Kukula Ties for Third, Bearcats Finish Fourth, at NWC Tournament

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

WOODBURN, ORE. -- Willamette University men's golfer Ryan Kukula (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) tied for third place and Peter Mitzel (Fr., Red Bluff, CA/Red Bluff HS) of the Bearcats tied for sixth, as the Northwest Conference Tournament concluded at the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course on Sunday, April 27.

Kukula achieved a 36-hole total of 148 (72-76). Mitzel finished with a score of 152 (73-79).

In addition to tying for third, Kukula was named First Team All-NWC for the second year in a row. Mitzel and Clark Wilson (Fr., Ocean Park, WA/ Ilwaco HS) each received Second Team All-NWC recognition.

Willamette placed fourth in the NWC Tournament and finished third in the overall NWC team standings,

Jesse Salzwedel of Whitworth University earned the individual title at the NWC Tournament after shooting a 73 in both rounds for a total of 146. Salzwedel also received NWC Player of the Year honors.

Seth Nickerson from Pacific Lutheran University attained second place at 147. He shot a 74 in the first round and matched Salzwedel for the second-best score of the second round at 73.

Kukula tied for third at 148 with Dustin Hegge of Pacific Lutheran and Ricky Howard from the University of Puget Sound. Hegge, who led the tournament with a 71 on Saturday, added a 77 in the second round. Howard carded a 77 in the first round and registered the low score of the second round with a 71.

Mitzel and Justin Lee from Pacific Lutheran tied for sixth at 152. Lee shot a 76 in both rounds.

Three golfers -- Adam Bean of Puget Sound, Logan Munson of Linfield College, and Oliver Rudnicki of Whitworth -- tied for eighth at 153. Bean carded 76-77, while Munson shot 74-79 and Rudnicki shot 79-74.

Five golfers competed for Willamette. Kukula and Mitzel led the way, while Jonathan Ross (Jr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS) shot a total of 158 (79-79). Wilson and Steven Rodriguez (So., Red Bluff, CA/Mercy HS) each shot 160 after carding 80s in both rounds.

Pacific Lutheran won the NWC Tournament at 602 (297-305). Puget Sound and Whitworth tied for second place at 612. The Loggers shot 314-298 and the Pirates went 313-299. Willamette took fourth place with a score of 618 (304-314), while Linfield was fifth at 624 (315-309).

Lewis & Clark College was sixth at 641 (327-314), Whitman College was seventh at 650 (327-323), Pacific University held eighth place at 656 (322-334) and George Fox University finished ninth at 683 (337-346).

PLU also claimed the overall NWC Championship, which included the NWC Fall Classic (one-fourth), the NWC Spring Classic (one-fourth) and the NWC Tournament (one-half.). The Lutes, who placed second at the Fall Classic and third at the Spring Classic, garnered 29 points. Whitworth was second overall with 26 points, and Willamette was third with 25.

Puget Sound placed fourth with 23.5 points. Linfield was fifth with 16.5 points and Lewis & Clark was sixth with nine points. Whitman took seventh with eight points, while Pacific was eighth with six points and George Fox was ninth with no points.

By winning the NWC Championship, Pacific Lutheran received the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Six golfers were named First Team All-NWC through a point system using results from the NWC Fall Classic, NWC Spring Classic and NWC Tournament. In addition to Salzwedel and Kukula, other First Team choices were Hegge, Nickerson and Lee from PLU and Rudnicki from Whitworth.

Second Team All-NWC selections were Mitzel and Wilson from Willamette, Howard and Bean from UPS, Munson from Linfield, Stephen Plopper of Whitworth, and Joshua Mau of Pacific.