MGCCC leads after first day of Wallace State Invitational

Mississippi Gulf Coast got its 2016-17 season off to a good start Monday. The Bulldogs lead the Wallace State Fall Invitational in Cullman, Ala., by three strokes after the first two rounds.

The host team, which just missed the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division I Coaches Poll Top 10, is in second. No. 4 Eastern Florida and Central Alabama, both D-I schools, are another three shots back.

Gulf Coast is ranked third in the Division II version of that poll.

"To be ahead of all those NJCAA Division I Top 10 teams like that, that's quite an accomplishment for these guys," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "They've worked hard and played well."

The tournament concludes Tuesday with 18 holes.

Freshman Jackson Wedgeworth (6-2, West Jones/Soso) is second in the individual standings after shooting 5-under for the first 36 holes. He's two behind Wallace State's Garrett Senia.

The Bulldogs' Logan Leary (5-11, 120, fr., Gonzales/Dutchdown, La.) is 3-under, with Jonathon Newman (5-9, 135, so., North Pike/Summit) two more shots back.

"My two freshmen are leading the team," Snell said. "That's exciting when you have two freshmen playing that well."

Wedgeworth shot an opening round 69 and followed with a 70. He credited the Bulldogs' tough set of qualifying rounds the team went through ahead of the tournament.

"I hit a lot of fairways," he said. "If I made a mistake, I was able to recover pretty well. It's a great way to start and I hope I can follow it up tomorrow."

Wyatt Adkison (5-7, 210, so., East Central/Hurley) finished eagle-birdie in the second round to get to 1-over after 36 holes.

The Bulldogs' depth revealed itself with Colin Troxler (6-2, 137, so., Hahnville/Luling, La.), an NJCAA All-American, finishing at 9-over.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.