Freshman Will Czeh carded a day two 72 (E) to climb out of 15th place, claim medalist honors and lead the Bemidji State University men’s golf team to a team title in the Upper Iowa Spring Invitational title Saturday and Sunday at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa.

The team battled cool temperatures and windy playing conditions that cut Saturday’s round to nine holes and left the field with the final 27 holes Sunday. Following the first 18 holes of the event, the Beavers were locked in second place with 319 (+31), but a 308 (+20) in the final round propelled the Beavers into first place, at 627 (+51), a five-shot lead over Minnesota State University, Mankato (312-311—632/+56) and the rest of the 10-team field.

In addition to Czeh’s eight-over-par, 152 (80-72), two other Bemidji State players finished among the top six on the final leaderboard. Aaron Leintz fired back-to-back 77s (+5) to finish four strokes back tied for second at 12-over-par (77-79—156), while Sam Otto finished tied for sixth at 14-over-par (79-79—158).

The Beavers now turn their focus to the spring portion of the 2015-16 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship, April 8-9 at Paradise Golf Complex in Smithville, Mo. After 36 holes of the unique, split-season, 72-hole championship played at The Jewel Golf Club in Lake City, Minn. Oct. 5-6, BSU is 20 shots behind Minnesota State in fifth place (301-302—603/+35). Individually, Cody Cook is one stroke off the lead tied for fifth place (72-73—145).