FREEPORT, ILL. - The Madison College golf team demonstrated a level of consistency with a seventh-place finish at the season-opening Highland "36" Invitational at Park Hills Golf Course. The WolfPack posted back-to-back 18-hole scores of 338 to finish at 676. Freshman AJ Gray was the team's top individual performer with a 14-over-par 159 that placed him in a tie for 12th overall.

Madison College, which sat in sixth place after the day's opening round, finished two shots better than the College of Lake County and trailed sixth-place Illinois Valley Community College by five in the final results. The College of DuPage won the event with a 36-hole total of 630, five shots better than Black Hawk College and host Highland Community College.

Gray, a native of Milton, Wisconsin, went 39-39 on his opening round for a 78, and followed it up with a 38 on the next nine. However, a tough in-ward nine to close out the day saw Gray card a 43 and finish in a four-way tie for 12th. Peyton Perez, a freshman from Black Hawk College, narrowly escaped College of DuPage sophomore Jack Vercautren by a stroke to take medalist honors with a six-over-par 150.

Four shots back of Gray was fellow first year Matt Hach at 18-over-par 163. The New Glarus, Wisconsin, product signed off on 18-hole rounds of 82 and 81 in his collegiate debut and tied for 22nd overall.

Former Waunakee High School athlete, Ryan Beck, posted three nine-hole scores in the low 40s, but his in-ward nine of the opening round settled with a 47. Beck registered an 88 and 84 for a one-day total of 172 (+28), earning 40th overall.

The last counted scored for the 'Pack came from sophomore Harrison Ernstmeyer with a 182 (+38), which placed the Reedsburg, Wisconsin, native in a tie for 48th. Ethan Churchill, a freshman from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, was 54th overall with a 188 (+44) after turning cards for back-to-back rounds of 94.

Final Results

Up Next:

Madison College will take a short drive south on Interstate 90 for the Culver's Edgewood College Fall Invitational at Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, Wisconsin. The two-day tournament runs August 30-31, with Friday's rounds beginning at 10:30 a.m. and Saturday's at 8:30 a.m. Both will be shotgun starts. The WolfPack is back in the Eagles' annual event for the first time since 2012.

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