Wheeling, W. Va. – With a week to go until the teams hit the course, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their final set of preseason polls on Tuesday, beginning with the release of their MEC Men’s Golf Preseason poll. The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team had a growing year during the 2023 season, with a team of almost all freshmen navigating the year. They came in at #8 in this season’s MEC Men’s Golf preseason poll and look to use their experience from a year ago to their advantage. 

The 2023-2024 season was a big year for Wheeling Men’s Golf as the young team made a splash early. They picked up their first top 10 finish of the season in their first tournament, taking 9th overall at the CAL-U Vulcan Invitational. Throughout the fall season, the Cardinals would finish top 10 in all four of their fall tournaments with their best showing being at the Dr. Wally Edgell Invitational on September 18th and 19th. The team would finish third with a two-round score of 564, including the team setting the new single-round record shooting a 277 in round one. They headed into the 2023 MEC Men’s Golf Championships with confidence at an All-Time high and would end up taking 9th overall. They nearly had their first third round participant since former Cardinal Yadhu Urs in 2021, but it wasn’t meant to be as fall ended. 

As they enter the 2024-2025 season, the team is a year olde and features a roster fully comprised of sophomores and freshmen. Leading the way once again will be sophomore Phillip Halvorsen, who helped lead the Cardinals throughout the fall. He nearly made the third day of competition at the 2023 MEC Championships, finishing tied for 20th overall in the field with a two-day score of 157. He missed the day three mark by one stroke and looks to come back to help lead his team to that third round in 2024. The Cardinal’s other two top 40 finishers from last season’s event, MJ Darmawan and Ryan Courtney, also return to the fold, with both having big freshmen seasons. Courtney set the single-round record when he shot a 67 at the Dr. Wally Edgell Invitational in the fall, while Darmawan became the team’s first-ever MEC Men’s Golfer of the Week in the spring. 

Leading the way in the 2024 MEC Men’s Golf Preseason Poll was the University of Charleston, who received eight first place votes and 80 points overall. They were followed by Davis & Elkins ((1) 68) and Glenville State ((1) 65) to round out the top three. The rest of the 2024 MEC Men’s Golf preseason poll looks like this: 

1. Charleston (8) – 80

2. Davis & Elkins (1) – 68

3. Glenville State (1) – 65

4. West Virginia Wesleyan – 53

5. Fairmont State – 48

6. West Liberty – 46

7. Concord – 31

8. Wheeling – 25

9. West Virginia St. – 18

10. Point Park – 16

The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team kicks off their 2024 fall season on Monday, September 9th, when they compete at the Golden Eagle Invitational, hosted by the University of Charleston.