Rio men finish 28th in national championship

Rio Grande Sports Information
     DALTON, Ga. - The University of Rio Grande men's golf team wrapped up its 2024 season on Wednesday with a 28th place finish in the 72nd Annual NAIA Men's Golf National Championship at the Dalton Country Club.
     The RedStorm, making their first-ever trip to the national championship, showed an eight-shot improvement from Tuesday's opening round with a 24-over par 312 in round two.
     The top 15 teams (plus ties) and six individuals who hadn't already made the cut with their teams (plus ties) advanced to Thursday's third round.
     Texas Wesleyan tops the leaderboard at 589, while tourney host Dalton State is second at 593 and first round leader Keiser (Fla.) is third at 597.
     Sophomore Rodrigo Portilla (Sevilla, Spain) had Rio's best round of the day with a 4-over par 76 and finished in a tie for 79th place - along with freshman teammate Alfonso Baro Rosas (Cancun, Mexico) - at 13-over par 157.
     Rosas followed up an opening round 79 with a 6-over par 78 on Wednesday.
     Junior Nicolas Gonzalez (Medellin, Columbia) had a 7-over 79 on Wednesday and finished in a tie for 102nd place at 15-over par 159.
     Freshman Juan Carlos Gil Perez (Malaga, Spain), who also carded a 7-over 79 in the second round, finished in a tie for 111th place at 16-over 160, while senior Whit Byrd (Pomeroy, OH) tied for 123rd place at 18-over 162 after a 10-over par 82 on Wednesday.
     WVU-Tech's Bryson Beaver, the River States Conference Men's Golfer of the Year, fired a 2-over 74 to bring his tournament total to a 7-over 151. His second round included two birdies, 12 pars, and four bogeys.
     The sophomore finished inside the top 30 in a tie for 29th and narrowly missed the cut by just one shot.