Return Trip

2024 national champ Colorado Christian back for more after earning one of final team berths for men’s NCAA Div. II national tournament; CSU Pueblo’s Archie Wyatt advances as individual

By Gary Baines 

The past two years, a school from Colorado has been at or near the forefront of the men’s NCAA Division II national golf championship.

Two years ago, Colorado Christian University won the DII national title, becoming the first school based in Colorado to claim a national team championship in college golf. And last year CCU was unbeaten against DII competition all season until falling to West Florida in the championship match and finishing national runner-up.

But after last season, Colorado Christian suffered many significant losses as Mark Hull, the national DII men’s golf coach of the year in the 2024-25 season, announced his retirement last June and only one player returned from the squad that competed in the 2025 national title match. Exiting after last year for CCU was Adam Duncan, the national DII men’s golfer of the year, and three other players who each won at least two individual titles last season: Xavier Bighaus, Sungyeop Cho and Sangha Park.

Despite all that, Colorado Christian is headed back to the NCAA national championship tournament as a team.

The Cougars rallied on Saturday in the final round of the NCAA DII West/South Central Regional in Stockton, Calif., and earned one of the final berths into nationals, which are set for May 18–22 at the Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev., where CCU played in the RMAC championship last month.

With the top six team finishers out of the 20-school field at regionals advancing full squads to nationals, CCU tied Cal State San Marcos for fourth placeat 3 over par for three rounds. Also advancing from the regional were Western Washington (8 under), West Texas A&M (-5), Cal State East Bay (even) and Cal State San Bernardino (+4).

Earning individual berths into nationals were CSU Pueblo’s Archie Wyatt, a senior from Scotland, and Hawaii-Hilo’s Dylan Bercan, who tied for fourth place at 3 under par overall. Wyatt went 71-69-73 this week.

CCU junior Bradley Mulder of Spokane, Wash., who helped the Cougars claim the national title as a freshman in 2024, led the way for the Cougars. He tied for second overall on Saturday, posting scores of 70-67-70 for a 9-under-par total, ending up one stroke behind champion Conrad Brown of Western Washington.

CCU came into the regional ranked No. 24 in the nation among NCAA DII men’s teams. The Cougars claimed one team title this season and has recorded a second place and three thirds.

The other two Colorado-based teams at regionals were in the mix for national team berths at various times on Saturday, but fell short. RMAC champion Colorado Mesa (6 over par) finished ninth and CSU Pueblo (7 over) 10th.

While Wyatt was the top individual for CSU Pueblo, Leo Lavalle set the standard for Colorado Mesa, tying for 20th at even par overall.

For all the scores from the West/South Central Regional, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com