IOWA CITY, Iowa (April 26, 2013) --- Enduring blustery conditions, Wartburg College fired an opening-round 324 Friday and leads the 2013 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Men's Golf Championship by three strokes over defending champion Central after 18 holes of the 72-hole event.
The Knights, who have four golfers in the top 16, are led by Matt Kristensen, who carded a 2-over-par 74 and leads the field by four strokes. Kristensen went out in the second group of the day and finished even-par on the back nine. He also had two birdies.
Central posted a 327 and has four golfers in the top 10 -- David Watson is tied for fifth after an 81 and Justin Livingston, Jared Nepomuceno and Desmond Stoll are part of a 7-way tie for seventh after shooting 82.
Luther and Simpson are tied for third at 329 and both have two golfers in the top five. Luther's Tobias Kohl (79) and Andrew Peter (80) are third and fourth, respectively, while Simpson is led by Zach Hale (78) in second and Trent Lindenman (81) in a tie for fifth.
Dubuque (337), Buena Vista (343), Loras (345) and Coe (351) round out the team entries.
Saturday's second round gets underway at 9 a.m. with the top four teams (Wartburg, Central, Luther, Simpson) going off the first tee in foursomes.
Golfers from Dubuque, Buena Vista, Loras and Coe will follow in a second wave beginning at approximately 9:50 a.m.
Friday
IOWA CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Iowa City
(Finkbine G.C., par 72)
First Round Scores
Teams - 1. Wartburg, 324; 2. Central, 327; 3. (tie) Luther and Simpson, 329; 5. Dubuque, 337; 6. Buena Vista, 343; 7. Loras, 345; 8. Coe, 351 Top 5 individuals - 1. Matt Kristensen (WAR), 74; 2. Zach Hale (SIM), 78; 3. Tobias Kohl (LUT), 79; 4. Andrew Peter (LUT), 80; 5. (tie) Trent Lindenman (SIM) and David Watson (CEN), 81.
Buena Vista (343): 15. Andrew Zinn, 84; t23. Jaxson Armstrong, 86; t23.
Conor Dondale, 86; t28. John Bral, 87; t38. Luke Anderson, 94
Central (327): t5. Watson, 81; t7. Justin Livingston, 82; t7. Jared Nepomuceno, 82; t7. Desmond Stoll, 82; t28. John Prescott, 87
Coe (351): t7. Tyler Gunderson, 82; t33. Garrett Cross, 89; t35. Mitch Moon, 90; t35. Derek Nicholson, 90; 40. Zach Stafford, 96
Dubuque (337): t7. Martin Odegard, 82; t7. Eric Wolfe, 82; t23. Alex Beck, 86; t28. Mitch Sobotta, 87; t33. Chris Kerr, 89
Loras (345): t16. Sam Herrmann, 85; t23. Jon Nugent, 86; t28. Jason Beer, 87; t28. Jimmy Gallery, 87; t38. James Komorowski, 94
Luther (329): 3. Kohl, 79; 4. Peter, 80; t16. Matt Axelrod, 85; t16. Joel Bruns, 85; t23. Ben Kerns, 86
Simpson (329): 2. Hale, 78; t5. Lindenman, 81; t16. Shaan Desai, 85; t16.
Andy Hutchins, 85; t16. Conner Juilfs, 85
Wartburg (324): 1. Kristensen, 74; t7. Nate Meisinger, 82; 14. Carson Barron, 83; t16. Jeremy Carper, 85; 37. Dominick Smith, 92.
