Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – The 2019 Midwest Conference (MWC) men’s golf preseason votes are in and the coaches selected Knox College as the favorite to win its first conference championship since 2008. The Prairie Fire earned the 2018 Mark Laesch Award for improving their stroke average per round by 27.58 from the 2016-17 to 2017-18 seasons and look to make another jump this year.
Knox edged defending champion Lake Forest College by two points in the annual poll. The Prairie Fire came out on top thanks to four first-place votes for 24 points followed by the Foresters who grabbed the remaining two first-place votes for 22 points. Lake Forest won its first MWC Championship last season but will have to hold off the winningest team in league history as the Prairie Fire have won 29 MWC championships overall and finished only two points behind the Foresters in 2018.
The Prairie Fire and Foresters will also have to contend with St. Norbert College who has won three of the last six championships. The Green Knights tied Illinois College for third in the coaches’ poll with 15 points. The Blueboys finished just six points ahead of St. Norbert at the 2018 MWC Championship meet.
Rounding out the poll is Monmouth College with nine points in fifth and Grinnell College in sixth with five points.
The Scots tee off at 11:00 a.m. today at the Arizona Christian Invite in Phoenix while Illinois College is in Naples, Florida on Saturday. The rest of the league’s teams will begin their seasons in the coming weeks with their respective spring break trips.
Full Poll Results
| 1. Knox |
24 (4) |
| 2. Lake Forest |
22 (2) |
| 3. Illinois College |
15 |
| 4. St. Norbert |
15 |
| 5. Monmouth |
9 |
| 6. Grinnell |
5 |
Below is a team-by-team preview of all six MWC programs.
Grinnell College Pioneers
Head Coach Brian Jaworski (12th season)
2018 MWC Finish: N/A
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 6th
Grinnell returns two golfers who competed at the MWC Championship in juniors Owen Craven and John Zbaracki. The team leader through the fall season is Ravi Levens who averaged 80.5 strokes per round at the Wartburg Fall Invite. The Pioneers will look to record a team score at this year’s conference championship after only having three golfers at the meet last season.
Illinois College Blueboys
Head Coach: Abby Vorreyer (6th season)
2018 MWC Finish: 3rd
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 3rd
Returning All-MWC: Ryan Kauffman
The Blueboys return one All-MWC performer from last year’s third place team as Ryan Kauffman finished ninth with a three-round score of 230 in his first collegiate season. Through three fall events, Kauffman is averaging 81 strokes per round in his sophomore season. Bryce Oden also returns after finishing three strokes from an All-MWC finish, as he shot 234 for 12th place. The junior led the team in the fall with an average of 79.8.
Knox College Prairie Fire
Head Coach: KC Harding (7th season)
2018 MWC Finish: 2nd
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 1st
Returning All-MWC: Duncan Wheeler, Jason White
The Prairie Fire enter the 2019 spring season as the favorite to win their first MWC Championship since 2008 as they return two All-MWC performers. Senior Duncan Wheeler is Knox’s top returner after tying for sixth after shooting 227, just two strokes ahead of teammate Jason White’s 229 in eighth. The Prairie Fire were able to get in five events this fall with White and Wheeler averaging 77.9 and 78.4 respectively while the team leader heading into the spring is Josh Schumacher at 75.9 strokes.
Lake Forest College Foresters
Head Coach: Brian Bruha (5th season)
2018 MWC Finish: 1st
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 2nd
Returning All-MWC: Jacob Krugman, Ricky Schmidt
The Foresters look to defend their conference title led by two All-MWC performers in Jacob Krugman and Ricky Schmidt. Krugman shot 226 at the 2018 conference championship to tie for third, just two strokes behind the winner. Schmidt grabbed the last All-MWC spot after shooting 231 for tenth. Schmidt is leading the conference through the fall season with an average of 75.1.
Monmouth College Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Cory Bizarri (3rd season)
2018 MWC Finish: 5th
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 5th
Senior Nate Monroe is the Scots top returning finisher from the 2018 MWC Championship. Monroe shot 240 for 14th place last season just one stroke ahead of teammate Sam Gillen. Through five fall events, Monroe and Gillen lead Monmouth with averages of 84.1 and 84.9 respectively.
St. Norbert College Green Knights
Head Coach: Tripp Maher (9th season)
2018 MWC Finish: 4th
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 3rd
Returning All-MWC: Jack Markham
St. Norbert looks to regain the conference crown after dropping to fourth last season, a year after winning its third conference championship in five seasons. The Green Knights return 2018 individual runner-up Jack Markham who shot 225, just one stroke off the winner in his first conference championship. Junior Luke Bourneuf is also back after missing All-MWC honors by two strokes as he finished 11th with a score of 233.