BOULDER CITY, Nev. - The No. 3 Florida Southern men's golf team advanced to the National Championship round of the 2026 DII Men's Golf National Championship, defeating Colorado Christian 3-2 in the Quarterfinal Match, and Lee 4-1 in the Semifinals. The Mocs will face three-seed Wingate in the Championship on Friday, May 22 at the Boulder Creek Golf Club.

Quarterfinal Match
(1) Florida Southern - 3, (8) Colorado Christian - 2

Florida Southern opened the day defeating the eight-seed Colorado Christian 3-2. Tyler Mistretta, Anthony Monteleone, and Colton Swartz picked up points for the Mocs, while Donte Groppuso and Max Barile both fell by narrow margins. All five Mocs posted under par scores in the quarterfinal round. 

Mistretta was first to tee off for the Mocs and finished 4-up on his opponent, Camron Reddell. Mistretta was never down in the match, and made six birdies for a 4-under round of 68. 

Donte Groppuso fell by two strokes to Peyton Jones. Groppuso was 3-down at the turn, and battled back to 1-down by hole 14. He carded six birdies in the round to shoot a two-under 70. 

Max Barile also fell by two strokes to Lance Christensen Jr. 67-69. Barile battled back from being down to tie four times, but Christensen gained the advantage at hole 13. Barile made five birdies in the round. 

Anthony Monteleone clutched up the win for the Mocs, with him and Tyler DeBruyckere exchanging leads several times throughout their match. With the score set to be tied at 2-2, with Swartz in tow with a significant lead, Monteleone bounced back from trailing by one to tie on hole 17. With the Mocs holding the overall stroke advantage, Monteleone only needed to tie to keep Florida Southern alive, but the freshman won the match in dramatic fashion on hole 18. He secured the win with a par, while DeBruyckere recorded a bogey on the final hole. 

Finally, Colton Swartz dominated his match from start to finish. After two holes tied, the junior started gaining strokes on Bradley Mulder, working all the way up to a 7-stroke lead. Swartz finished the match 6-up with a 4-under 66. He carded six birdies in his first of two bogey-free rounds on the day. 

Semifinal Match
(1) Florida Southern - 4, (4) Lee - 1

Florida Southern closed the day with a 4-1 victory over the 4-seed Lee University. Barile, Monteleone, Groppuso, and Swartz all secured points for the Mocs. Once again, all five Mocs posted under-par scores, with Colton Swartz recording a career low 64 in the semifinal round. 

Mistretta narrowly fell to Bennett McNabb by two strokes. The graduate student was trailing nearly the whole match, trailing by three on hole 9. Mistretta then clawed his way back with a birdie on 11 and an eagle on 13 to shorten his deficit to one stroke. A birdie on 17 put Mistretta to tie, before falling two strokes in the ultimate hole of the round. 

Barile defeated George Cordall by two strokes. Barile led the entire round from start to finish, carding 6 birdies to shoot a 66. 

Monteleone also defeated his opponent Tucker Wick by two strokes. Monteleone led from start to finish, working his way up to a 6-stroke lead. A few birdies by Wick on the back nine shrunk Monteleone's lead to two, still securing the point for Florida Southern. He finished the round with a 2-under 70. He recorded five birdies and an eagle. 

Donte Groppuso had the biggest swing of the day after trailing Billy Boroughs most of the round. Groppuso trailed by 4-strokes by hole four, to which a birdie on hole five began to narrow the deficit. By hole 10 he had worked his way back to a 1-stroke deficit, to which he and Boroughs matched scores for two more holes. The tide switched for Groppuso on hole 13, where he walked in an eagle putt while Boroughs shot par to flip the score in his favor. The graduate student held the one stroke advantage until the final hole where he shot a birdie and his opponent pared, bringing his final lead to a 3-stroke advantage. He finished the round 4-under with a 66, carding five birdies and an eagle. 

Swartz dominated his matchup over the top-ranked golfer in Division II from start to finish. Swartz posted another bogey free round, with eight birdies to shoot a career-low 64. He opened the round with back-to-back birdies on holes 1 and 2, and again on holes 5 and 6. He held a 3-stroke advantage at the turn. Beginning on hole 10, Swartz went on a 4-hole tear, making four straight birdies working all the way up to a 6-stroke lead. Drew Zielinski made a birdie on 16 to narrow the gap slightly, but Swartz closed it out with a 5-stroke lead, solidifying the Mocs' place in the National Championship round. 

UP NEXT

Florida Southern will return to Boulder Creek Golf Club for the National Championship round of Medal Play. The Mocs will face the third-place Wingate University Bulldogs at 9:00 AM PT from tee one. 

Quarterfinal Results

Tyler Mistretta (FSC) def. Camron Reddell (CCU), 68-72
Peyton Jones (CCU) def. Donte Groppuso (FSC), 68-70
Lance Christensen Jr. (CCU) def. Max Barile (FSC), 67-69
Anthony Monteleone (FSC) def. Tyler DeBruyckere (CCU), 70-71
Colton Swartz (FSC) def. Bradley Mulder (CCU), 66-72

Semifinal Results

Bennett McNabb (LU) def. Tyler Mistretta (FSC), 66-68
Max Barile (FSC) def. George Cordall (LU), 66-68
Anthony Monteleone (FSC) def. Tucker Wick, 70-72
Donte Groppuso (FSC) def. Billy Boroughs (LU), 66-69
Colton Swartz (FSC) def. Drew Zielinski, 64-69

Championship Matchups - Hole 1

9:00 AM - Tyler Mistretta (FSC) vs. Brandon Skidmore (WU)
9:10 AM - Donte Groppuso (FSC) vs. Mattia D'Errico (WU)
9:20 AM - Anthony Monteleone (FSC) vs. Alfie Storer (WU)
9:30 AM - Max Barile (FSC) vs. Cole Rouse (WU)
9:40 AM - Colton Swartz (FSC) vs. Lewis Beeden (WU)