Senior Jordan Mueller saved the best for last, firing a season-best 71 (-1) to sit atop the individual leaderboard and lead the Cougars to a second place finish after the first round of the NSIC Men's Golf Fall Championship. The first two rounds of the four-round event are being contested at the par-72, 6,780-yard Classic at Madden's in Brainerd, Minn.

Mueller owns a one-shot lead over Charlie West of St. Cloud State and is five strokes in front of Gordy Diekman, another Husky.

“Jordan played great,” assistant head coach Brett Coluccio said after the match. “He never got too far ahead of himself and stayed patient throughout the round.”

“This golf course will make you make mistakes and when you do, it will punish you if try to be a hero,” Coluccio added. “He was never over par and never really in jeopardy of doing so; he's been playing well and it's nice to see it continue in an event such as this.” 

The St. Cloud State Huskies lead the 12-team field after shooting a 19-over par 307, which is eight shots better than USF, who stands alone in second place overall after firing a 315 (+27). Augustana College is 10 shots back after carding a team score of 317 (+29). Minot State sits in fourth place at 321 (+33) and Concordia-St. Paul rounds out the top-5 at 322 (+30).

The Cougars had a solid day all around, as senior Levi Smith stands in a tie for 11th with five other players after shooting a 79 (+7).

“Today was a great round, we are building upon the lessons learned thus far in the year,” assistant head coach Brett Coluccio said after the match. “As we've said before, we are young, and our seniors, Levi Smith and Jordan Mueller, have done a wonderful job in taking the young players under their wing and leading them.”

“It would be impossible to do this without them,” he added.

Freshman Nick Gottsleben ended the day one shot back of Smith with an eight-over par 80, which put him in a tie for 17th with seven other competitors.

Freshman and Sioux Falls Christian products Andrew Nelson and Jon Van't Hul sit in a tie for 41st after both posted rounds of 85 (+13).

“I'm really proud of how the others fought all day; at any point they could have given up and quit but they kept beating on the door,” Coluccio said. “Regardless of what the score was, that's the thing from today that I am most proud of.” 

The 2012-13 NSIC Men's Golf Championship will consist of 72 holes, in which 36 will be played on Monday-Tuesday, October 8-9 at Madden's Resort on Gull Lake. The final 36 holes will be played April 13-14, 2013 at the Jewel Golf Club in Lake City, Minn.