Wheeling, W.Va. – The final editions of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) fall preseason poll are set to come out on Thursday as the conference announces its rankings for the Men’s and Women’s Golf season. First up was the Men’s Golf preseason poll as all 10 teams were ranked via a vote of the Head Coaches. With a year of experience under their belts, the Wheeling University Men’s Golf team tries to climb the standings and finished ranked #8 in this year’s poll. It was a one spot improvement for the team from last season as they gained more experience throughout the year.
The 2021 Men’s Golf team was one comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores, some taking their first steps into collegiate golf. As the year went on, their scores increased greatly with playing time, and they are looking for that trend to continue this season. In the 2021 MEC Conference Championship, the men were in the top seven through the first day of competition, but eventually dropped down and finished eighth in the field. They did send one player to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship in the spring but ended their year as a team with an 11th place finish at the West Liberty Invitational.
The 2022 season will see the Wheeling Men’s Golf team under new leadership Rich Conwell took over as the team’s Head Coach in mid-August. He is set to lead this year’s squad, which includes a pair of returning juniors Austin Panhorst spirit Dylan Feldkamp. Both players played a strong role for the Cardinals last season, with Panhorst finishing the year as the team’s number two golfer at the West Liberty Invitational. Joining them is a returning sophomore Blake Ring-Fish as well as Freshman Ethan Short and junior Nick Zaller. They all look to improve their scores from last season while continuing to help the program grow.
Leading the way in this year’s preseason poll was Charleston, who received 76 points and six first place votes. They were followed by Davis & Elkins (75 (4)) and West Liberty (64) to round out the top three in the field. The rest of the MEC Men’s Golf preseason poll looks like this:
1. Charleston – 78 (6)
2. Davis & Elkins – 75 (4)
3. West Liberty – 64
4. Fairmont State – 52
5. Glenville State – 50
6. Concord – 47
7. Notre Dame College – 30
8. Wheeling – 23
9. West Virginia Wesleyan – 21
10. West Virginia State – 10th
The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team opens their season on Sunday, September 4th, when they play round one of the Vulcan Invitational at Cedar Brook Golf Course in Belle Vernon.