By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – With the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championships hanging in the balance, it all came down to one final hole Wednesday evening, as the Tennessee Tech men's golf team's ferocious comeback fell just short.
The Golden Eagles earned a runner-up finish at the league's annual championship event, the first to feature match play to determine the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Defending champion UT Martin just edged the purple and gold in the match-play final, 3-2, to claim its second straight title.
With the Tech squad trailing 2-1, the team's two OVC All-Tournament selections turned on the afterburners and delivered some incredible clutch play. Bracton Womack secured a tie at 2-2 after claiming a 3&1 victory over UT Martin's Jacob Uehlein, finishing it off with par on the 17th hole.
Sophomore Nick Sutton nearly pulled off a rally for the record books, trailing by three holes with just three to play. Looking to force a tie and push the match into a sudden-death playoff, the All-OVC selection took back a hole on the 16th with a birdie. He followed it up with another birdie on the par-4 17th, pulling to within one hole of a tie with Skyhawk Tate Chumley.
On the par-5 18th, Chumley turned in a par, defeating Sutton's own par to take the match 1UP and secure the 3-2 win for the Skyhawks.
Joining Womack with a win in the final was sophomore Mark McDearman, besting Garrett Chumley 4&3 behind a dominant performance. The OVC's Freshman of the Year, Jackson Skeen was defeated by Bryson Morrell 5&4 while sophomore Sean Anderson also fell 5&4 to Jonathan Xoinis.
Earlier in the day, the Golden Eagles dominated in their semifinal match-play showdown with SIUE, capturing a spot in the final with a 4.5-0.5 win. Skeen led the way with quick work of the Cougars' Anthony Ruthey, winning 4&3 while Anderson also enjoyed a lopsided victory over Presley Mackelburg, 4&2.
McDearman took down Luke Ludwig 2&1 to officially secure Tech's spot in the final. Womack claimed a 3UP win over TJ Baker and Sutton tied with Brooks Jungbluth with both match-ups ending early due to the Tech victory.
Tech's fourth runner-up finish of the year and third in a row marked the program's best finish at the OVC Championships since tying for second with Belmont and Murray State in 2015. The Golden Eagles placed second in 2006 as well, falling in a playoff to Eastern Kentucky.
The purple and gold concluded the 54-hole, stroke-play portion of the OVC Championships first among the nine league squads, defeating UT Martin and Morehead State by five shots to secure the No. 1 seed for the match-play portion. This was the first year the OVC adopted match play to determine the league champion and bid to the NCAA Championships, replicating the process the NCAA Regionals use.
Sutton and Womack were both named to the OVC All-Tournament Team following stroke play on Tuesday, becoming the first set of Tech teammates to do so since TTU Sports Hall of Famer and PGA Tour Pro Scott Stallings and Golden Eagle head coach Polk Brown accomplished the feat in 2006.
This year's Golden Eagle squad made its mark on the record books, establishing a new program record for scoring average with an OVC-best 289.96. It edged the previous mark of 290.26 set during the 2004-05 campaign.
Sutton closed out the year third in the league in scoring average at 71.88, delivering the third-lowest mark in program history to Stallings' 71.08 in 2005-06 and 71.29 in 2006-07. Womack and Skeen tied for fourth in the OVC with matching averages of 72.76, both ranking eighth all-time in school history.
Match Play Results Semifinal #1: No. 1 Tennessee Tech 4.5, #4 SIUE 0.5 Mark McDearman (TTU) def. Luke Ludwig (SIUE), 2&1 Jackson Skeen (TTU) def. Anthony Ruthey (SIUE), 4&3 Sean Anderson (TTU) def. Presley Mackelburg (SIUE), 4&2 Bracton Womack (TTU) def. TJ Baker (SIUE), 3UP Nick Sutton (TTU), Brooks Jungbluth (SIUE), Halved (Tied through 14) Semifinal #2: No. 2 UT Martin 3, #3 Morehead State 2 Garrett Chumley (UTM) def. Ryan Gillum (MOR), 1UP Zac Viminitz (MOR) def. Jonathan Xoinis (UTM), 2UP Cameron Travis (MOR) def. Bryson Morrell (UTM), 4&2 Jacob Uehlein (UTM) def. Nolan Piazza (MOR), 4&3 Tate Chumley (UTM) def. Joe Muschong (MOR), 1UP Final: #2 UT Martin 3, No. 1 Tennessee Tech 2 Mark McDearman (TTU) def. Garrett Chumley (UTM), 4&3 Bryson Morrell (UTM) def. Jackson Skeen (TTU), 5&4 Jonathan Xoinis (UTM) def. Sean Anderson (TTU), 5&4 Bracton Womack (TTU) def. Jacob Uehlein (UTM), 3&1 Tate Chumley (UTM) def. Nick Sutton (TTU), 1UP OVC All-Tournament Team Joe Muschong, Morehead State (MVP) Jack Uselton, Belmont Brooks Jungbluth, SIUE Nick Sutton, Tennessee Tech Bracton Womack, Tennessee Tech Tate Chumley, UT Martin OVC Player of the Year: Evan Davis, Belmont OVC Freshman of the Year: Jackson Skeen, Tennessee Tech OVC Coach of the Year: Polk Brown, Tennessee Tech Team Champion: UT Martin
Photo by Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Media Relations
