Men's Golf 5/10/2025 7:30:00 PM Chris Brannick

Back-to-Back Regional Champions

Central Oklahoma Wins Second Consecutive NCAA Central/Midwest Regional

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Central Oklahoma continued its dominating season with a regional championship Saturday, when the Bronchos took top honors for the second consecutive season in the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional Championship at St. Joseph Country Club.

UCO responded to a slightly less than average second round on Friday with a dominating performance to close out the championship. The Bronchos won by 15 strokes, carding an 847 for the tournament. Central shot rounds of 4-under 280, 8-over 292, and then fired away in the final round to the tune of a 9-under 275.

"That was a big response by the guys after yesterday," UCO head men's golf coach Derrick Thompson said. "They made the decision to lock in and go after today and they executed. Great performance by the team and now we get a chance to go after one more."

Central Oklahoma advances to the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship, May 19-23 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Teams will play 54 holes of stroke play Monday – Wednesday to determine an individual national champion, and the top eight teams will advance to match play.

UCO finished first with an 847. Missouri St. Louis (862) and Missouri S&T (866) were second and third respectively. Central Missouri (867) finished fourth and Harding and Findlay tied for fifth (869).

Central Oklahoma sophomore Nick Canales led the way on Saturday. 54 holes weren't enough to determine the individual champion so a playoff on No. 18 followed the final round. Canales finished runner-up after losing on the first playoff hole.

Canales posted a 6-under-par 207 this week. He shot an even-par 71 on Thursday, and 1-under 70 Friday, and then surged all the way up to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under 66 on Saturday. Canales played a bogey-free round to finish. He had only one bogey in the latter 36 holes of the championship.

Saturday, Canales started his day with a birdie on the first hole. He had two more on the front nine, sinking one on the Par 4 sixth and another on the Par 5 eighth. Canales birdied No. 10 before seven consecutive pars. He finished with a birdie on 18 to force the playoff.

Jordan Wilson had an up-and-down tournament but he finished strong to make it up to fifth on the individual leaderboard with a 1-under-par 212. Wilson shot a 3-under on Thursday and was in first place after 18 holes. He responded to his 4-over second round with a big finish on Saturday. Wilson sank two birdies on the front nine, two more on the back nine, and finished with an exclamation point, making an eagle on No. 18 to get to 2-under for the day.

Bennett Baldwin finished 12th individually with a 1-over 214. The senior shot a 1-under 70 on Thursday and a 2-over 73 on Friday. During the final round, Baldwin sank three birdies on the front nine to fight off a double bogey. He slipped to 2-over on the back nine before an eagle on the Par 5 17th got him back to even par for the day.

Baylor Bostick and Karsten Paciotti tied for 36th individually with both shooting 7-over-par 220s this week. Bostick had rounds of 77 & 74 before shooting 2-under 69 in the final round. Paciotti had rounds of 71 & 75 before a 74 Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Bennett Baldwin: Senior

Baylor Bostick: Sophomore

Nick Canales: Sophomore

Karsten Paciotti: Junior

Jordan Wilson: Senior

Players Mentioned

Bennett Baldwin
: Senior

Baylor Bostick
: Sophomore

Nick Canales
: Sophomore

Karsten Paciotti
: Junior

Jordan Wilson
: Senior