DI women repeat as champs, disc golf teams all finish in top 10 percent of respective fields at CDG Nationals

Wednesday, April 2

Rock City, SC

TBD

Liberty University Club Sports

Disc Golf Nationals

Disc golf DI men's team placed fifth at CDC nationals

Liberty Head Coach Steve Bowman stands alongside the Flames' fifth-place Division I men's team of Greyson Lifto, Jonah Burdick, Addison Sells, and Tim Schmidt as well as Assistant Coach Devin Swartz.

DI women repeat as champs, disc golf teams all finish in top 10 percent of respective fields at CDG Nationals

4/5/2025 10:29:00 PM | Disc Golf

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Liberty's tandem of Grace Wilson and Cami Lazo cruised to the third women's DI team title in program history while the Flames' top DI, DII, and DIII teams placed fifth, ninth, and second, respectively.

Gallery: (4-5-2025) Disc golf national championships

Liberty University's disc golf team experienced its most successful showing to date at the College Disc Golf National Championships, which featured more than 800 players competing over the past four days in Rock Hill, S.C.

"We were on point all weekend," Head Coach Steve Bowman said, noting the team got plenty of practice in after leaving Lynchburg, Va., by bus last Saturday, when Liberty Chancellor Jonathan Falwell sent the players out with prayer. "Every year the dynamic of our team grows and their passion for the sport intensifies and their excitement together as a team seems to get better and better. That, to me, is the best part of our team — their passion and their testimony for Christ. When you're doing that, the wins and high finishes seem to follow."

The Lady Flames' top tandem of graduate Grace Wilson, who was the women's singles runner-up on Thursday, and senior Cami Lazo shot second- and third-round totals of 10-under par and finished their four rounds of play at 21-under. They repeated Liberty's Division I team championship from last season — won by then-graduate Julia DiMartino and senior Maggie Presley — by six strokes over Emporia State University's Madeline Joiner and Atlanta Krueger, the singles champion, out of 30 teams.

"They extended their lead on Day 3 so on the final day all they had to do was maintain it, and they had a fun time doing it," Bowman said, noting it was the Lady Flames' third DI team title to go with one DII men's and two DIII men's crowns from previous seasons.

Liberty senior Brianna Bowman and junior Bethanne Castiglione finished 16th at 18-over par.

The Flames' Division I men's team of senior Greyson Lifto, graduate Tim Schmidt, senior Jonah Burdick, and freshman Addison Sells landed in fifth place out of 50 teams — two positions higher than last year — at 23-under par through four rounds. That was 10 strokes behind overall champion Cincinnati (33-under) and also trailed Charlotte (second, 29-under), UNC Chapel Hill (third, 28-under), and Mississippi State (fourth, 24-under).

Liberty moved out of a multiple-team tie for seventh place after Day 3 by firing birdies on eight of the last nine holes of Saturday's final round of doubles play, overtaking both Texas A&M and Milligan (Tenn.) University — which tied for sixth at 22-under — on the 18th and final hole.

"Greyson (Lifto) had a really good drive on the last hole and hit a 30-foot putt to seal that (fifth-place team) finish," Bowman said. "Tim (Schmidt) had a great drive the hole before to get us another birdie, so those were two great senior moments to remember their careers by. As a team, they kept the pedal to the metal and kept on playing hard."

The Flames also separated themselves from eighth-place Michigan State (21-under) as well as Arkansas and Georgia Tech, which tied for ninth at 20-under, and Ferris State (Mich.) University and Northern Arizona, which tied for 11th at 18-under, on that back nine.

Disc golf DIII team runners-up at nationals — Bowman poses with the Flames' top Division III men's squad that placed second out of 47 teams, narrowly missing defending its title.

Meanwhile, Liberty's top Division III squad featuring senior Ethan Burgin, sophomore William Hathaway, junior Jacob Pollard, and senior Christian Wilson finished runner-up to Milligan (41-under) out of 47 foursomes at 39-under. The Flames surged ahead of UNC Charlotte (fourth, 35-under) and gained separation from Missouri State (third, 36-under) by birdieing eight of the last nine holes of Saturday's final round of doubles play.

Liberty's second DIII team of seniors Jonathan Bennett and Noah Burchett, freshman Benjamin Mathews, and sophomore Luke Willer came in eighth at 30-under, highlighted by Burchett's hole-in-one around a tree on the 243-foot No. 8 on Saturday.

Placing two teams in the top 10 was not quite as impressive a showing as last year, when the Flames dominated the field with the overall team champion and two other quartets finishing in the top five out of 45 teams.

Finally, the Flames' DII men's team of juniors Theo Lach, Evan Riley, and Kyle Sennett and senior John Weathersby finished ninth out of 92 teams at 21-under. Entering the fourth and final round tied for third behind overall champion Charlotte (29-under) and runner-up Mississippi State (28-under), Liberty slipped behind third-place Cincinnati (27-under), fourth-place Georgia (26-under), fifth-place Kansas State (24-under), as well as Penn State, North Carolina State, and Alabama-Huntsville, which tied for sixth at 23-under, Saturday.

Complete results are available online.

After serving at the Professional Disc Golf Association World Championships in Bedford County in late August, the Flames and Lady Flames plan to send a team of 10-15 players to Finland from July 26-Aug. 3 to work at the first PDGA World Championships held outside of the United States.

"Our focus now is in front of us — going to Finland and getting kids excited knowing they are on the cusp of being a part of it, following up from having it in the Lynchburg area last fall," Bowman said. "There are so many ministry opportunities with Eagles Wings, that we would love to be able to fund-raise on Giving Day to do mission trips as a team every two to three years so that players can experience what the ministry of disc golf can do (overseas)."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer