Waynesville, N.C. – Deuces were wild for Western Carolina men's golf in Monday's second round of the 2025 JT Poston Invitational as two Catamounts completed the day in a second-place tie to guide the tournament host to second overall in the team standings through 36 of the scheduled 54 holes at the par-70, 6,720-yard Waynesville Inn & Golf Club.
 
Redshirt sophomore transfer Tyler Jones (135) continues to pace the Catamount scoring five in a five-way tie for the runner-up spot, joined by senior Ivan Ninkovic (135) in the gridlock after the Croatian-born striker rocketed 40 positions in the second round from a tie for 42nd into the catbird seat entering Tuesday's final round. WCU's tandem is joined by Jake Moffitt of Southern Miss, Shaun Cook of Kennesaw State, and Drexel's Caleb Taylor, each tied with 5-under par scores of 135.
 
Through 36 holes, though, everyone is chasing Rodolphe Cicala of the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), who consistently put together consecutive rounds of 67 to carry a stroke lead over the five-wide battle for second. Cicala has 12 birdies through 36 holes, adding an eagle on the par-5 10th on Monday.
 
Tied with Western Carolina after Sunday's opening round, Southern Mississippi was three strokes better than the Catamounts on Monday to pull in front by that same margin, 551-to-554, to sit atop the team leader board with two rounds in the books. Kennesaw State, directed by former WCU head coach Bryant Odom, moved onto the podium entering Tuesday's final round in third, just a stroke back of WCU and four off the pace.
 
First-round leader, Drexel, slid into a fourth-place tie with Southern Conference-foe Wofford as the Terriers clawed their way up five spots to round out the top five teams. All told, 10 squads enter Tuesday's final round within four strokes of the tournament title.
 
Action concludes beginning at 9 a.m. with set tee times off both the front and back nine, with the pairings and order set by scores. Paired with golfers from Southern Miss and Kennesaw State, WCU's scoring five opens Tuesday's final round on the front nine beginning at 10:30 a.m.
 
Live scoring through Leaderboard King is available online through links at CatamountSports.com.
 
Jones followed up his opening-round 6-under par with a 1-over round of 71 on Monday to slide a spot into a tie for second. The Jacksonville, N.C., product had a much noisier second round, countering six bogeys – three aside – with five birdies, the fifth capping his day on the par-5  18th.
 
The story of the day for the Catamounts, though, was Ninkovic, who, after an up-and-down opening round that saw two double-bogeys and three bogies, shot the second-lowest score in the brief tenure of the Poston Invitational in Waynesville. The Pula, Croatia, product posted a blemish-free second round with 12 pars, five birdies, and his second eagle of the event on the 560-yard par-5 sixth.
 
Even-par through five holes, Ninkovic started his march up the leaderboard with the eagle on No. 6. He coupled that with three consecutive birdies to make the turn at 5-under par. He charted a fourth straight birdie on the par-5 10th before the string was snapped with a par on No. 11, only to find the fifth birdie on the par-5 12th before playing the final six holes even for the 7-under, 63.
 
Tied for seventh after Sunday's round, junior Jace Butcher slid 10 positions into a tie for 17th after following up his 2-under Sunday with a 2-over par Monday, in the clubhouse even for the tournament. He posted four birdies against three bogeys and one double-bogey.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were redshirt senior Josh Lendach, who tallied a second consecutive score of 3-over par 73 for a two-day total of 146 to sit in a tie for 63rd, with junior Andrew Korytoski slipping into a tie for  77th overall with a second-round 77 and a total of 148.
 
WCU's five unattached individuals are led by junior Dalton Payne, who climbed 16 spots in the standings with a two-day score of 2-over par 142, following Sunday's 73 with a 1-under par second round score of 69, aided by five birdies. Freshman Charlie Coe dropped into a tie for 41st with a score of 143 (71-72), followed by classmate Connor Williams in a tie for 63rd (75-71). Coe had a relatively uneventful round, tagged with a double-bogey on the par-3 second but otherwise recording 17 pars, 2ith Williams posting four birdies in his best collegiate round to date.
 
The final two Catamounts in the field are junior Michael Bevins, tied for 83rd with a two-day score of 150 (73-77), and freshman Hayden Magnussen in his first collegiate event, 90th at 164  (84-83). Bevins found a pair of birdies in the second round to give him five for the event, while Magnussen carded his third birdie of the event on Monday.
 
Play concludes on Tuesday at 9 a.m. with set tee-times off both the front and back nine.
 
T2 – Western Carolina – 275 (-5)
T2 – Tyler Jones – 64-71 =  135 (-5)
T2 – Ivan Ninkovic – 72-63 = 135 (-5)
T17 – Jace Butcher – 68-72 = 140 (E)
T63 – Josh Lendach – 73-73 = 146 (+6)
T77 – Andrew Korytoski – 71-77 = 148 (+8)
T33 – Dalton Payne (ind.) – 73-69 = 142 (+2)
T41 – Charlie Coe (ind.) – 71-72 = 143 (+3)
T63 – Connor Williams (ind.) – 75-71 = 146 (+6)
T83 – Michael Bevins (ind.) – 73-77= 150 (+10)
90 – Hayden Magnussen (ind.) – 84-83 = 164 (+27)
 
JT Poston Invitational – Team Results
Thru 36 Holes
1 – Southern Miss – 275-276 = 551 (-9)
2 – Western Carolina – 275-279 = 554 (-6)
3 – Kennesaw State – 277-278 = 555 (-5)
T4 – Drexel – 273-285 = 558 (-2)
T4 – Wofford – 286-272 = 558 (-2)
T6 – James Madison – 285-275 = 560 (E)
T6 – Xavier – 283-277 = 560 (E)
8 – Virginia Tech – 277-285 = 562 (+2)
9 – UTRGV – 283-280 = 563 (+3)
T10 – Abilene Christian – 289-281 = 570 (+10)
T10 – Elon – 286-284 = 570 (+10)
T10 – Morehead State – 289-281 = 570 (+10)
13 – Lipscomb – 287-286 = 573 (+13)
14 – Jacksonville – 289-288 = 577 (+17)
15 – Francis Marion – 293-291 = 584 (+24)