WESTFIELD CENTER — The No. 15 Wittenberg men's golf team sits in third place after Day 1 of the three-day North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Friday.

The Basics

• Venue: Westfield Country Club North Course - Westfield Center, Ohio, Par 70, Yardage: 6,646
• Hiram is serving as the host school for the tournament.
• Wittenberg is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, which was released on Friday, and is No. 15 in the latest NCAA Division III Scoreboard rankings, powered by Clippd, which was released on Thursday.
• The field contains two ranked teams, as Kenyon is ranked No. 23 in the Bushnell/Golfeweek Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Scoreboard rankings.
• The top five individual finishers (including ties) earn All-NCAC First Team honors. Places six through 10 (including ties) earn Second Team recognition, and places 11-15 (including ties) earn Third Team accolades.
• Wittenberg is seeking a second straight conference title and 13th overall. The Tigers won 10 consecutive conference championships from 2010 to 2019.
• Seniors J.F. Aber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) and Nicklaus Pidgeon (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch) earned All-NCAC First Team accolades a year ago after finishing third and tied for fifth, respectively, in the 2023 NCAC Championships. Aber was named the 2023 NCAC Golfer of the Year and is a three-time All-NCAC honoree (First Team in 2022 and 2023 and Second Team in 2021).

The Tournament

• Wittenberg shot a 6-over-par 286 in Friday's opening round to sit in third place in the eight-team field. Kenyon and Wabash are tied for first after shooting an even-par 280. Wittenberg leads fourth-place DePauw by one stroke.
• In the individual standings, Aber leads the 40-man field by one stroke after shooting a 2-under-par 68 on Friday. There is a four-way tie for second at 1-under-par.
• Junior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) is tied for seventh with a 1-over-par 71.
• Sophomore Mark Sulek (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) is tied for 19th with a 3-over-par 73.
• Pidgeon and junior Joshua Wright (Wadsworth, Ohio/Akron Hoban) are tied for 23rd with a 4-over-par 74.

Quote - Head coach David Wetterich

• "The tournament couldn't be won today, but we did what we needed to do to stay in it going into the final two days. We look forward to the challenge both teams face heading into Saturday and Sunday."

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday for the second of the three rounds in the NCAC Championships at Westfield Country Club beginning at 12:10 p.m.