Lincoln, NE – The No. 4 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Golf team put together one of its most dominant team performances in school history to win the Blue River Classic on Thursday. The Warriors posted a 32-under 832 with all five individuals placing in the top-five.
Along with the team title, a pair of individuals – sophomore Emilio Arellano Lamas (Aguascalientes, Mexico/Instituto Universitario Mexico) and freshman Facundo Moraga (Santiago, Chile) tied for the individual title with a score of 10-under, 206. The duo was followed by third-place finisher Chris Richadrs Jr. (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago/Diego Martin Central) with a 6-under 210 and fourth-place finisher Carl Knauer (Stenungsund, Sweden/Nosnas) with a 4-under 212. Jedd Thomas (Sydney, Australia/St. Paul's Catholic) capped the Warriors' impressive performance with a 3-under 213.
The 32-under is the lowest score under head coach Michael Wetrich during his tenure with the Warriors, surpassing a previous low of 28-under at the 2022 Siouxland Invitational and a 25-under at the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Golf National Championship. Indian Hills ran past the 16-team field with ease, finishing 34 strokes ahead of second-place Iowa Western Community College.
"It was a great first week to start our fall campaign," stated Wetrich. "It was great to see so many of our players play so well and Emilio get his first-ever collegiate win. We have a lot of new faces on our team and I thought they all handled themselves great. We hope to continue the momentum into the Zach Johnson Invitational in a few weeks."
The Warriors started strong in the opening round on Wednesday and never looked back. Indian Hills posted a 9-under through the first 18 holes and followed up with a dominant second round at 14-under. The Warriors closed out the 54-hole tournament with a 9-under in the third round. Only two additional teams in the field posted a single round under par.
Arellano Lamas, the lone returner from last year's program, opened his sophomore campaign in impressive fashion. The sophomore led the 83-player field after the opening round with a 68, tying a career-best performance. Moraga, who posted a 2-under in the opening round, shot a tournament-best 5-under in the second round to retake the lead after 36 holes. Arellano Lamas posted a 4-under in the final round while Moraga tallied a 3-under, the two lowest scores of the day, to finish atop the leaderboard.
Arellano Lamas led the field with 20 birdies through three rounds followed by 13 from Moraga.
Richards Jr. added an impressive showing of his own. The freshman matched Moraga's second round effort with a 5-under of his own on the way to a third-place showing. Knauer finished all three rounds below par while Thomas' opening two rounds of 2-under led to a top-five finish.
The team title is the eighth all-time victory under Wetrich, in his third full season at the helm of the program.
Indian Hills returns to action September 23 at the Zach Johnson Invitational at Glen Oaks Golf Course in Des Moines, IA.
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