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Johnstown, PA. – Heading into round two of the 2026 NCAA DII Atlantic/East Regional Championships, the Wheeling University Men’s Golf team sat in a tie for third in the field. As the round concluded, the Cardinals made their move, leapfrogging the two teams ahead of them to sit first overall after 36 holes of competition. The Cardinals were able to drop four strokes from their day one score, shooting a 285 (+5) for the round, and hold a two stroke lead over Gannon for the Regional Championship, as well as a seven stroke lead to clinch themselves a spot in the NCAA DII Men’s Golf National Championships.
The catalyst for the Cardinal’s climb to first was freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who jumped 28 spots in the team standings. He would be the only Cardinal to shoot even par on the day, dropping four strokes off his score to bring his two-day score to 144. After adding a stroke on his score through the first two holes, he would get into a groove, knocking four straight pars heading into hole seven. He would get his stroke back with his first birdie of the day on the hole, and followed that immediately with another on hole eight to go –1. That is what he would finish the front nine at, and he looked to keep things going on the back nine. He carried the momentum with him around the turn, hitting par on hole 10 before birdieing for the third time on the day to move to –2 with seven holes to play. He would shoot par on five of those seven holes, and the early success was enough to help him finish at par on the day.
Continuing his string in the top five of the event was sophomore Zak Collins, who moved into a tie for second in the field. The second round would see him shoot a 71 (+1) as he jumped two more competitors in the individual standings. He was able to balance a Bogey with a Birdie in the firs three holes, shooting an even par through three holes. He finished with two pars on the next two holes, before birdieing for the second time on hole six. However, that shot would also balance itself out, and he headed to the back nine with his score sitting even. The back nine would start with another balancing act, with Collins hitting his third birdie of the day. He sat even with seven holes to play, and would add just one stroke to his score. He hit par on six of those seven holes, to shoot +1 on the day and move to even par for the event.
The other Cardinal to finish in the top five after two days of competition was Sean Dobson, who moved up three spots to sit in a tie for 4th. He would also finish with a 71 for the round and bringing his two-day score to 145, as he got out to the best start on the day for Wheeling. After shooting par on the first three holes, he would birdie on hole four to sit –1 early. He would add his first stroke on the next hole, and added one more before hitting the turn. He sat at +1 as he headed to the back nine, and traded a bogey for a birdie on holes 10 and 11. His score moved to +2 with four holes to play before he locked in to finish out the night. He would hit par on three of those four holes, and rounded out the night with his third birdie of the day on hole 17 to finish +1 for the day.
The final two golfers for the Cardinals were Lodin Femoen and Troy Loughry, with Femoen being the final Cardinal to factor into the score. Femoen would also climb the individual leaderboard, jumping 18 spots into a tie for 44th in the field. He finished with the second biggest score drop of the day, taking three strokes off his score, and was led by a strong front nine effort. He shot par on five straight holes to start the day, and added a birdie before hitting the turn to sit at +1. He would add two additional strokes to his score on the back nine, but finished at 73 (+3) for the round. Rounding out the day was Troy Loughry, who finished at 79 (+9) for the round, with his most successful half coming with a +4 on the back nine.
The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team returns to action for round three on Saturday, May 8th, for the third round of the NCAA DII Atlantic/East Regional Championships, with tee times beginning at 12:40 PM.