At last year's Division III Men's Golf Championships, Ohio Wesleyan's Chad Poling and Luke Benoit of Gustavus Adolphus battled for 12th place, with Benoit edging Poling by a shot. At this year's championships, however, the stakes were a little higher, and Poling was a little better.

The Ohio Wesleyan senior led from wire to wire in winning medalist honors at the championships held May 10-13 at the par-72 PGA of Southern California Golf Club at Oak Valley in Beaumont, California. Benoit finished second, but he didn't go away without a title -- he helped the Golden Gusties win their first team title in the sport.

Poling's opening round 66 signaled his intention to contend. That performance was a school best and tied the NCAA Division III tournament record for lowest round under par (6 under). He followed that with a second-round 71 and fired rounds of 72 and 73 to complete a 6-under total score of 282.

Benoit finished two strokes back after a final-round 65 that tied a tournament record for low score. His final round included a double-eagle 2 on the par-5 16th hole.

Benoit helped the Gusties protect a six-stroke lead they had entering the final round. Host Redlands climbed to within two strokes at one point, but Benoit's 32 on the front nine kept Gustavus Adolphus on top. Teammates Brent Borgstahl (73), Chase Thonvold (76) and senior Neil Johnson (77) helped the Gusties pull away to a 12-shot cushion over Redlands. Greensboro finished third, followed by Methodist and Emory. Poling's Ohio Wesleyan squad, which hosted last year's championships and placed third, finished seventh this year.

Besides Benoit's second-place finish individually, Johnson earned a tie for 10th and Thonvold, a freshman, placed 19th.

Borgstahl chipped in a 24th-place showing. The title was the first for the Gusties after finishing second in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Poling is Ohio Wesleyan's first national champion in golf. The NCAA tournament was the sixth victory in a row for Poling, who was medalist in the final four tournaments of the regular season before winning individual honors at the North Coast Athletic Conference championships.

Ohio Wesleyan rode Poling's opening-round 66 and sophomore Justin Schroeder's 70 to lead after the first day. But Gustavus Adolphus compiled an even-par 288 on day two to wrestle the lead away from the Bishops.

Three golfers tied for third in the individual standings behind Poling and Benoit. They were Jonathon Dudley of Greensboro, Trent Erb of Oglethorpe and Adam Horton of Methodist, all at 1-over-par 289. Horton tied for fourth at last year's championships.

Team results

1. Gust. Adolphus, 299-288-299-292 -- 1,178; 2. Redlands, 298-297-297-298 -- 1,190; 3. Greensboro, 307-300-299-285 -- 1,191; 4. Methodist, 302-301-289-300 -- 1,192; 5. Emory, 300-306-296-292 -- 1,194; 6. La Verne, 301-300-302-296 -- 1,199; 7. Ohio Wesleyan, 290-310-304-296 -- 1,200; 8. Neb. Wesleyan, 318-307-291-297 -- 1,213; 9. (tie) Central (Iowa), 309-310-303-293 -- 1,215; and Oglethorpe, 309-297-306-303 -- 1,215; 11. Wis.-Eau Claire, 318-303-300-299 -- 1,220; 12. Guilford, 312-304-314-292 -- 1,222; 13. St. John's (Minn.), 313-306-310-298 -- 1,227; 14. Denison, 312-318-302-302 -- 1,234; 15. Cal Lutheran, 304-308-321-306 -- 1,239; 16. Otterbein, 311-303-301-325 -- 1,240; 17. Skidmore, 313-323-303-304 -- 1,243; 18. Rochester, 317-314-311-307 -- 1,249; 19. (tie) Allegheny, 321-310-313-307 -- 1,251; and LaGrange, 316-308-306-321 -- 1,251; 21. Wesley, 323-315-319-310 -- 1,267; 22. St. Lawrence, 320-318-319-312 -- 1,269; 23. New York U., 327-313-314-320 -- 1,274.

Individual results

1. Chad Poling, Ohio Wesleyan, 66-71-73-72 -- 282; 2. Luke Benoit, Gust. Adolphus, 74-71-74-65 -- 284; 3. (tie) Jonathon Dudley, Greensboro, 71-74-75-69 -- 289; Trent Erb, Oglethorpe, 74-72-72-71 -- 289; and Adam Horton, Methodist, 71-73-71-74 -- 289; 6. Trevor Young, Redlands, 75-69-74-73 -- 291; 7. (tie) Joe Green, Oglethorpe, 73-75-74-72 -- 294; Tim Hamm, Emory, 75-73-75-71 -- 294; and Travis Lethco, Greensboro, 77-74-72-71 -- 294; 10. (tie) Joe Deines, Neb. Wesleyan, 76-73-72-74 -- 295; Craig Hosie, Averett, 78-74-71-72 -- 295; Neil Johnson, Gust. Adolphus, 72-72-74-77 -- 295; Josh Sherlin, St. John's (Minn.), 74-73-76-72 -- 295; and Josh Wachtel, Redlands, 72-75-73-75 -- 295; 15. (tie) Patrick McElyea, Central (Iowa), 77-77-72-71 -- 297; and Justin Schroeder, Ohio Wesleyan, 70-76-76-75 -- 297; 17. Joe Skovron, La Verne, 74-73-76-75 -- 298; 18. Mike Lebow, Emory, 73-78-73-75 -- 299; 19. (tie) Colin Clark, Guilford, 75-76-75-74 -- 300; Travis Davis, Neb. Wesleyan, 79-73-72-76 -- 300; Jason Scherr, Emory, 79-77-72-72 -- 300; James Stewart, Methodist, 75-80-71-74 -- 300; and Chase Thonvold, Gust. Adolphus, 76-72-76-76 -- 300.

24. (tie) Brent Borgstahl, Gust. Adolphus, 77-75-75-74 -- 301; Andrew Garcia, La Verne, 75-75-75-76 -- 301; Mike Greer, Wis.-Eau Claire, 81-74-73-73 -- 301; and Fred Waddell, Denison, 78-78-77-68 -- 301; 28. (tie) Dave Masters, Rochester, 77-76-74-75 -- 302; Andy Miller, Otterbein, 78-75-68-81 -- 302; Nick Obie, Redlands, 74-77-74-77 -- 302; and Brandon White, Greensboro, 78-78-74-72 -- 302; 32. (tie) Michael Clarke, Redlands, 77-76-77-73 -- 303; Joey Murray, La Verne, 78-77-75-73 -- 303; Jake Pearson, Central (Iowa), 77-76-75-75 -- 303; Kyle Rank, St. Lawrence, 79-77-74-73 -- 303; 36. (tie) Stuart Drahota, Skidmore, 79-77-74-74 -- 304; Eric Dugas, Methodist, 80-74-75-75 -- 304; Brian Nixon, Emory, 75-78-76-75 -- 304; and Alex Schenfeld, Central (Iowa), 76-75-79-74 -- 304; 40. Ben Rathfon, Allegheny, 81-73-78-73 -- 305; 41. (tie) Christian Colunga, Cal Lutheran, 73-76-82-75 -- 306; Nathan Logan, La Verne, 83-75-76-72 -- 306; and Chad Michelson, St. John's (Minn.), 78-76-76-76 -- 306; 44. (tie) Brian Berkey, New York U., 83-73-76-75 -- 307; Michael Dinner, Olivet, 79-80-69-79 -- 307; Derek Pirkl, Wis.-Eau Claire, 79-75-80-73 -- 307; and RJ Scholl, Redlands, 77-77-76-77 -- 307; 48. (tie) Mason Crumpler, LaGrange, 81-73-77-77 -- 308; James Ondo, Methodist, 78-77-72-81 -- 308; and Joseph Poplin, Guilford, 79-75-79-75 -- 308.

51. (tie) Tyler Leis, Wis.-Eau Claire, 85-73-73-78 -- 309; Lee Lyon, Skidmore, 75-81-75-78 -- 309; Dan Ofman, Emory, 77-78-80-74 -- 309; Jordan Silvertrust, Cal Lutheran, 74-73-82-80 -- 309; and Ryan Wilson, Greensboro, 84-74-78-73 -- 309; 56. (tie) Richard Poole, LaGrange, 77-77-77-79 -- 310; and Wes Stafford, Otterbein, 79-74-77-80 -- 310; 58. (tie) Dan Day, Guilford, 79-80-80-72 -- 311; Craig Eckerle, Denison, 76-78-79-78 -- 311; Aaron Stockton, Neb. Wesleyan, 82-79-74-76 -- 311; and Brian Williams, Hamilton, 80-74-82-75 -- 311; 62. (tie) Nick Grossman, Central (Iowa), 79-82-77-74 -- 312; Doug McCullough, Ohio Wesleyan, 82-82-78-70 -- 312; Travis Minzel, Neb. Wesleyan, 81-82-73-76 -- 312; Peder Nyhus, Cal Lutheran, 79-79-78-76 -- 312; Chris Phillips, Hardin-Simmons, 79-79-81-73 -- 312; and Jason Poyser, Cal Lutheran, 78-80-79-75 -- 312; 68. (tie) Adam Klein, Denison, 80-82-72-79 -- 313; Zac Oakley, Wesley, 77-77-84-75 -- 313; Nathan Proshek, St. John's (Minn.), 84-77-78-74 -- 313; and Mike Townsend, Methodist, 78-77-81-77 -- 313; 72. (tie) Bill Hallan, Denison, 78-84-74-78 -- 314; and Joe Keniston, St. Lawrence, 78-77-78-81 -- 314.

74. (tie) Matt Cooperrider, Otterbein, 78-79-76-82 -- 315; Grant Lissick, Wis.-Eau Claire, 83-83-74-75 -- 315; and Will Scarborough, Wesley, 81-78-78-78 -- 315; 77. (tie) Doug Christopher, Otterbein, 76-77-80-83 -- 316; Joe Loudenslager, Ohio Wesleyan, 77-83-77-79 -- 316; and Cole Stark, Wis.-Eau Claire, 75-81-81-79 -- 316; 80. (tie) Darren Eades, Allegheny, 75-82-78-82 -- 317; Brady Hoffman, Gust. Adolphus, 78-73-80-86 -- 317; Chad Kosanovic, Allegheny, 81-81-80-75 -- 317; Charles Kromann, Skidmore, 78-83-77-79 -- 317; Andrew Longbella, St. John's (Minn.), 78-82-81-76 -- 317; Kyle Matzen, Central (Iowa), 81-82-80-74 -- 317; and Ross Morgan, Skidmore, 81-82-81-73 -- 317; 87. (tie) Grey Bell, LaGrange, 74-80-77-87 -- 318; and Ryan Zurowski, Allegheny, 86-77-77-78 -- 318; 89. (tie) Jason Bronstein, Rochester, 83-80-78-78 -- 319; Kyle Fredrichson, St. John's (Minn.), 83-80-80-76 -- 319; Corey Garner, Oglethrope, 84-74-78-83 -- 319; and Tyler Smith, Wesley, 82-79-77-81 -- 319; 93. (tie) Colin Quillinan, Rochester, 82-78-80-81 -- 321; and Mike Stiller, Skidmore, 81-84-77-79 -- 321; 95. (tie) Brock Cerklefskie, Wesley, 83-81-82-76 -- 322; Charles Kerecz, New York U., 81-78-80-83 -- 322; Justin Napier, LaGrange, 84-78-75-85 -- 322; Adam Pry, Ohio Wesleyan, 77-81-78-86 -- 322; Patrick Shanahan, Rochester, 75-86-82-79 -- 322; and Brant Stovall, Guilford, 79-78-87-78 -- 322.

101. (tie) Jeff Holm, Neb. Wesleyan, 90-85-77-71 -- 323; Rocky Manning, Greensboro, 81-83-81-78 -- 323; Kunal Rawal, New York U., 85-82-75-81 -- 323; and Pete Weber, Loras, 84-80-85-74 -- 323; 105. Jeff Hypes, Denison, 80-80-86-78 -- 324; 106. (tie) Frank Rihtar, Otterbein, 86-77-80-82 -- 325; and Danny Swanick, Oglethorpe, 85-76-82-82 -- 325; 108. David Lester, Allegheny, 84-79-82-81 -- 326; 109. (tie) Brad Booher, La Verne, 74-81-84-89 -- 328; and Jonathan Davis, Oglethorpe, 78-90-82-78 -- 328; 111. Robert Sherman, Rochester, 95-80-79-75 -- 329; 112. Nick Politi, St. Lawrence, 79-87-86-78 -- 330; 113. Joe DeVenuta, New York U., 79-86-85-81 -- 331; 114. Josh Trivilino, St. Lawrence, 84-80-81-89 -- 334; 115. Gabriel Lee, New York U., 84-80-83-88 -- 335; 116. Nick Verner, Cal Lutheran, 91-81-83-82 -- 337; 117. John Beal, St. Lawrence, 89-84-87-80 -- 340; 118. Michael Nunn, LaGrange, 89-88-85-80 -- 342; 119. Brooks Massey, Wesley, 90-91-82-83 -- 346.