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No. 5 Northwestern def. No. 12 Indiana, 3-1-1 B1G Match Play Championship Palm Coast, Fla. Conservatory Course AJGA Live Scores and Championship Bracket |
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PALM COAST, Fla. -- Trailing late in its opening round match of the 2015 Big Ten Match Play Championship, No. 5 seed Northwestern flipped the script to defeat No. 12 Indiana, 3-1-1, and advance to Sunday afternoon's quarterfinal round at the Hammock Beach Resort Conservatory Course.
NU is taking on No. 4 seed Maryland immediately Sunday afternoon in a quarterfinal match. The Terrapins defeated No. 13 seeded Rutgers 3-2 in their first match.
Indiana held a multiple shot lead in each of the first three matches out midway through the back nine and seemed poised to pull the opening round upset, but Northwestern's match play pedigree rose to the fore. Freshman Charles Wang (Beijing, China/Sarasota Christian School) won the final three holes of his match to flip a loss into a 1-up victory while senior Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) won two of his final three holes to halve his match, helping NU to a 3-1-1 win over IU.
"This is a great battle today," Director of Golf and Player Development Pat Goss tweeted early Sunday morning. "Good, close matches. Both teams showing some fight. This is FUN and why I love this event."
Northwestern in general loves this event, holding a 19-3 all-time record in its seven-year history, including winning the championship in three-straight years from 2010-12. The 2015 edition of the Wildcats, however, has little previous experience; head coach David Inglis chose a lineup comprised of one senior, one junior and three freshmen for NU's opening round match.
Each school's final Golfstat ranking after the fall season determined seeding for the 2015 Big Ten Match Play Championship. Within each match over the two-day tournament, each team member's individual Golfstat ranking will prescribe their spot in the lineup, giving Inglis little flexibility in the order in which he sends out his Wildcats.
Below is a match-by-match account of Northwestern's Sunday morning win, which came in a howling wind on the difficult Conservatory Course:
MATCH 1: Will Seger (IND) def. Sam Triplett (NU), 2 and 1
In his first-career collegiate match play competition, freshman Sam Triplett (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) alternated some growing pains with great play. Triplett lost the first two holes of his opening round tilt against Will Seger before bouncing back with wins at Nos. 3 and 5 to level the competition. He then made bogey at No. 7 to lose, and could not take advantage of Seger bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10, halving both of those holes.
At that point, Triplett hit a great 5-iron into the wind at No. 11 for a winning par before sticking a 4-iron tee shot at the par-3 12th to within eight feet to seize his first lead via a birdie. Seger quickly flipped the script, however, with three straight wins to earn a 2 and 1 victory.
MATCH 2: Charles Wang (NU) def. Brendon Doyle (IND), 1-up
Wang quickly went 2-up over his opponent before things feel apart midway through the round. Doyle won four holes -- two via birdies and two more via pars -- to take a 2-up lead at the turn. Twice on the back nine Wang fought to cut his deficit to a single hole, and twice Doyle quickly countered.
The third time, however, was the charm. With Northwestern losing the first three matches out and in need of a big move, Wang delivered. He first won the 16th and 17th holes to square the match before delivering the knockout blow on the long par-5 18th. There, he drained an eight-foot birdie putt before Indiana missed a four-foot birdie opportunity to give Wang the dramatic, come-from-behind, 1-up victory.
MATCH 3: Bennett Lavin (NU) and Max Kollin (IND) halved
Lavin and Indiana's Kollin traded two wins apiece on the front nine with each coming via a par. After the competitors halved the par-5 fourth hole with birdies, the first win with a birdie did not come until Kollin took an early back nine edge at No. 11 and extended his lead to 2-up at No. 13.
Lavin followed the cue of his teammate Wang in the match ahead of him, cutting his deficit to one hole at No. 16. Matching pars at the 200-yard par-3 17th made Kollin dormie on the 18th tee, but he made bogey against Lavin's par to give the NU senior a key half point.
MATCH 4: Josh Jamieson (NU) def. Matthew Weber (IND), 1-up
Weber won the very first hole of this match with a bogey, after which NU junior Josh Jamieson (St. Andrews, Scotland/High School of Dundee) greatly cleaned up his play. He won Nos. 4 and 5 to flip the 1-up advantage, remaining on that number when he made bogey at the par-3 12th to allow Weber to even the match.
From there, Jamieson won the 13th and 15th holes and held Weber off for a 1-up victory.
MATCH 5: Dylan Wu (NU) def. Nicholas Grubnich (IND), 4 and 2
Freshman Dylan Wu (Medford, Ore./St. Mary's School) fell behind early in his match against Indiana's No. 1, but quickly put his precocious prowess on display to ease to victory. He squared the match at the third hole and held a 2-up edge at the turn. After dropping the 10th, he won the 11th and continued to pull away for an eventual 4 and 2 victory.
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