CONOVER, N.C. - - The Wilmington University golf team sits in 16^th place after the first day of the NCAA Division II National Tournament, shooting a 302 on Monday morning at the Rock Barn Golf & Spa.

The Wildcats were led by freshman Joey Russo who came into the clubhouse with a 72 (+1), sitting in a tie for 29^th overall. Sophomore Freddy Braun came in with a 76 (+5) while junior Andreas Lunding and sophomore Sam Clark rounded out the team scoring with a pair of 77 (+6). Alexander Lautenschlaeger was the fifth Wilmington player on the course, shooting an 83 (+12) but did not factor into the team score.

Starting the on the 10^th tee, Russo bogeyed the 11^th hole but than pared the rest of the back nine, making the turn with a 37 (+1). Russo then birdied the first and sixth holes to go one-under par, but then bogeyed holes seven and nine to finish with a 35 (E) score on the front.

Braun's lone mistake came on hole 14, as he double bogeyed the par-five, finishing the back nine with a 38 (+2). He bogeyed three holes on the front to finish with a 76 (+5), tied for 64^th overall.

Lunding birdied the 12^th hole, but then bogeyed three of the final six holes on the back, making the turn with a 38 (+2). He bogeyed four holes on the front nine to finish with his 77 (+6) to sit in a tie for 75^th overall.

Clark started the day bogey-bogey, but then birdied the par-four 12^th to sit at one-over par. After three straight pars, Clark triple-bogeyed 16, finishing the back nine at 40 (+4). He then rebounded to shoot a 37 (+2) on the front, hitting seven pars to sit in a tie for 75^th overall with a 77 (+6).

Lautenschlaeger birded hole number two, but finished the front nine seven-over par. His 83 (+12) has him in a tie for 105^th overall.

After the first round of play, Russo is 19^th overall on the par-four holes, averaging 4.00 stroke per hole. Braun is tied for fifth overall on making pars, hitting 14 pars on during the first round.

Nova Southeastern leads the tournament with a 279 (-5) score as a team, four strokes ahead of second place Lynn. South Carolina Aiken is in third and broke even at 284 for the day. Central Missouri's Sam Migdal leads the individual race, shooting a first round low 66 (-5) on Monday, besting a pair of Nova Southeastern players by two strokes.

The Wildcats tee off late on Tuesday, starting on the first team with a tee-time of 12 p.m. Follow the Wildcats and all the NCAA Division II National Tournament action live by following GolfStat: http://www.ncaa.com/2015-dii-mens-golf-championships-team-leaderboard.