Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
WAC Championship
Bulldogs Finish Third at WAC
4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 30, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. -
Fresno State finished third at the WAC men's golf championship with Grant Doverspike taking second. The Bulldogs improved on last year's fourth place finish, shooting 305-296-307 - 908 to finish the tournament in third place with 44-over par. New Mexico State (891/+27) won the WAC championship with a five-stroke victory over Boise State at the 6,853-yard, par-72 Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose, Calif.
"This golf course, I really love it," said head coach Mike Watney. "It's very, very tough. If you are really on your game, you can make up ground. We just didn't have it quite the way we needed it to shoot par which would have been fantastic on this golf course."
Fresno State's Grant Doverspike, last year's WAC titleist, finished in second at 3-over with a three-round total of 219 to have a fifth top-five appearance. Doverspike posted a 76 on Wednesday to hold on to second place by one stroke over New Mexico State's Kevin Lozares. Doverspike was solid at one-over par until the 16th hole. With a triple bogey on 16 and a bogey on 17, he held on to birdie on the final hole. The two-time First Team All-WAC carded 73-70-76 over the three-day tournament to trail Boise State senior Troy Merritt. Merritt won his fifth consecutive tournament with a 10-stroke victory to be the only player to finish under par.
"I'm really proud of Grant," said Watney. "He struggled a little bit toward the end, but held on to second place. First last year, second this year, that is pretty awesome."
Matt Ryan and Todd Angel tied for 12th place with 13-over par 229. Ryan posted 76-77-76 while Angel shot 79-71-79. Freshman Michael Gideon finished in 18th place with 77-78-76 - 231. Brad Wyatt (80-79-79) took 30th with 238.
In the rest of the team competition, Boise State was second (896, +32), Fresno State third (908, +44), Idaho fourth (919, +55), Nevada fifth (920, +56), San Jose State sixth (926, +62), Louisiana Tech seventh (931, +67) and Hawai`i and Utah State tied for eighth (948, +84). Also announced today were the all-WAC teams and top awards.
Fresno State's Grant Doverspike earned First Team All-WAC honors for the second consecutive year and Matt Ryan earned Second Team All-WAC.
2007-08 Awards
First Team All-WAC
Troy Merritt, Sr., Boise State
Grant Doverspike, So., Fresno State
Matthew Harvey, So., Louisiana Tech
Chase Cooper, Sr., Nevada
Matt Edwards, Sr., New Mexico State
Second Team All-WAC
Matt Hastings, Sr., Boise State
Matthew Ryan, Jr., Fresno State
Ben Weyland, Sr., Idaho
Travis Reid, Jr., New Mexico State
Tim Madigan, Fr., New Mexico State
Player of the Year: Troy Merritt, Boise State
Freshman of the Year: Tim Madigan, New Mexico State
Coach of the Year: Scott Lieberwirth, New Mexico State
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