South Pittsburg, Tenn. – Western Carolina men's golf defeated Bowling Green to advance into the semifinal round of the match-play championship at the Sweetens Cove Intercollegiate on Monday where the Catamounts led through 12 holes against Belmont before play was halted due to darkness. WCU downed BGSU 4.5 to 1.5 in the six-golfer scoring format in its opening match at the par-71, 6,333-yard Sweetens Cove Golf Club.
 
The teams will conclude their second matches of the event on Tuesday -- UPDATED: anticipating a 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT restart -- to set the stage for the championship round. Officials pushed the start to try and work around forecasted morning rain the southeastern Tennessee with the lingering showers delaying the resumption of the semifinal round matches. The results of those second matches will determine the seeding for the medal rounds with the final two unbeaten squads squaring-off for the event championship with other matches determining the final standings.
 
Live scoring of the event is available through SmartGolf.com
 
Four of the Catamount scoring six earned head-to-head victories in the opening round against Bowling Green. WCU's top three seeds won with Magnus Pedersen taking a two-hole lead with one remaining and third-seeded Pablo Hernandez ending his match with a three-stroke lead with two holes to play. Sophomore Ivan Ninkovic was all-square through 17 holes before winning his match 1-up on the last hole.
 
Rounding out WCU's four individual victories was freshman Michael Bevins with a 1-up victory that helped secure the quarterfinal victory for the Catamounts. Bevins and his opponent Brady Pavarnik went back and forth much of the day with neither golfer able to build more than a one-hole advantage. Bevins claimed the 18th hole of the round for the win.
 
Much like Bevins, freshman Jace Butcher and his opponent Dylan Fitchet played a tightly-contested match with neither golfer able to pull in front by more than one hole throughout. The two were all-square 10 times on Monday, finishing even through 18 to halve the match.
 
Freshman Andrew Korytoski fell behind early and was unable to rally against Brandon Rattray who earned Bowling Green's lone point in the match-play format.
 
When play was halted on Monday, four Catamounts held at least two-hole leads over their Belmont opposition. Pedersen and Butcher both led 3-up with Hernandez and Bevins carrying 2-up advantages into Tuesday morning. Korytoski was just one hole in arrears with six holes remaining, while Ninkovic was down four holes with five remaining.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
 
Quarterfinal: Western Carolina def. Bowling Green, 4.5-1.5
Magnus Pedersen (WCU) def. Darin Hudak (BGSU), 2&1
Ivan Ninkovic (WCU) def. Tom Bell (BGSU), 1UP
Pablo Hernandez (WCU) def. Ethan Irvine (BGSU), 3&2
Dylan Fitchet (BGSU) and Jace Butcher (WCU), AS
Brandon Rattray (BGSU) def. Andrew Korytoski (WCU), 3&2
Michael Bevins (WCU) def. Brady Pavarnik (BGSU), 1UP