WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's golf team completed regular-season invitational play in 2021-22 Sunday in the same manner in which it began it nearly eight months ago – by winning the title of its own invitational tournament.
In a 13-team field which featured 63 golfers, Eastern captured its fifth invitational title in six tries since last September, recording a 16-stroke win over runner-up Salem State University at the Thread City Invitational, played at the Warriors' home course -- The Windham Club in North Windham.
Eastern opened its second intercollegiate season last September by winning a dual match at Wesleyan University before hosting and winning the Warrior Invitational Sept. 20 and followed by capturing the Brett Williamson Invitational at Westfield, MA, the Little East Conference Championship, and the Mitchell College Invitational later in the fall. In its first official outing this spring, Eastern placed fifth among 12 teams at the Rhode Island College Invitational at the Valley Country Club in Warwick, RI, but was first among four LEC teams in that tournament.
Salem's Brian Cannata, who shared seventh place with teammate Ethan Doyle in last October's New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championship, was the medalist Sunday by shooting even-par 70, but Eastern's sophomore duo of
Jonah Dupuis (Hampton) and
Ashton Lewis (Fairfield) were right behind at +1 and +2, respectively, and graduate student
Jack Wallace (Winthrop, MA) and first-year player
Chris Davidson (New Milford) finished in a tie for fifth and in a tie for seventh, respectively, at +7 and +8 to guarantee Eastern the win.
In last fall's NEIGA Championships, Salem shared third place in a field of 16 teams while Eastern placed seventh. The Vikings returned Cannata and teammate Ethan Doyle – the pair sharing seventh place at NEIGA – while the Warriors returned Dupuis, Lewis and Davidson but were without first-year player
Cal Angelo (Southington). Lewis tied for 11
th last fall at NEIGA and Angelo was tied for 19
th, but Dupuis was sub-par at that championship, placing in a tie for 38
th.
Sunday, Dupuis returned to form. He was only two shots off Cannata's pace on the front nine (as was Lewis) and chopped a stroke off his rival's lead on the back nine to finish one shot off the pace over the 6,435 yard layout.
When Eastern won last October's inaugural Little East Conference title, Lewis and Dupuis finished atop the leader board at +5 and +6, respectively, at the Rutland (VT) Country Club in the 32-stroke win over host Castleton University. Conference teams competing Sunday were Rhode Island College and WestConn. Rhode Island was third, 29 strokes behind Eastern, and WestConn last.
Sunday, junior
Andrew Gromko (Canterbury) finished +11 and sharing 13
th place, with first-year player
Ryan Silva (Windham, ME) and senior
Jarrett Soltis (New Hartford) sharing 32
nd place at +17, WestConn junior
Billy Beaver (Danbury) tied for 49
th (+22) and sophomore
Ben Torre (Brooklyn) 61
st (+41).
Thread City Men's Golf Invitational
At The Windham Club
North Windham, CT
Par 70
Team Results
1
Eastern Conn. State U.-A 298
2 Salem State U. 314
3 Rhode Island College 327
3Westfield State U. 327
5 Roger Williams U. 334
6 Gordon College 343
7 St. Joseph's U., L.I. 345
7 Worcester State U. 345
9 Elms College 349
10 Emmanuel College 350
11 SUNY Old Westbury 354
12
Eastern Conn. State U.-B 377
13 WestConn 386
Eastern Conn. State U.-A 298
2
Jonah Dupuis 71
3
Ashton Lewis 72
T5
Jack Wallace 77
T7
Chris Davidson 78
T13
Andrew Gromko 81
Salem State U. 314
1 Brian Cannata 70
T7 Ethan Doyle 78
19 Ryan O'Leary 82
T22 Matt Martin 84
T32 Danny Dilisio 87
Rhode Island College 327
9 Will Niles 79
T10 Anthony Loiselle 80
T22 Nate Chimm 84
T22 Cameron Mello 84
T41 Shane Mello 89
Westfield State U. 327
4 Kyle Delsignore 76
T13 Brandon Smith 81
T16 J.J. Newcombe 82
38 Chris Ervin 88
53 Josh Sears 95
Roger Williams U. 334
T16 Terrance Baker 82
T16 Trevor Hada 82
21 Ben Brodeur 83
T32 Thomas Manning 87
T45 Owen Wallace 90
Gordon College 343
T10 Mason Ketchum 80
T22 Mario Mateo 84
T41 Matt Blouin 89
T45 Ty Spencer 90
St. Joseph's U., L.I. 345
t13 Gavin Melandro 81
T22 Pat Diecidue 84
T28 Ryan Kayton 86
52 Jonathan Eckert 94
T54 Joe Clarkin 96
59 Conor Conzone 102
Worcester State U. 345
T19 Jack Ryan 82
T28 Jacob Poitras 86
T38 Patrick Rennie 88
T41 Max Joyner 89
63 Cam McLaughlin 122
Elms College 349
T10 Mike Keefe 80
T28 Liam Fitzgibbons 86
T32 John Vandal 87
T54 Matt Fontaine-Dulude 96
Emmanuel College 350
T28 Ian Reynolds 86
T32 Mike Mencio 87
T38 Jackson Keplinger 88
T41 Connor Maguire 89
T49 Noah Kosh 92
SUNY Old Westbury 354
T5 Sean Mendyk 77
27 Justin Staropoli 85
T47 Liam Dall 91
T57 Jared Belanger 101
T57 Kevin Graf 101
Eastern Conn. State U.-B 377
T32
Ryan Silva 87
T32
Jarrett Soltis 87
T49
Billy Beaver 92
61
Ben Torre 111
WestConn 386
T47 Cameron Bodamer 91
T49 Nick Bedell 92
56 Aaron Liner 98
60 Mike Truschelli 105
62 Christian Lengyel 120
Individual Results
1 Brian Cannata Salem State U. 70 Even
2
Jonah Dupuis Eastern Conn. 71 +1
3
Ashton Lewis Eastern Conn. 72 +2
4 Kyle DelSignore Westfield State U. 76 +6
5 Sean Mendyk SUNY Old Westbury 77 +7
5
Jack Wallace Eastern Conn. 77 +7
7
Chris Davidson Eastern Conn. 78 +8
7 Ethan Doyle Salem State U. 78 +8
9 Will Niles Rhode Island College 79 +9
10 Mike Keefe Elms College 80 +10
10 Mason Ketchum Gordon College 80 +10
10 Anthony Loiselle Rhode Island College 80 +10
13
Andrew Gromko Eastern Conn. 81 +11
13 Gavin Melandro St. Joseph's U., LI 81 +11
13 Brandon Smith Westfield State U. 81 +11
16 Terrance Baker Roger Williams U. 82 +12
16 Trevor Hada Roger Williams U. 82 +12
16 J.J. Newcombe Westfield State U. 82 +12
19 Ryan O'Leary Salem State U. 82 +12
19 Jack Ryan Worcester State U. 82 +12
21 Ben Brodeur Roger Williams U. 83 +13
22 Nate Chimm Rhode Island College 84 +14
22 Patrick Diecidue St. Joseph's U., LI 84 +14
22 Matt Martin Salem State U. 84 +14
22 Mario Mateo Gordon College 84 +14
22 Cameron Mello Rhode Island College 84 +14
27 Justin Staropoli SUNY Old Westbury 85 +15
28 Liam Fitzgibbons Elms College 86 +16
28 Ryan Kayton St. Joseph's U., LI 86 +16
28 Jacob Poitras Worcester State U. 86 +16
28 Ian Reynolds Emmanuel College 86 +16
32 Danny Dilisio Salem State U. 87 +17
32 Thomas Manning Roger Williams U. 87 +17
32 Mike Mencio Emmanuel College 87 +17
32
Ryan Silva Eastern Conn. 87 +17
32
Jarrett Soltis Eastern Conn. 87 +17
32 John Vandal Elms College 87 +17
38 Chris Ervin Westfield State U. 88 +18
38 Jackson Keplinger Emmanuel College 88 +18
38 Patrick Rennie Worcester State U. 88 +18
41 Matt Blouin Gordon College 89 +19
41 Max Joyner Worcester State U. 89 +19
41 Connor Maguire Emmanuel College 89 +19
41 Shane Mello Rhode Island College 89 +19
45 Ty Spencer Gordon College 90 +20
45 Owen Wallace Roger Willilams U. 90 +20
47 Cameron Bodamer WestConn 91 +21
47 Liam Dall SUNY Old Westbury 91 +21
49
Billy Beaver Eastern Conn. 92 +22
49 Nick Bedell WestConn 92 +22
49 Noah Kosh Emmanuel College 92 +22
52 Jonathan Eckert St. Joseph's U., L.I. 94 +24
53 Josh Sears Westfield State U. 95 +25
54 Matt Fontaine-DuludeElms College 96 +26
54 Joe Clarkin St. Joseph's U., LI 96 +26
56 Aaron Liner WestConn 98 +28
57 Jared Belanger SUNY Old Westbury 101 +31
57 Kevin Graf SUNY Old Westbury 101 +31
59 Conor Conzone St. Joseph's U., LI 102 +32
60 Mike Truschelli WestConn 105 +35
61
Ben Torre Eastern Conn. 111 +41
62 Christian Lengyel WestConn 120 +50
63 Cam McLaughlin Worcester State U. 122 +52
