Men's Golf | October 19

CINCINNATI, OH – Senior Reece Nilsen (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills/GCU) of the Northern Illinois University men's golf team ran away with medalist honors at the Xavier Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday afternoon at Maketewah Country Club. NIU tied Morehead State for first place in the team competition.
 
"I'm proud of the way that all six of our players competed this week," said head coach John Carlson following Tuesday's final round. "We gave ourselves an opportunity down the stretch today and we converted. It's hard to win a golf tournament, and to take first place and have an individual champion this week culminates a fantastic week at Maketewah."
 
Nilsen, who played as an individual, was tied for fifth after Monday morning's opening round, carding an even-par 71. He took first place following Monday's second round of 69. The senior saved his best golf for Tuesday's final round. He started on the back nine and played it at three-under par. Nilsen did not record a bogey on Tuesday until his 17^th hole, but bounced back with a birdie on his last hole to finish with a four-under par 67, his best round of his NIU career.
 
He finished with a 54-hole score of six-under par 207 for his first career win. Nilsen was seven strokes better than the group of four golfers that tied for second place at +1. He is the first Huskie to earn individual medalist honors at a tournament for NIU since Joo-Young Lee in March of 2016.
 
"This week I really tried to instill the confidence back in my game that I had two weeks ago," Nilsen said about his play this week. "The first 14 holes didn't go quite so well, but after that I was playing really good golf and putting really well. I did a good job of putting myself in good spots to be aggressive and make putts."
 
"I was happy to see this response from Reece," Carlson said. "He's resilient and this confidence for him is going to roll into our final event of the fall. I'm so happy for him. He puts in maximum effort and to see him get over the hump and win a collegiate tournament."
 
Luc Warnock (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/E.J. LaJeunesse) also had his best career round as a Huskie on Tuesday. The junior carded a three-under par 68 on Tuesday which vaulted him up 16 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for sixth at two-over par. After an opening round 78, Warnock bounced back with a 69 Monday afternoon and his 68 today. This was his first career top-10 finish and his best result as a Huskie, besting his season-opening 18^th place at Marquette.
 
Freshman Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) had his second top-10 finish of the season this week, tying for eighth with a 54-hole score of three-over par 216. Sluzas improved his score with reach round of the event. He started with a 73 in the first round Monday, followed by a 72 in the second round and an even-par 71 Tuesday. Michael Cascino (Palos Park, Ill./Providence Catholic/Butler) had his first top-20 finish at NIU this week, tying for 19^th at seven-over par. He moved up 15 positions on the leaderboard Tuesday with his one-under 70.
 
"What a performance by Luc and Michael over the final nine holes today," said Carlson. "They really carried us to the top spot today. We had guys step up and count in our four scores in each round. There was pressure that was felt all over the golf course today, and we came from behind to rally and win. I'm thrilled for our players because this was a long time coming for NIU."
 
Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) rounded out NIU's scoring group Tuesday with a round of 74, capping the Huskies' best round of the tournament at one-under par 283. He finished the tournament tied for 30^th at +10. Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) was part of the Huskies' scoring group in both rounds Monday with scores of 72 and 74. He finished tied for 39^th at +12.
 
NIU entered Tuesday's final round two strokes behind Morehead State at +13. Stellar play on the back nine gave the Huskies a late lead, only to see the Eagles come back and tie at +12 over the final few holes. Drake finished third at +23, followed by Oakland in fourth with Butler, Austin Peay and the hosts Xavier in a tie for fifth.  
 
The Huskies close the fall portion of their 2021-22 season Nov. 8-10 at the Poppy Hills Collegiate, hosted by St. Mary's in Pebble Beach, Calif.
 
--NIU--