WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's golf team fired the second-lowest round of the day here Tuesday in charging to a third-place finish as the WLU Invitational wrapped up its two-day run at Oglebay Resort.
    Coach Thadd Obecny's Hilltoppers entered Tuesday's third and final round in fifth place but an aggressive approach paid off in a 4-under-par round of 280 with a combined 21 birdies from the five WLU starters.
    Nationally-ranked Indianapolis was the only team to post a lower score than the Black and Gold on Tuesday as the Greyhounds shot a blistering 14-under-par 270 - the lowest round of the tournament - to win going away at 35-under-par 817.
    First-round leader Findlay, another nationally-ranked team, sagged to a 1-over-par 285 on Tuesday but still held onto second place at 22-under-par 830. The Hilltoppers' strong finish lifted WLU to even-par 852 for the tournament, eight shots better than fourth-place Charleston (860). Gannon settled for fifth place at 14-over-par 866.
    Indianapolis' Oliver Mast broke out of the pack to win the individual medal title, firing an impressive 8-under-par 63 in the final round for a winning 54-hole score of 15-under-par 198. Findlay's Tanner Grzegorczyk had three straight rounds in the 60s to take runner-up honors at 11-under-par 202.
    Gannon's Connor Bennink and Justin Atkinson of Findlay tied for third place at 9-under-par 204, one shot ahead of West Liberty standout Alex Easthom and Indianapolis' C.J. Jones at 205.
    Defending NCAA Division II national champion Keegan Bronnenberg was all alone in seventh place at 7-under-par 206 while Hilltopper senior Howard Peterson IV fired a 3-under-par 68 on Tuesday to earn a Top 10 finish at 4-under-par 209.
    The Hilltoppers return to action on Sunday when they travel to Rochester, N.Y. for the opening rounds of the NCAA D2 Regional Preview, hosted by Le Moyne (N.Y.).
       1. Indianapolis 817; 2. Findlay 830; 3. WEST LIBERTY 852; 4. Charleston 859; 5. Gannon 866; 6. Concord 880; 7. California (Pa.) 881; 8. Fairmont State 900; 9. Bentley 908; 10. Notre Dame (Ohio) 915; 11. Wheeling 925; 12. W.Va. State 978      205: Alex Easthom (70-66-69)
     209: Howard Peterson IV (71-70-68)
     220: Bo Orecchio (70-79-71)
     222: Noah Seivertson (75-75-72)
     228: Derek Graham (78-75-75)