Sophomore Blaine Ricketts leads Men's Golf to fifth place finish at OAC Fall Invitational

By Tim Glon

ALLIANCE — Sophomore Blaine Ricketts fired a career-low 73 in the final round to lead the Ohio Northern men's golf team to a fifth place finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Fall Invitational Sunday and Monday at the Aliance Country Club.

The Polar Bears (10-6 overall) finished fifth of nine teams with 624 strokes in the 36-hole tournament that featured all eight golf playing schools in the OAC and non-league foe Wooster.

Ricketts carded a 12-over par 79-73—152 to finish tied for seventh out of 60 golfers.

Junior Brandon Lambert tied for 14th with a 77-78—155, senior Colin Burns tied for 19th with an 82-75—157, senior Ryan Wirtz tied for 26th with an 80-80—160 and junior Rick Deichert tied for 46th with an 84-84—168 for ONU.

Otterbein won the team title with a 611, Mount Union was second with a 612 and Wooster was third with a 621.

David Monaco of Otterbein won Medalist honors with 4-over par 73-71—144.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Sept. 28 at the Defiance Invitational.

Team Standings

1. Otterbein 313-298—611, 2. Mount Union 305-307—612, 3. Wooster 320-301—621, 4. John Carroll 313-310—623, 5. Ohio Northern 318-306—624, 6. Muskingum 315-318—633, 7. Capital 316-318—634, 8. Baldwin Wallace 318-327—645, 9. Heidelberg 332-338—670.

Top 5 Individual Results

1. David Monaco (Ott) 73-71—144, 2. Andrew Britton (JCU) 74-75—149, 3. T.J. Shelby (Wooster) 77-73—150, t4. Scott Sears (Wooster) 76-75—151, t4. Adam Wickham (MtU) 76-76—152, t4. Mat Stuart (Musk) 79-72—151.

Ohio Northern Individual Results

t7. Blaine Ricketts 79-73—152, t14. Brandon Lambert 77-78—155, t19. Colin Burns 82-75—157, t26. Ryan Wirtz 80-80—160, t46. Rick Deichert 84-84—168.

Other Ohio Northern Individual Results

t32. Tim Monroe 81-81—162, t37. Tyler Davis 87-77—164.