Statesmen Season Ends with Seventh-Place Finish in Heart Championship

Smithville, Mo. -- The William Penn men's golf team finished off its 2025-2026 season by placing seventh at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship in Smithville, Mo. on Monday and Tuesday

The Statesmen placed seventh out of 13 teams and had a three-round score of 905 (296-307-302) at the par-72 Paradise Pointe Golf Course. Missouri Valley College claimed the team crown and the automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship by posting a score of 855 (290-283-282). The Vikings won the title by 12 strokes over runner-up Grand View.

Felipe Suarez, of the Vikings, topped the 59-golfer field at 206 (71-67-68)

Mario Palain (Fr., Zaragoza, Spain, Business Management) paced William Penn, finishing tied for ninth overall with a three-round score of 218 (70-74-74). He was also the only Statesman to post a subpar round, with a 70 in the opening round.

Maxence Moreau (Fr., Lyon, France, Applied Mathematics) and Tyler Pedretti (So., Upland, Calif., Business Management) tied for 24th with scores of 226. Moreau posted his best score in the opening round with a 73, before following with scores of 77 and 76.  Pedretti stayed consistent with round of 75, 76, and then another 75.

The next in line for the Statesmen was Alvaro Rodriguez (So., Gijon, Spain, Business Management), who tied for 43rd after witting a 79, 80, and 77 for a 236.

The Statesmen took advantage of having an alternate golfer at the Championship.  Posting scores in round one and two was Samuel Arnaud (Fr., Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, France, Biology), recording 162 (78-84) strokes. The final round was completed by Clay Morse (Jr., Sigourney, Iowa, Business Management), where he posted an 80.
 
"The guys battled some tough conditions this week at the conference tournament with several inches of rain falling the night before and some pretty windy conditions." Head Coach Darin Fisher said "Our conference is so incredibly competitive with nine teams in the top 80 of the national rankings so to see our name at the top of the leaderboard for over half of the first round and to finish the tournament in the top seven was exciting to see and I think that shows some real growth in our program."

"Mario capped off a great freshman season with another top 10 in a highly competitive field. We have several division one caliber players in our conference. Tyler and Max finished off very good seasons with top 25 finishes. I think it's probably been a while since William Penn has had three guys finished in the top 25."

"This season has had some great successes for this team and I know with hard work over the summer. We'll come back in the fall as a major player in our conference."