The Florida Southern College men’s golf team won its 14th NCAA national championship on Friday, May 22, defeating Wingate University of North Carolina 3-2 in the final.
Friday’s win gave the storied athletic program for the Lakeland college its 31st overall national championship in all sports. The men’s golf program last one a championship in 2017.
All three FSC seniors won their finals Friday at the Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada.
Tyler Mistretta beat Wingate’s Brandon Skidmore by one stroke, 70-71. The graduate student from North Palm Beach went down one stroke on the opening hole before tying on hole 2. He then went 1-up and held on to the advantage for most of the front nine. He worked all the way to 4-up on the back nine. Skidmore closed the gap to one stroke but Mistretta held on to clinch his match.
The Moccasins’ Donte Groppuso dominated his match against Mattia D’Errico, winning by five strokes, 66-71. Groppuso, a graduate student from Kingston, New York, carded five birdies and an eagle, losing only two holes and tying his tournament low 66 from the semifinal round. The highlight of his round was sinking a 30-foot eagle putt on 15.
Max Barile clinched the title for the Mocs, beating Wingate’s Cole Rouse by 4-strokes, 68-72. The senior from Land O’ Lakes led the entire match and carded six birdies in the round.
Anthony Monteleone, a freshman from Winter Haven, fell by two strokes to Wingate’s Alfie Storer, 70-68. Monteleone led through the first six holes, but Storer tied on hole 7. A bogey on No. 8 gave Storer a brief lead, but a Monteleone birdie on 9 evened it at the turn. Monteleone managed one birdie on the back nine, on hole 13, But a birdie on 10 and an eagle on 16 gave Storer the 68-70 win.
Colton Swartz, a junior from Fleming Island, was the only Moc to not shoot under par, carding an even 72. Wingate’s Lewis Beeden recorded six birdies and an eagle in the match. But back-to-back bogeys by Beeden on 11 and 12 helped Swartz close within one stroke. But Beeden recorded three straight birdies and the eagle to pull away and win 68-72.
The Mocs reached the championship round after beating Colorado Christian 3-2 in the Quarterfinal Match, and Lee 4-1 in the Semifinals.
Against Colorado Christian, Mistretta, Monteleone and Swartz won their matches, while Groppuso and Barile lost by narrow margins.
Earlier in the week, the No. 3-ranked Mocs secured the top spot in Medal Match play with a stroke-lay score of 829, or minus-35.
Mistretta shot a career-low 64 on the final day of stroke play to finish in third place with an 11-under 205. Monteleone shot 10-under over three days to tie for fourth. Barile finished stroke play tied for 14th at 7-under. Swartz and Groppuso tied for 23rd at 4-under.
USC Beaufort’s Octavio Laurent won the individual title on May 20, finishing 17-under in the championship.
The men’s golf team wasn’t the only Florida Southern program with a shot at a national title this week.
The women’s lacrosse program, ranked No. 2 in the country, plays No. 8 Maryville University of St. Louis on Saturday, May 23, for the NCAA D-II national championship. The game is in Rochester, New York, at 5 p.m.
The Mocs enter the national championship with a 20-1 record, just the third 20-plus win season in program history and first since 2018. Maryville enters the game 17-4.
The Moccasins and Saints have met just once before. FSC beat Maryville 20-10 at home earlier this season. To watch the game live, go to https://www.ncaa.com/game/6600151.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Florida Southern men’s golf team wins NCAA D-II national championship
Reporting by Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
