CINCINNATI, OH – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team finished the Musketeer Classic at Maketewah Country Club in second place on Tuesday. Senior Jordan Less (Elmhurst, Ill./York) led the Huskies with a career-best sixth-place finish.
 
"We played well at Prairie Club and I expected us to compete in this event," said head coach John Carlsen. "We gave ourselves a chance to win with nine holes to play. We were neck-and-neck with Wisconsin. You can't get yourself in position without everyone really in the game for both rounds of the 36-hole day. The emotion of seeing ourselves at the top of the leaderboard was pretty special. We had a chance to do something special and win a college golf tournament."
 
NIU's second-place team finish marks the first time the Huskies have been in the top-three in an event since placing second at the Mizzou Intercollegiate in April of 2016. The Huskies entered Tuesday's final round tied with Wisconsin at three-over par. NIU posted a team score of 10-over par 294 to finish four strokes behind the Badgers for the team title. Ball State and Morehead State tied for third place at +21.
 
Less recorded his second top-10 finish in his career, tying for sixth place with a 54-hole score of one-over par 214. The senior carded a final round 73 on the par-71 course with two birdies in the final five holes to get back to two-over for the day. His previous top-10 came in 2018 at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate.
 
"Jordan made a lot of birdies this week," Carlson said. "He had an unfortunate time on hole number 13 where he ended up making seven on a par four, but he finished three-under in the last seven holes after that bout of adversity. It really shows just how competitive he is and his leadership on the course which we're asking him to do."
 
Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) also posted a final round 73 on Tuesday. After starting his round four-over par through 11 holes, Dunsire birdied 12, 13 and 14 to get to one-over for the day. He finished the tournament tied for 19^th at five-over par. Michael Mattas (Shorewood, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic) also tied for 19^th after a final round 78.
 
Russell Matos (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) and Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) rounded out NIU's scoring group on Tuesday as both golfers carded three-over par rounds of 74. Matos finished the tournament tied for 23^rd place at six-over par. Place's 74 was his best round of the tournament and moved him into a tie for 42^nd with an 11-over par 224.
 
NIU wraps up its fall season November 1-3 at the White Sands Intercollegiate at Ocean Club in Nassau, Bahamas.
 
--NIU--


Day One Recap
The Northern Illinois University men's golf team finished the first day of the Musketeer Classic, hosted by Xavier at Maketewah Country Club, tied for the team lead with Wisconsin at three-over par.
 
Michael Mattas and Jordan Less finished the first 36 holes in the top-10. Mattas is tied for sixth at two-under par. The senior had the Huskies' lowest round on Monday with a three-under par 68 on the par 71 course in the second round. Mattas had three birdies and an eagle on the par-five 15^th in his afternoon round. Jordan Less had NIU's lowest score in the first round with a two-under par 69 that also included an eagle on 15. He followed up that round with a one-over par 72 in the afternoon which put him tied for eighth at one-under par.
 
Tommy Dunsire and Russell Matos both finished the first day of competition at three-over par in a tie for 23^rd. Dunsire started his first round with three birdies in the first 10 holes but finished with a one-over par 72. He carded a two-over par 73 in the afternoon. After posting a first-round 74, Matos moved 17 spots up the leaderboard with an even-par 71 in the afternoon. Matos rolled the momentum of an eagle on his final hole of round one into four birdies in the second round.
 
The Huskies were three-over par in round one and tied Creighton for the lowest team score in round two as both teams posted even-par scores of 284. NIU is tied for Wisconsin on top of the leaderboard heading into Tuesday's final round. Ball State is three strokes back in third place.
 
The final round will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday.