments posting scores of -3, -6, -2, and -5. He earned at least six standings points in each of the six meets. He scored first-place points in three tournaments, second place in one, and third place in the other two. He is also first among all golfers in the region with 52 birdies.
Cade Cryer is in third place with 37 standings points. He's brought home points in five of the six Region IX tournaments. The freshman earned first-place points in his second meet of the fall at Riverton, Wyo., and at NJC on Sept. 23. He earned second place points at home Sept. 2 and at Lamar Oct. 7 and one point for at the Otero meet. The freshman had four rounds of 67 and two of 68. He completed the fall Region IX schedule with a 71.5 scoring average and leads all golfers in the region with three eagles or better.
Sophomores Brayden Dahl (Outer West Durban, South Africa) and Cayden Wynne (Lincoln Southwest) are tied for sixth place in the standings, both earning 16 points.
After missing the home meet Sept. 1-2 because of an injury, Dahl scored in four of the other five meets he participated in. He has a scoring average of 73.3 Wynne brought home standings points in three of six meets and posted a fall scoring average of 74.7.
With 12 fall standings points, Jordan Bingham is 10th in the region backed by a 75.2 scoring average. He earned six points with his fourth-place finish at home to start the season and added six more points with top 10 finishes at Torrington and Lamar.
Sophomores Spencer Wishon (Oberlin) and Payton Craw have scoring averages of 79.7 and 80.2. Freshmen Hunter Hanson (McCook) and Ashton Koetter (Seward) participated in two meets this fall.
At the end of the season in April the top eight players in the standings earn all-Region IX honors.
For all the up-to-date information on MCC golf this season including, schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com
REGION IX STANDINGS AFTER FALL SCHEDULE
STANDINGS POINTS
1. McCook CC 54
2. Eastern Wyoming 51
T3. Northeastern JC 20
T3. Central Wyoming 20
T3. Otero JC 20
6. Lamar CC 18
REGION IX TOP 10 INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
POINTS AV. SCORE LOW SCORE
1. Ethan Gough, McCook………. 50 70.3 65
2. George Cordall, E. Wyoming.. 48 70.8 67
3. Cade Cryer, McCook…………. 37 71.5 67
4. Hunter Hall, C. Wyoming…….. 21 73.8 66
5. Augustin Pizzorno, Otero JC.… 20 74.2 67
T6. Cayden Wynne, McCook……. 16 74.7 67
T6. Brayden Dahl, McCook………. 16 73.3 69
T8. Thomas O'Conner, Lamar…… 15 74.3 69
T8. Noah Taylor, E. Wyoming……. 15 74.0 68
10. Jordan Bingham, McCook……. 12 75.2 71