On the heels of Kris Wildenradts individual title and a come-from-behind team victory in the 2005 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, the championship Illinois State Redbird mens golf team has been assigned to the West Region to play at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., May 19-21.
Wildenradt and fellow all-Missouri Valley Conference selection Matt Maskel, both juniors, led the Redbirds to their fourth Valley mens golf title in the last seven years. Maskel and senior Kyle Vasel lead the Birds with 74.00 stroke averages. Redbird coach
Ray Kralis will complete his lineup by choosing two from senior Denny Bull, junior Anthony Imburgia and sophomore Matt Miller.
Kralis likes the way his team fought its way into the NCAA Tournament.
Winning the last two tournaments (the MVC and the Indian Classic in Arkansas) showed this team what it can do, said Kralis. To go toe-to-toe with an excellent Wichita State team for three rounds in the Valley Tournament and having the character to come back late in that final round, these guys have shown they can flat-out play. When they get their rounds together, we can compete with anybody.
Teams assigned to the West Regional seeded in the following order are UNLV, New Mexico, Auburn, Arizona State, UCLA, Arizona, Brigham Young, South Carolina, Southern California, Washington, LSU, Pepperdine, San Diego State, UC Riverside, St. Marys, Stanford, Texas-Arlington, Colorado State, Cal Poly, Fresno State, Oregon, Denver, South Alabama, ISU, Samford, Princeton and Central Connecticut State.
The 63-team field is split evenly among three regional sites. The other two regional sites are Golf Club of Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn., (East Region) and Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. (Central).
For Kralis, whose womens team played in the NCAA West Regional last week after repeating as Missouri Valley Conference champions, its his first NCAA Tournament trip as head coach of the Redbird mens team. He succeeded Harland Kilborn Kralis Illinois State coach in January when Kilborn retired after 25 years as mens coach.
Taking over this program wasnt a rebuilding job, said Kralis. This team was in place. All I did was paint a picture for them and challenge them a little bit. Being a former player under Harland, I have great appreciation for the guys who have gone through before. To me, its very rewarding. But this teams success also recognizes that Harland gave us the opportunity to be an outstanding program. He put the mens and womens golf programs first at Illinois State and has given us the opportunity to be a program recognized throughout college golf.
First round action begins Thursday, May 19 and continues through Saturday, May 21, with 18-holes of championship play each day. Of the 21 teams and three individuals playing, eight teams and the top two individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to the NCAA Finals June 1-4 at Caves Valley Golf Course in Baltimore, Md.
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