PUEBLO, Colo. -- Midwestern State didn't quite feel like a winner Saturday, yet still the Mustangs accomplished a season-long goal in the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional at the Pueblo Country Club.

MSU tied for second and earned its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships set for May 16-20 at TPC Michigan in Dearborn.

"It was a really tough day," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "But the weather forecast was perfect and we knew what we were getting into."

The Mustangs missed out on claiming their first regional team championship by a single stroke tying with Colorado Mesa with a 6-under par, 54-hole total of 846. Colorado State-Pueblo, the host school, survived by a single stroke.

A front blew through as the teams about 15 holes into the final round. The winds shot up to 30 mph and scores followed the wind's lead.

Colorado Mesa saw a nine-stroke lead evaporate as the Mavericks lost 12 strokes from its high tide score of 18-under while Colorado State-Pueblo lost seven strokes over the last three holes.

"We were not playing great when the weather was pretty decent," Ray said. "The greens were fast, so the putting was brutal when the winds hit. We handled the wind a little better, so it gave us a chance to win because everyone else was making bogeys."

Midwestern State was 3-over over the final three holes, but it wasn't enough to come away with the team win.

"The guys are kicking themselves. Everyone can find strokes," Ray said. "The goal was to make nationals and we did that. The guys battled because when that wind hit, it was a different golf course."

Junior Garrett Leek continued his brilliant play carding four birdies with no bogeys on the Back Nine to finish with a 5-under 66 and force a playoff for individual medalist honors with California State, San Marcos freshman Matthew Pennington.

Leek and Pennington began the day in a tie for sixth place, but Pennington hit a long, downhill putt to survive the third playoff hole and then won on the fourth.

Leek overcame an opening round 74 to fire a brilliant 7-under 64 in the second round before closing with a 66 for a 9-under total of 204.

"Garrett played fantastic," Ray said. "It is exciting to see him start playing his game heading into the national tournament."

Doggett logged his 17th consecutive Top 10 finish dating back to the 2020-21 season finishing seventh with scores of 69, 66 and 73 for a 5-under 208. His run of 20 consecutive par-or-better rounds ended with the 2-over 73 in the final round.

Jake Leatherwood (72-70-73 215/+2) tied for 42nd, while Ethen Wolf (73-71-80 224/+11) and Mason Mikeska (72-75-77 224/+11) tied for 91st.

Oklahoma Christian claimed the fourth and final berth into the national tournament and will join Colorado State-Pueblo, Colorado Mesa and MSU in Michigan.

Pennington (70-68-66 204/-9) and California State-Monterey Bay freshman Liam Allder (65-75-66 206/-7), who finished third overall, advanced as individuals.

"We're excited to be heading to Detroit," Ray said. 
 

NCAA Division II West/South Central Region Championships

Team Leaderboard

Pos	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Colorado State-Pueblo	-7	285	276	284	845
2	Midwestern State	-6	286	271	289	846
	Colorado Mesa	-6	282	276	288	846
4	Oklahoma Christian	-4	290	277	281	848
5	Stanislaus State	-3	279	288	282	849
6	California State-San Marcos	+3	288	279	288	855
	Colorado Christian	+3	288	283	284	855
	California State-Monterey Bay	+3	286	291	278	855
9	West Texas A&M	+5	289	284	284	857
	St. Mary's	+5	281	285	291	857
11	Texas A&M-Commerce	+7	285	290	284	859
12	California State-San Bernardino	+8	293	283	284	860
13	UC Colorado Springs	+9	295	283	283	861
	Sonoma State (Calif.)	+9	300	285	276	861
	Cameron	+9	292	281	288	861
	Western Washington	+9	296	283	282	861
17	California State-East Bay	+11	296	288	279	863
18	Chico State (Calif.)	+12	296	284	284	864
19	Simon Fraser (B.C.)	+28	296	295	289	880
20	Hawaii Pacific	+42	299	303	292	894

  

Individual Leaderboard

Pos	Player	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Matthew Pennington*	California State-San Marcos	-9	70	68	66	204
2	Garrett Leek	Midwestern State	-9	74	64	66	204
3	Liam Allder	California State-Monterey Bay	-7	65	75	66	206
4	Michael Jura III	Stanislaus State	-6	66	74	67	207
	Exequiel Rodriguez	Oklahoma Christian	-6	73	66	68	207
	Jamie Roberts	Colorado State-Pueblo	-6	67	70	70	207
7	Jake Doggett	Midwestern State	-5	69	66	73	208
8	Peter Grossenbacher	Colorado Mesa	-4	68	74	67	209
	Eemeli Jarvinen	West Texas A&M	-4	72	69	68	209
	Alejandro Santibanez	St. Mary's	-4	70	70	69	209

  

Midwestern State Scorecard

T2	Midwestern State	-6	286	271	289	846
Place	Player	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
T1	Garrett Leek (2)	-9	74	64	66	204
7	Jake Doggett (1)	-5	69	66	73	208
T42	Jake Leatherwood (3)	+2	72	70	73	215
T91	Ethen Wolf (4)	+11	73	71	80	224
T91	Mason Mikeska (5)	+11	72	75	77	224

 
* - won tiebreaker