Peoria, Ill. -- The 2025 CCIW Men's Golf Championship began in central Illinois on Thursday morning with the first of three 18-hole rounds that will be played over the last three days of this week. Wheaton is competing in this year's tournament alongside all eight of its fellow conference programs, and the Thunder are currently in third place in the nine-team standings after the opening round, having enjoyed a strong start to the competition. Jonah Swartz had the top performance of Thursday's action among the five Wheaton golfers participating in the event, as the senior shot three under par today to tie for second place on the early leaderboard. Friday's second round will tee off beginning at 8:30 AM at WeaverRidge Golf Club.

12-time defending conference champion Illinois Wesleyan is the early frontrunner this weekend, as the Titans shot a combined 280 (-8) this afternoon to establish a healthy advantage at the top of the pile. IWU's neighbor, Millikin University, is second in the nine-squad standings after the opening 18 holes with a total mark of 288 (even par). Wheaton was picked to finish third in this year's CCIW Tournament by the league's head coaches, and that is exactly the position the Thunder find themselves in after Thursday's first round. Wheaton's five-man group tallied a combined mark of 297 (+9) today and currently sit three strokes ahead of North Central College in fourth place on a score of 300.

Swartz, who has twice been named the CCIW Men's Golf Student-Athlete of the Week this spring, played like one of the conference's top golfers this afternoon, carding a -3 (69) to tie for second on the 45-man leaderboard after round one. The senior began his final CCIW Championship with a three-stroke eagle on the very first hole of the course, and this set the tone for his day, as he would log five birdies from the remaining 17 to stay under par and enter a four-way tie for second, just two shots off the lead.

His brother Jackson also had a solid first-round showing this morning, carding a 74 (+2) to tie for 13th in the solo standings, picking up four birdies along the way. Sam Obitts is currently tied for 19th place following his Thursday score of 76 (+4), while Freddie Chan and Wyatt Brown are both two shots behind their senior teammate on a mark of 78 from today's first 18. 

The second of this weekend's three rounds will get underway bright and early on Friday morning, but as one of the top performing teams on Thursday, Wheaton will see its players tee off towards the end of the rotation. Chan will be the first Thunder golfer to begin Round 2 at approximately 10:10 AM tomorrow, and his teammates will then follow one-by-one at ten-minute intervals after his start time.