May 6, 2005

VERONA, Wis. -- Paced by a 2-under 70 from sophomore Chris Wilson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), Northwestern is in seventh place after the first round of this year's Big Ten Championships, which are being hosted at Wisconsin's University Ridge Golf Course.

The Wildcats finished with a 6-over 294 Friday afternoon and are 12 strokes behind first-round leader Michigan State (6-under 282). Indiana and Minnesota are 5- and 3-under, respectively.

Wilson, who is in sixth place, turned in five birdies, three bogeys and 10 pars for his first-round 70. Indiana's Jeff Overton, the top-ranked Big Ten player this year, is the Championships leader with a 7-under 65.

Northwestern's other Dublin, Ohio resident, Kyle Moore (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto), finished with an even-par 72 and is tied for 12th place.

Sophomore David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) is in 32nd place after shooting a 3-over 75. Freshman Dan Doyle (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) is 43rd with a 4-over 76 and junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) is 47th at 6-over (78).

The second round begins at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Live scoring and results are available for the tournament by linking to Big Ten Men's Golf Championships. Other tournament information can be found at Big Ten Men's Golf and Wisconsin Men's Golf.