Huskers Take Fourth at Big Ten Match Play Championships

Palm Coast, Fla. --  The Huskers dropped two matches on the final day of the Big Ten Match Play Championships against top-seed Northwestern by a score of 4-2 in the semifinals and 11th seed Maryland by a score of 3.5-2.5 in the third-place match. Nebraska's fourth place finish ties last season as the best finish ever at the Big Ten Match Play Championships and is their best finish since last year's Husker Invitational where they finished second.

In the semifinal match against Northwestern, Branden Meyer and Caleb Badura each picked up victories over the Wildcats.

"Northwestern played well this morning," Said Head Coach Mark Hankins. "They putted extremely well throughout the match, and we pressed a little once we got behind. Branden and Caleb got the job done not only against Northwestern but the entire weekend. I'm extremely proud of them."

Badura continued his successful weekend with a two up victory over Yannick Artigolle. Badura was down two with four holes remaining and would win out to capture the victory to stay perfect on the weekend. 

Meyer would jump out to a quick lead over Eric McIntosh holding a two hole advantage heading into the fifth hole. McIntosh would tie the match on the sixth hole, but Meyer increased his lead to two on the 14th hole and would hold off McIntosh for his second victory of the weekend. 

The loss to Northwestern would send Nebraska to the third-place match against 11th seed Maryland. The two teams battled back and forth with five out of the six matches being decided within two points of each other, but the Terrapins prevailed for a 3.5-2.5 win. 

Once again, Meyer and Badura each picked up one up victories for the Huskers. Tom Westenberger would tie his match while Tanner Owen and Daniel Pearson each fell in their respective matches. 

Badura and Meyer were Nebraska's top performers of the weekend 4-0 and 3-1 records, respectively. Badura is the first ever Husker to go 4-0 at the Big Ten Match Play Championships.

"We have no excuses for this match. We had this one in our grasp and some loose shots cost us a third place. We need to learn from this and get better and strong as we progress." said Hankins.

Huskers Upset Ohio State and Michigan State on Day One
The Huskers began the day taking on the fourth-seeded and defending Big Ten Match Play Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. As a team, the Huskers started slow with junior Mark Foelbaek and sophomore Caleb Badura each leading their matches at the turn. 

After being down by two, junior Tom Westenberger won four out of five holes to take the lead over Ohio State's Grant Engle. Westenberger would hold on to win the match 2-1.

Foelbaek and Badura would each hold on to their matches 4-2 and 3-1, respectively. This would leave the Huskers tied with the Buckeyes at three wins a piece. In his first competitive match since October of 2018, Daniel Pearson fell to Jackson Chandler 2-1, but after a scoring error, Pearson had to go back out on the golf course 20 minutes after he had finished the round to putt from 12 feet out to win the match. Pearson would make the putt to give Nebraska the win and advance them to the quarterfinals where they would face Michigan State.

The Huskers would fall behind early once again with five out of six golfers trailing through six holes. The Huskers would dominate from that point on picking up three match victories and one tie to give them a 3.5-2.5 victory over the Spartans to advance to the semifinals. Branden Meyer, Badura and Pearson each would take home victories while Westenberger would tie. The match was shortened to 14 holes due to darkness. 

The Huskers will be back in action on Feb. 22 for the West Coach Alumni Match before heading to the Desert Mountain Invitational on March 7-8 in Desert Mountain, Ariz. 

Results vs. Northwestern: (4-2 Northwestern)
David Nyfjall (NU) 6&4 over Tanner Owen (NEB)
Branden Meyer(NEB) 1 up over Eric McIntosh (NU)
John Driscoll III (NU) 5&4 over Tom Westenberger (NEB)
Everton Hawkins (NU) 4&2 over Mark Foelbaek (NEB)
Caleb Badura (NEB) 2 up over Tannick Artigolle (NU)
James Imai  (NU) 6&5 over Daniel Pearson (NEB)

Results vs. Maryland: (3.5-2.5 Maryland)
Peter Knade (UMD) 2&1 over Tanner Owen (NEB)
Branden Meyer (NEB) 1 up over Austin Barbin (UMD)
Tom Westenberger (NEB) tied with Christian Park (UMD)
Caleb Badura (NEB) 1 up over Will Celiberti (UMD)
Will Koras (UMD) 2 up over Daniel Pearson (NEB)