Men's Golf: Red Wolves Win RSC Title

DANIELS, W. Va. - For the first time in school history, the Indiana University East men's golf team is advancing to the NAIA National Championships after earning the automatic bid by winning the River States Conference title on Tuesday, April 28.

"Today was a grind and I'm really proud of how we performed under pressure," Landon True said. "We have a great team leader that kept us composed going into each round and as a freshman that's something that was huge."

IU East grabbed the lead after the second round at The Resort at Glade Springs and the Red Wolves were able to hold on the top spot on the final day with a three-day total of 307-311-299-917. Midway University was second in the 11-team field with 305-316-299-920, while the University of Rio Grande was third at 304-317-304-925.

This year's four-day national event will be in Illinois at TPC Deere Run in Silvis on May 12-15.

On Tuesday, True (75-78-74-227) and RSC Newcomer of the Year Noah Mulford (74-78-75-227) led the Red Wolves finishing tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard to earn a place on the All-RSC First Team.

"This week was something I have never experienced," Mulford said. "Coming in, I was super excited and ready to play. We all had set backs, but overall it was all about how we came together as a team and pulled through with the first RSC title in program history.

Sam Firebaugh (77-79-74-230) was seventh overall and on the All-RSC Second Team. Dare Bowles (83-76-76-235) was 16th.

Braden Tedder played the final round for the Red Wolves and recorded an 84. Nick Brubaker was in the lineup during the first two days with scores of 81 and 83.

Tedder was IU East's representative on the RSC Champions of Character list, while Jeff Williams was selected as the RSC Coach of the Year.

Jose Vidal of Oakland City University (74-68-73-215) punched his ticket to nationals as an individual by being the RSC Medalist.

Overall, this is IU East's second conference championship in men's golf. The Red Wolves finished first in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference back in 2008, but with only three teams, the league didn't qualify for a bid to nationals.

Individually, two players from IU East have competed in the national tournament. Joey Smart finished 85th in 2014, while Tyler Pearson was 94th in 2019.

During IU East's time in the RSC, the Red Wolves best previous effort as a team was second place in 2021 and 2022.