STERLING, Colo. – The Eastern Wyoming College Lancer golf team won the Northeastern Junior College golf tournament in Sterling, Colorado to begin the 2023-24 season on Aug. 31-Sept. 1

Eastern Wyoming College had five golfers, Ryker Dunkley, Tytan Birchell, Leander Suttka, Braylon Bingham and Noah Taylor finish in the top 10.

EWC’s Dunkley finished in second place with a -6, one stroke behind tournament winner Hunter Hall from Central Wyoming College. Lancer Birchell finished in third place with a -5, while teammate Suttka finished in fifth with a -3, Bingham finished in sixth with a -2, and Taylor tied for 10th with a +3.

"It was great to finally get out and compete after a few weeks of practice,” EWC head golf coach Zach Smith said. “The guys played awesome, which resulted in a team record -16 par after two days in Sterling. We had a great balance of freshmen and sophomores step up to get the team win.”

The Lancers finished the tournament at the top leader board with a -16. Central Wyoming College finished second with a +3, followed by Otero College, McCook Community College, Northeastern Junior College, and Lamar Community College.

“We had a great balance of freshman and sophomores step up to get the team win,” Smith said. “Anytime you have five guys in the top 10, you’ve had a great couple days.”

The following week, the Lancers traveled to Riverton for the Central Wyoming College tournament.

Birchell finished in a tie for third place with Otero College’s Agustin Pizzorno in Riverton. The two golfers finished with a +4. Fellow Lancers, Suttka and Jax Oviatt, finished in a tie for 10th with a +7.

Central Wyoming College’s Hall won the tournament with a -5.

The EWC team finished the tournament in third place with a +29. Central Wyoming College won the tournament with a +12, followed by Otero College with a +25.

“We had a rough start on Thursday,” Smith said. “We couldn’t get anything going all day which put us pretty far back going into day two. Leander and Tytan battled back the second day, but we fell flat collectively at the end of the day.”

Lancer golfer Braylon Bingham finished in 12th place with a +9. Other Lancers competing included Dunkley, Mathis Fortin, Taiki Sugawara, Coltin Powell, Jordan Hunt, Tyler Wallace and Brodey Deacon.

“We have a couple teams in the region that made huge strides coming into this year, so we are excited to grind it out each week,” EWC head golf coach Zach Smith said. “We are looking forward to hosting our home tournament on September 14 and 15.”