WESTFIELD CENTER — Senior J.F. Aber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) earned conference medalist honors to lead the No. 15 Wittenberg men's golf team to a second-place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships following Sunday's third and final round of the 54-hole tournament. Aber was also named NCAC Player of the Year for the second straight season.

The Basics

• Venue: Westfield Country Club North Course - Westfield Center, Ohio, Par 70, Yardage: 6,646
• Hiram served as the host school for the tournament.
• Wittenberg is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, which was released on Friday, and is No. 15 in the latest NCAA Division III Scoreboard rankings, powered by Clippd, which was released on Thursday.
• The field contained two ranked teams, as Kenyon is ranked No. 23 in the Bushnell/Golfeweek Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Scoreboard rankings.
• The top five individual finishers (including ties) earn All-NCAC First Team honors. Places six through 10 (including ties) earn Second Team recognition, and places 11-15 (including ties) earn Third Team accolades.
• Aber and senior Nicklaus Pidgeon (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch) earned All-NCAC First Team accolades a year ago after finishing third and tied for fifth, respectively, in the 2023 NCAC Championships. Aber is now a two-time NCAC Player of the Year (2023 and 2024) and a four-time All-NCAC honoree (First Team in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and Second Team in 2021).

The Tournament

• Wittenberg finished second in the eight-team field with an 11-over-par 286-279-286—851. The Tigers entered Sunday in second place, trailing No. 23 Kenyon by five strokes.
• Kenyon won the team title with a 5-over-par 280-280-285—845 to clinch a bid in the NCAA Championships. DePauw was third at 21-over-par.
• In addition to Player of the Year, Aber earned medalist honors and All-NCAC First Team recognition. He won the tournament by four strokes with a 5-under-par 68-66-71—205. His first-round 68 and second-round 66 marked the best in the 40-man field in each of those rounds, and his total of 205 is a school record for three rounds. The prior record was 209 set by Colin Laszlo in 2017 and Cameron Willis in 2019. Aber entered Sunday's final round holding a three-shot lead.
• Kenyon's Jaiden Koonar and DePauw's Max Brown tied for second at 1-under-par.
• Junior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) earned All-NCAC First Team recognition, finishing tied for fourth with a 1-over-par 71-69-71—211.
• Junior Joshua Wright (Wadsworth, Ohio/Akron Hoban) earned All-NCAC Third Team honors, tying for 13th with an 8-over-par 74-73-71—218.
• Pidgeon and sophomore Mark Sulek (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) tied for 23rd at 12-over-par. Pidgeon shot a 74-75-73—222, and Sulek shot a 73-71-78—222.

Quote - Senior J.F. Aber

• "It's a big accomplishment to be medalist at our conference tournament. I've wanted to win it since my freshman year, so it's nice to finally get it done. Winning Player of the Year is a huge honor because it speaks to the hard work I've put in every single day this season. Hopefully it can serve as motivation for future Tiger golfers."

Up Next

• Wittenberg will look to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. Should the team not earn an at-large berth, Aber will look to qualify for the NCAAs as an individual, as he is currently No. 10 nationally in the Division III Scoreboard rankings. The NCAAs are scheduled for May 14-17 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev. The field will consist of 43 teams and six individuals not on one of those teams, and the selections will be released on Monday on NCAA.com. For more information, click here.