After a tough final-day fight at the 11th Director’s Cup, Team Iowa (above) finished runner-up to Team Nebraska at Dismal River Club in Mullen, Nebraska. Iowa concluded the two-day tournament with a 19.50-point tally. Nebraska, who finished with 23 points, didn’t slip up and claimed the outright victory down the stretch.

On Wednesday, Iowa got off to a quick start and took a half-point lead after the Four-Ball portion of the tournament. Gene Elliott and Jon Brown teamed up to take down Missouri’s Ryan Sullivan and Ryan Eckelkamp. Elliott and Brown scored three points for Team Iowa and gave them a push up the leaderboard.

During the Foursome portion, Nebraska took over . After winning every match they had, Nebraska added seven points to their total. Iowa did not quit, they tallied four points and remained in second place. Iowa’s Jon Brown and Ethan Mechling joined Nate McCoy and J.D. Anderson with tied matches.

Single matches began this morning and Team Iowa didn’t let up. Elliott tied his match to give Iowa an early 1.50 points. J.D. Anderson could not be stopped and won 11 of the 16 holes he played against Kansas’s Matt Lazzo. Anderson tacked on another three points to give Iowa the lead for the moment.

Nebraska’s Ryan Nietfeldt followed J.D. Anderson and put another three points onto the Nebraska scoreboard. After Nebraska regained the lead, Iowa’s Connor Peck decided to take it back after adding three points from his match against Missouri’s Curtis Brokenbrow.

The close race between Iowa and Nebraska continued.

Ethan Mechling fell to Missouri’s Brevin Giebler, but managed to sneak one point on to the side for Iowa. The final two matches Iowa were from the top-two in the IGA Men’s Player of the Year standings, Nate McCoy and Jon Brown.

McCoy took on one of Nebraska’s best, Andy Sajevic. It was a close match all the way through, and the two competitors ended the day in a tie. McCoy added 1.50 points to the Iowa total, but Nebraska’s lead was just too much.

Brown continued to fight for Team Iowa, but Nebraska’s Jay Moore gave it his all and won five holes to Brown’s one. It was a good run from Team Iowa, but Nebraska’s play in the final stretch was unmatchable.

Overall Totals
Nebraska: 23.00
Iowa: 19.50
Kansas: 16.50
Missouri: 13.00

Wednesday Matches
Totals
Nebraska: 12.00
Iowa: 9.50
Kansas: 7.50
Missouri: 7.00

Four-Ball Matches
Iowa (Nate McCoy/Connor Peck) 1 down/2&1/2 Up Kansas (Alex Springer/Doug Albers)
Iowa (Gene Elliott/Jon Brown) 2&1/2 Up/3&2 Missouri (Ryan Sullivan/Ryan Eckelkamp)
Iowa (Ethan Mechling/J.D. Anderson) Tied Nebraska (William Amundsen/Scott Tridle)

Foursome Matches
Iowa (Connor Peck/Gene Elliott) 3&2/2&1/3&2 Nebraska (Johnny Spellerberg/Ryan Nietfeldt)
Iowa (Jon Brown/Ethan Mechling) 3&1/3&2/Tied Kansas (Kit Grove/Brian Fehr)
Iowa (Nate McCoy/J.D. Anderson) 1 Up/1 Down/Tied Missouri (Brad Nurski/Chris Ferris)

Thursday Matches
Totals
Nebraska: 11.00
Iowa: 10.00
Kansas: 9.00
Missouri: 6.00

Singles
Iowa (Gene Elliott) 1 Down/1 Up/Tied Kansas (Pete Krsnich)
Iowa (J.D. Anderson) 5&3/4&2/8&7 Kansas (Matt Lazzo)
Iowa (Connor Peck) 3&2/1 Up/6&5 Missouri (Curtis Brokenbrow)
Iowa (Ethan Mechling) 4&2/1 Down/3&2 (Missouri (Brevin Giebler)
Iowa (Nate McCoy) Tied/Tied/Tied Nebraska (Andy Sajevic)
Iowa (Jon Brown) 2 Up/2&1/4&3 Nebraska (Jay Moore)