Tucson, Ariz. (April 29, 2023) --  Another outstanding round by the Wyoming Cowboys moved them up into fifth place after completion of the second of three rounds of the 2023 Mountain West Men's Golf Championship being played in Tucson, Ariz.  Wyoming shot a second round of 282 (-6) and improved their 36-hole total to 562 (-14) to tie with San Jose State for fifth place in the 11-team field leading up to Sunday's final round.
 
Three Cowboys are in the Top 16 individuals entering the final round.  Senior Tyler Severin is tied for 12th at 139 (-5) and is only five strokes behind the tournament leaders.  Junior Jimmy Dales is tied for 14th at 140 (-4), and senior Kirby Coe-Kirkham is tied for 16th at 141 (-3).  Wyoming sophomore Jaren Calkins also is under par through two rounds with a 142 (-2) total to tie for 23rd.  Fellow sophomore Patrick Azevedo is close behind at 145 (+1) and is tied for 31st.  All five Cowboys shot par or under par in Saturday's round.  Severin fired a four-under par round of 68.  Dales and Calkins shot rounds of 71 (-1), and Coe-Kirkham and Azevedo each shot even-par rounds of 72.
 
"Another good day for us on Saturday," said head coach Joe Jensen.  "We were paired with CSU today and hung right with them literally up until the final hole where we gave up six strokes to par on the 18th.  I'm really proud of the way the guys competed again today.  We once again had a nice balanced performance between all five of our guys.
 
"We were able to move up one spot into a tie for fifth with San Jose State heading into tomorrow's final round.  I told the guys we just need to keep playing our game, put together one more good round and try to continue to move up the standings."
 
San Diego State continues to hold the lead in the team competition.  The Aztecs entered Saturday's second round with a two-stroke lead over then second-place UNLV and a four-stroke lead over third-place teams New Mexico and Fresno State.  SDSU will enter Sunday's final round with a nine-stroke lead over now second-place New Mexico and an 11-stroke lead over third-place UNLV.  Colorado State is in fourth, 13 strokes out of the lead.  Wyoming moved ahead of Fresno State on Saturday and moved into a tie with San Jose State for fifth.
 
Christoph Bleier of Colorado State holds a one-stroke lead in the individual competition.  Bleier has posted a two-round total of 134 (-10).  He leads Shea Lague and Dylan Oyama of San Diego State, Albert Boneta of New Mexico and Caden Fioroni of UNLV, who are all tied for second at 135 (-9).
 
The third and final round of the Mountain West Conference Championship will be played Sunday beginning at 7 a.m., Pacific Time (8 a.m., Mountain).  Wyoming is scheduled to tee off beginning at 9:00 a.m., Pacific (10:00 a.m., Mountain) and will be paired with Colorado State for the second consecutive day. 
 
The tournament is being played on the Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Resort in Tucson, Ariz.  The course measures 7,194 yards and plays to a par of 72. 
 
Team Standings
1.   San Diego State                   272-272=544 (-32)
2.   New Mexico                          278-275=553 (-23)
3.   UNLV                                    274-281=555 (-21)
4.   Colorado State                     284-273=557 (-19)
5.   Wyoming                             280-282=562 (-14)
      San Jose State                     279-283=562 (-14)
7.   Fresno State                         278-290=568 (-8)
8.   Boise State                           288-290=578 (+2)
9.   Nevada                                 292-292=584 (+8)
      Air Force                               290-294=584 (+8)
11. Utah State                             302-294=596 (+20)
 
Wyoming Cowboys' Standings
T12 Tyler Severin                       71-68=139 (-5)
T14 Jimmy Dales                       69-71=140 (-4)
T16 Kirby Coe-Kirkham              69-72=141 (-3)
T23 Jaren Calkins                      71-71=142 (-2)
T31 Patrick Azevedo                  73-72=145 (+1)