Reivers Earn Top 10 Finish (9th place) at 2026 National Championship; Potter Earns All-American Honors
Newton, KS – Iowa Western Men's Golf concluded their season with a 9th place finish at the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 National Championship. It was the first top ten finish at the national championship for the Reivers in five years. Highlighting the week was Ty Potter earning 2nd team All-American honors by finishing tied for 7th place. Potter shot rounds of 71-74-74-74 to earn honors.
The Reivers started the tournament strong, battling winds of 20-30mph. Iowa Western would shoot a first-round score of 303 which was good enough to sit in 5th place ahead of many of the top ranked teams in the field. "I was pleased with our effort during round one, it was a very difficult day, but they continued to battle and set themselves up to have a solid tournament," said Iowa Western Director of Player Development Ryan Norman. Iowa Western would struggle in Round 2 and slipped a couple of spots on the leaderboard as they would shoot a 298-team score on a day that provided better scores for teams overall.
Round 3 saw the high winds return, and the Reivers would end up with a team score of 315 to sit in 9th place. Iowa Western would post a final round score of 300 to cap off their tournament and secure a top 10 finish. With a few holes to play the Reivers were within striking distance of 7th place however they would combine to shoot 4-over par on the final hole as a team to dismiss that possibility.
In the end Iowa Western's strong showing solidifies the trajectory they are moving as a program. "There was a possibility of finishing 6th or 7th this week after coming into this week ranked 14th in the country. We did not close the way we needed to, to make that happen," said Norman. "If you take a look at the past 3 seasons we finished 18th 2 years ago, 12th place last year, and now 9th place top ten this year, we are positioning ourselves to be contenders in the near future", Norman continued.
This concludes a highly successful year for the Reivers. We wish our graduating sophomores the best of luck in their future, thank you!
