Disc Golf | 12/28/2023 2:26:00 PM

December 28, 2023-Both the Emporia State men's and women's disc golf teams will begin 2024 ranked in the top four nationally. The Hornet men are ranked #3 in the nation and the women #4 in the College Disc Golf National Rankings.
 
The Hornet men's D-1 and D-II teams swept first and second place in their final two matches of the fall semester after placing third and fourth in their opening tournament.
 
The foursome of Isaiah Esquivel, Justin Farrell, TJ Reel and Cade Kohlmeier shot -11 to place third at the Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour stop in Pittsburg on October 28. Abram Brazzle, Troy Smart, Caden Stucky and Grant Yoder shot -9 to place fourth at Pittsburg.
 
Emporia State started their run of wins on November 11 when Esquivel, Farrell, Reel and Koholmeier shot -23 to place four strokes in front of Brazzle, Smart, Stucky and Yoder to sweep the top two team spots at the Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour Lawrence stop.
 
The fall ended with Esquivel, Farrell, Reel and Koholmeier shooting -10 to win in Wichita at the final fall stop of the Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour.  Brazzle, Smart, Stucky and Yoder were at -7 to place second in Wichita.
 
The Emporia State women won all three tournaments of the fall based on points.
 
Atlanta Krueger and Rebekah Thompson shot +9 at the Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour stop in Pittsburg to finish one stroke back of Oklahoma Christian, but the two were tied in points.  In disc golf team scoring all singles rounds count towards the overall team score. Singles scores from each player on a team will be averaged and rounded to the nearest whole number. These scores will be added to the scores from team rounds for the team's scoring total.
 
Krueger teamed with Maya Ringgold for the first time at the Lawrence Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour stop to shoot a +9. They were tied in points with Thompson and newcomer Sydney Snowden who shot +35.
 
Krueger and Ringgold combined to shoot +20 for a 23 stroke advantage over Hesston at the final Kansas Collegiate Disc Golf Tour stop in Wichita, but ended up tied in the points.  Thompson and Snowden were in third just three strokes behind Hesston.
 
Individually seven Hornets are ranked in the top 50 nationally headed into the spring semester.  Krueger is ranked #9 in the nation, Ringgold is #13 and Thompson is ranked #25 for the women.  For the men Yoder is ranked #24 with Farrell right behind him at #25, while Reel is #34 and Kohlmeier is ranked #48 nationally.
 
The Hornets are set to begin the spring semester on February 10 with the D1 men heading to Mesa, Ariz. for the Southwest Shootout hosted by Arizona State University, while the women's teams and the D2 men will be in Newton, Kan. for a tournament.  All of the teams will be together on February 17 for a conference event in Manhattan, Kan. before Emporia State plays host to the Midwest Collegiate Regional Championships on March 2-3 in Emporia. Jones Park East and West, Peter Pan Park and the Emporia Community Club – site of the 2016 and 2022 PDGA World Championships – will serve as the main courses for the Regional Championship.   The College Disc Golf National Championships are scheduled for April 3-6 in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Men's Team Rankings
1 Cincinnati
2 Oklahoma Christian
3 EMPORIA STATE
4 UNC-Charlotte
5 Illinois State
6 Northern Arizona
7 Colorado State
8 Cal Poly SLO
9 Ferris State
10 Wis.-Platteville
11 Clemson
12 North Texas
13 Ohio State
14 Iowa State
15 Liberty
16 Grand Canyon
17 Michigan State
18 North Carolina State
19 Kennesaw State
20 Arizona
 
Men's Individual Rankings
24 Grant Yoder
25 Justin Farrell
34 TJ Reel
48 Cade Kohlmeier
 
Women's Team Rankings
1 Missouri
2 Liberty
3 North Carolina State
4 EMPORIA STATE
5 BYU
6 Oklahoma Christian
7 Milligan University
8 Bowling Green
9 Southern Arkansas
10 Oklahoma State
11 Great Lakes Christian
12 Colorado State
12 UNC-Charlotte
14 Alabama
15 Eastern Mennonite
16 Wayne State (Neb.)
16 Redeemer University
18 Va. Tech
19 Ferris State
20 Pellissippi State
 
Women's Individual Rankings
9 Atlanta Krueger
13 Maya Ringgold
25 Rebekah Thompson