AUGUSTA, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's golf team placed second in the stroke play portion of the GLIAC Championships on Friday, the program's highest finish since 2018. The Warriors now move on to face third-place Ferris State on Saturday morning in the Medal Match Championship semifinals. If WSU wins, they'll face either Grand Valley State or Purdue Northwest for the GLIAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Super Regionals on May 11-13 in Winona, Minn.

"Today was a very solid day for the Warriors," said head coach, Mike Horn. "It was grueling in the heat and the sun for the first time all spring, but the Warriors prevailed. We're looking forward to matching up against Ferris State tomorrow in the first match. Excellent play today by Josh, Adam and Mat. We need all five guys to contribute tomorrow, play to their best ability and we'll have a good chance of knocking off the Bulldogs. Good work also to the coaching staff today for battling the elements for nearly 12 hours."

Wayne State finished nine under par with a two-round score of 559 (278-281), including a first-round 278 that tied the team's season low set twice before Friday.

Individually, the Warriors were paced by Josh DiCarlo (Amherstburg, Ont. / General Amherst) in a tie for third with a five-under 137 (68-69). DiCarlo was joined in the top 10 by Mat Hawryluk (Chatham, Ont. / Ursuline College Chatham) and Adam Burghardt (New Baltimore, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) who both tied for seventh (-2, 140) with identical first and second rounds of 69 and 71, respectively.

Max Leppelmeier (Wauseon, Ohio / Pettisville) rounded out the scoring for WSU and joined those three in the top 15 by tying for 12th with an even 142 (72-70). The fifth and final player competing for the Warriors was Tyler Hurtubise (Essex, Ont. / Essex District) in a tie for 36th with a seven-over 149 (73-76).

Wayne State is in the Medal Match Play Championship for the second time in four tries as it began in 2019 and 2020's GLIAC Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

The Warriors came into this tournament ranked sixth in the NCAA Midwest Region rankings released on Thursday. The top 10 teams, including three automatic qualifiers from the respective conference championship tournaments, will make the Midwest/Central Super Regional.