Peoria, Ill. -- The final day of the 2024-25 season and the 2025 CCIW Championship arrived for the Thunder men's golf team on Saturday, as Wheaton closed out this week's three-day competition alongside eight fellow conference squads. The Thunder secured a third-place finish in the team standings at this year's event, marking the first time since 2018 that Wheaton has placed in the top three at the conference tournament. Senior standout Jonah Swartz earned the second All-CCIW accolade of his career this weekend after coming in third overall on the 45-player leaderboard with a record-setting performance.

Saturday's third and final round at the WeaverRidge Golf Club saw no change in the standings among the top three teams, as Illinois Wesleyan University made it 13-consecutive CCIW Tournament titles with a dominant 35-stroke margin over runner-up Millikin University. Wheaton carded a combined team score of 299 (+11) today, and this proved sufficient to retain the Thunder's position in third place that they had occupied through the first two rounds. Carthage College enjoyed the second-best round of any team on Saturday and jumped up to a fourth-place finish as a result, just two strokes behind Wheaton in the final standings. North Central, Augustana, North Park, Carroll, and Elmhurst rounded out the nine-team tournament order.

The Thunder were predicted to finish third according to this year's pre-championship coaches' poll, and this is where the five-man squad ended up. But they reached this placement in impressive fashion, as Wheaton's total score of 892 this weekend represents the program's best mark at a CCIW Championship since the conference moved to a three-round tournament format in 2017.

Swartz (pictured here with fellow All-CCIW honorees, second from left on front row) logged another headline round this afternoon, matching his Thursday score of 69 (-3) with five birdies and just two bogeys. The senior posted the second-best round of any player on Saturday, and his 18-hole score kept him in the tournament's individual top ten, yielding another All-Conference award to go with the one he earned via a sixth-place finish in the 2023 tournament. 
 
The South Dakota native finished the weekend with a competition total of 212 (-4) to place third in the solo standings, and third place marks the highest finish by a Wheaton men's golfer at the conference championship since Jonny Tink tied for second place in 2013. Additionally, Swartz's total score of 212 is a new program record for the Thunder in the three-round era of the CCIW Championship and would have been good enough to win the individual title at four of the past six conference tournaments, capping a noteworthy season for the decorated senior.

His fellow veteran Sam Obitts narrowly missed out on a second-consecutive All-CCIW award, placing 13th in the 45-man competition after shooting a one-under 71 in today's third round to enter the clubhouse just two strokes outside the top ten on a weekend total of 221 (+5).

Wyatt Brown wrapped up an impressive sophomore campaign with a score of 78 in Saturday's last round to earn a T-18th finish in the standings having registered a three-day score of 226 (+10). 

The freshman duo of Freddie Chan and Jackson Swartz ended their first CCIW Championship side by side on the leaderboard, as both players carded an 81 this afternoon. Chan finished on a three-round total of 237 (+21), while Swartz was just one stroke behind, completing the event with a combined tally of 238 (+22).

Upon the conclusion of every sport's conference season, the CCIW names one student-athlete from each member program as a RESPECT Award winner. This honor is given to student-athletes that have distinguished themselves as an integral member of the team, their institution and community by upholding the values of Responsibility, Enthusiasm, Service, Pride, Excellence, Collaboration and Trust. Wheaton's CCIW RESPECT Award honoree for the 2024-25 men's golf season as announced on Saturday is sophomore Aidan Quinlivan.

Coming off of an impressive spring schedule that saw multiple strong placements across various tournaments and a record-setting showing at the conference championship, the Wheaton men's golf team will now head into the summer break and can look forward to a promising 2025-26 season in the fall semester.