West Chicago, Ill. -- The Thunder men's golf team continued a busy September slate on Tuesday by taking the short drive over to St. Andrews Golf & Country Club for the penultimate event of its fall season, the Benedictine University Eagle Invite. Wheaton sent two teams of five players to today's competition, and the Thunder 'A' squad topped the 21-team standings with a dominant performance. Four Wheaton golfers tied for first place on the 114-player leaderboard as the Orange and Blue collected its second tournament victory of the campaign.

Wheaton's leading team registered a combined score of 286 (-2) in the single-round event to win the competition by seven strokes over the Aurora University 'B' lineup and North Park University, who tied for second place on 293. The Thunder's backup group earned a T-4th standing alongside North Central College's 'A' team via a cumulative 299 (+11) total. These two squads finished the day nine shots ahead of Aurora's 'C' group in sixth place. 

Today's first-place finish for Wheaton's varsity lineup represented the Thunder's second team triumph of the fall following their table-topping showing at the Judson University Invitational on September 11. This result marked the first time in five years in which the program has won two separate competitions in a single season. Wheaton last achieved this feat by winning the 12-team Elmhurst Invitational and the 12-team Judson Fall Invite back-to-back in September of 2021.

Two-time CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week Wyatt Brown (pictured right) continued his sparkling senior season with another under-par display on Tuesday, carding a 70 (-2) through 18 holes to notch his third finish atop an individual leaderboard this year. The All-Conference performer found himself in the unique position of sharing medalist spoils with not one, but three teammates this afternoon. Freddie Chan and Micah Chiong matched Brown's 70 (-2) showing to carry the Thunder 'A' team to first place in the standings.

Luke Pringle (pictured below) joined the aforementioned trio on a round score of 70 to finish tied for first as the Wheaton 'B' squad's leading player on the day.

His fellow 'B' team participant Ryan McLain was one stroke away from completing a five-man sweep of the leaderboard's top spot, shooting an impressive 71 (-1) to finish fifth out of the 114 competing golfers.

Aidan Quinlivan enjoyed a strong performance on Tuesday, tallying a 75 (+3) for the round that saw him tie for 18th in the solo standings. 'A' team members Baylor Brogan and Jackson Swartz each registered a score of 76 to tie for 24th place this afternoon.

First-year Thunder golfers Noah Levengood and Tyler Wolterstorff finished the competition with respective totals of 83 and 84 to round out the group of 10 participants for Wheaton at this week's invite.

After this outstanding performance close to home, the Thunder squad will have the rest of the week off from competitive action. Wheaton is set to close out its fall season next Monday and Tuesday at the Central College Fall Classic in Pella, Iowa.