BALTIC, Conn. - Junior Brayden Kassel (Washougal, Wash.) fired a 145, following up his 70 (-1) on Tuesday with a 75 today to tie for fourth on the leaderboard and lead the Western Connecticut State University to third place in the team standings in the Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Golf Championship Tournament at Mohegan Sun Golf Club. Kassel collectd LEC All-Conference First Team honors for his spectacular performance.

WestConn totaled 306 as a squad in round one and 310 in round two today on the 6,690-yard course to finish 11 strokes in front of fourth-place Keene State and 33 behind second-place Eastern Connecticut.  Southern Maine repeated as LEC Champion with a 580 for the two days.  WestConn's third-place finish tied its best-ever performance in the event, first achieved two years ago.

"Our goal was to finish in the top three and we accomplished that," said WestConn Head Coach Adam Lanehart.  "We think we could have been better but all in all we had a great tournament.  Brayden was our second player ever to earn first team all-conference, and the first player of ours to shoot a round under par in decades."

Kassel birdied four holes on Tuesday and was tied atop the leaderboard with a 7-0, before settling for fourth place which will earn him LEC All-Conference First Team recognition.  tied Southern Maine's S.J. Welch for first place as the lone individuals to shoot under par on the 6,690-yard course.  WestConn rookie Archer Cassetty (Asbury, N.J.) improved six strokes from Tuesday to Wednesday to finish 12th overall at 154 (80+74). 

The remaining three Wolves, freshman Daniel Zaleta (Danbury, Conn.), junior Daniel Nanfito (Middletown, Conn.), and sophomore Logan Starks (Mechanicville, N.Y.) ended up 19th, 20th, ad tied for 21st, respectively.  Nanfito improved three strokes from 83 to 80 over the two rounds.  Zaleta had a 73 on Tuesday but slumped to an 86 today and Starks, an all-conference honoree in 2025, fired a 184 (83+81).