MUSCATINE, Iowa - For the 12th time in program history and the second consecutive, the Luther College Norse are crowned the men's golf champions of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C). Luther bested the field by 35 strokes, finishing with a three-round conference record total of 891. 
 
Luther saw all five golfers earn All-Conference to lead the field. Haakon Rustad, posting a 54-hole total of 219 (+6), claimed medalist honors. Teammate Jay Fjelstul posted back-to-back rounds at even par to finish just one shot back of Rustad (220, +7). Mark Devlin finished in fourth place with a three-round total of 226 (+13). Coming in seventh place was Hogan Reuter totaling 233 (+20). Brandon Dorans finished in ninth place, after falling in the scorecard playoff after finishing with a 234 (+21). 
 
Along with his low medalist honors, Rustad becomes the seventh Norse student-athletes to be named the Conference's Golfer of the Year - joining Gene Sella (1977), Robert Cassidy (1983), Magnus Hellmark (1995, 1996, 1997), Dean Wilson (1999), Scott Theriault (2000), Andrew Peter (2013), and Ben Phipps (2022). This was Rustad's first collegiate win. 
 
The Norse fired two scores below 300 on route to a three-day total of 891, that broke the conference record that had stood since 1994 when Central shot an 894 54-hole score. Luther's victory earned them the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships May 16-19 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky. 
 
For the 12th time in his career, Luther College head coach Scott Fjelstul was voted American Rivers Conference Coach of the Year.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan was right behind Luther in All-Conference golfers with four, as they finished runner-up as a team. Christian Ghilardi finished in third with a three-round total of 224 (+11) for the championship. John Lapour finished in sixth place with a 232 (+19) total. Finishing at T-10 was Tyler Welch and Nate Vickery, both shooting a 54-hole total of 235 (+22). Welch and Vickery finished in T-10th. 
 
Central College was represented by Harold Dobernecker who finished the championship with a 54-hole total of 230 (+17). 
 
Brad Buechel of the University of Dubuque charged up the leaderboard on the final day to finish in eighth place (234, +21), after winning the scorecard playoff with Dorans of Luther. 
 
Matthew Turpen was the fifth group to finish on the course on the final day and patiently awaited to see where he stood on the leaderboard where he finished in T-10th place with a three-round total of 235 (+22).
 

2023 Men's Golf All-Conference
Finish	Player	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total	Par
1	Haakon Rustad	Luther	74	73	72	219	+6
2	Jay Fjelstul	Luther	78	71	71	220	+7
3	Christian Ghilardi	Nebraska Wesleyan	78	74	72	224	+11
4	Mark Devlin	Luther	75	73	78	226	+13
5	Harold Dobernecker	Central	76	80	74	230	+17
6	John Lapour	Nebraska Wesleyan	77	78	77	232	+19
7	Hogan Reuter	Luther	82	75	76	233	+20
8 **	Brad Beuchel	Dubuque	80	79	75	234	+21
9 **	Brandon Dorans	Luther	76	81	75	234	+21
T-10 *	Tyler Welch	Nebraska Wesleyan	79	77	79	235	+22
T-10 *	Matthew Turpen	Buena Vista	78	77	80	235	+22
T-10 *	Nate Vickery	Nebraska Wesleyan	79	82	74	235	+22
*ties for 10th are not broken, all receive All-Conference honors at 10th place **place determined by scorecard playoff

TEAM SCORES:
1. Luther College - 305-292-294=891
2. Nebraska Wesleyan University - 313-311-302=926
3. Central College - 312-323-305=940
4. Wartburg College - 311-318-322=951
5. Coe College - 316-323-323=962
6. University of Dubuque - 331-317-317=965
7. Buena Vista University - 322-330-322=974
8. Simpson College - 319-345-334=998
9. Loras College - 323-335-344=1002

 

Pos.	Team/Player (seed)	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1	Luther College	305	292	294	891
1	Haakon Rustad (2)	74	73	72	219
2	Jay Fjelstul (1)	78	71	71	220
4	Mark Devlin (4)	75	73	78	226
7	Hogan Reuter (5)	82	75	76	233
T8	Brandon Dorans (3)	78	81	75	234
2	Nebraska Wesleyan	313	311	302	926
3	Christian Ghilardi (2)	78	74	72	224
6	John Lapour (3)	77	78	77	232
T10	Nate Vickery (4)	79	82	74	235
T10	Tyler Welch (5)	79	77	79	235
21	Geran Sander (1)	79	82	80	241
3	Central College (IA)	312	323	305	940
5	Harold Dobernecker (3)	76	80	74	230
T13	Kyle Gabos (1)	78	80	78	236
T15	Cole McGriff (2)	81	80	76	237
T22	Lucas Wendel (4)	77	84	81	242
T22	Jake Moffett (5)	82	83	77	242
4	Wartburg College	311	318	322	951
T13	Taylor Thompson (4)	77	78	81	236
17	Andrew Rush (5)	76	77	85	238
T19	Tucker Kinney (2)	80	83	77	240
T22	Josh Nichols (1)	78	80	84	242
31	Nick Lechtenberg (3)	81	85	80	246
5	Coe College	316	323	323	962
T15	Lucas Geiger (1)	73	83	81	237
T26	Collin Brockmeyer (3)	80	78	86	244
T26	James Carsrud (5)	82	81	81	244
T29	Alec Brockmeyer (2)	83	81	81	245
T29	Sam Scully (4)	81	84	80	245
6	Dubuque, Univ. of	331	317	317	965
T8	Brad Buechel (2)	80	79	75	234
T19	Alex Staver (1)	80	83	77	240
T26	Matt McQuillen (3)	87	74	83	244
T34	Drake Polley (5)	88	81	82	251
40	Colin Schmit (4)	84	89	85	258
7	Buena Vista Univ.	322	330	322	974
T10	Matthew Turpen (3)	78	77	80	235
T22	Jordan Greenwood (1)	81	89	72	242
37	Shane Hess (2)	80	80	92	252
39	Kaleb Sander (4)	83	86	88	257
41	Owen Collison (5)	90	87	82	259
8	Simpson College	319	345	334	998
18	Jack Wahman (1)	80	79	80	239
T34	Blake Perrin (2)	80	86	85	251
T34	Isaac Roe (4)	78	92	81	251
T42	Bradley Kofoed (5)	81	92	88	261
44	Garin Grinstead (3)	88	88	90	266
9	Loras College	323	335	344	1002
32	Dominic Leli (3)	79	85	83	247
33	Keagan Wurth (5)	81	84	85	250
38	Doug Curtis (4)	80	86	90	256
T42	Noah Nabb (1)	83	92	86	261
45	William Schimbke (2)	85	80	108	273