FULL RESULTS

LEBANON, Pa. — Eli Ropietski ascended to a tie atop the leaderboard after 54 holes and battled through six more intense playoff holes against IUP's Guillermo Salazar before the league's tiebreaker procedure earned him the first individual conference title in program history on Sunday evening at the PSAC Men's Golf Championships at Iron Valley Golf Club.

With darkness beginning to shroud the course before either player gained the upper hand, officials resorted to the first tiebreaker to determine the winner. The junior was declared the champion based on his final round score of 1-under par 71 that beat out Salazar's 2-over par 74.

Pitt-Johnstown, meanwhile, claimed second place in the 9-team field after its top four combined for a 31-over par 895, four strokes behind champion West Chester. It marked the Mountain Cats' second consecutive runner-up finish at the conference championships.

The Mountain Cats, who finished third in birdies with 37, held sole possession of first place heading into Sunday after recording a 1-under 287 in round two.

Ropietski overcame a 6-over par 78 in the opening round by carding a 2-under 70 on Saturday that allowed him to crawl back into contention over the final 18 holes.

Sophomore Lucas Smith paced the field going into the final round before tying for third place with one other player at 4-over 220. Freshman Griffin Hansberry carded a 20-over 236, which included back-to-back rounds 2-over 74 rounds. Freshman Grayden Laird was just one stroke behind at 21-over 237, good enough to tie three other players for 33rd.

Ropietski's victory put the exclamation point on the fall portion of Pitt-Johnstown's season, which saw four top-three tournament performances, including a title at California's Hannastown Invitational back on Sept. 22-23.