The win marks the sixth straight Liberty League title and 16th overall league championship in the last 18 years for the Thoroughbreds, catapulting them to the national championships, which begin May 14 and go through May 17 in Destin, Florida.
Skidmore senior Anthony DiLisio was named Liberty League Performer of the Week for winning both of his matches en route to the 3-2 championship win over RPI at the McGregor Links Country Club. DiLisio beat Jack Reardon of St. Lawrence University, 8 and 7
in the semifinals before besting RPI’s Michael Souliotis, 3 and 2 in the finals.
“[DiLisio]’s one of the best players in the country,” Skidmore head coach Fred Fruisen said. “I expect him to get a point. That doesn’t diminish what he did. He’s one of the top 20 players in the country and we’re really fortunate to have a player of his caliber on our team. He has a very strong belief in what he can do. He just believes he can do something great.”
After the first four pairings, both teams were tied at two apiece before Skidmore’s Garrett Colgan took down RPI’s Grant Rosener, winning 3-2 in the clincher, despite running into some trouble on the nine hole.
After getting off to a lead, Rosener fought back to tie at nine, where Colgan lost a hole after breaking the rule of testing the surface in a bunker. It was what Fruisen called a “pivotal time,” in the match. After the rules official announced Colgan had lost a hole and was down a stroke, Fruisen had a talk with the senior.
“When something like that happens it can rattle you,” Fruisen said. “I told him one of two things can happen here, ‘You’re going to get sad, which means you’re probably going to lose, or you’re going to get mad, which will give us a chance to win.’”
Colgan chose to get mad.
From that point on Fruisen witnessed a different persona on the back nine from the senior who “decided there was no way he was going to lose,” including about a 20-footer to tie on 12. After tying on the next, Colgan won the following three holes before clinching the deciding win.
“It’s fine to be Clark Kent off the course, but on the course you need to be Superman,” Fruisen said. “You need to have a killer instinct and that’s what [Colgan] had. There’s a whole other level that all athletes can go to. He got mad and there was no way he was going to lose. That was exciting and we both think
it’s the start of something really big for him. He was a great player anyway, but now we can really go to the next level.”
Sophomore Zach Grossman also had a victory, 3 and 2, and will join Colgan and DiLisio down south along with Freshman Makenzie Denver and senior John McCarthy, who has been battling through tendonitis.
In his first season at Skidmore, after coaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design for 15 years, Fruisen said the play of his seniors is something he won’t soon forget as they get ready to play their final collegiate rounds.
“I was really blessed to inherit the seniors I did,” Fruisen said. “I’m sorry I only have them for one year. I can’t say enough about each of them. They’re fantastic in their own way. I’m just so glad they get to finish their collegiate careers in Florida.”
Less than two weeks away from competing in Florida, Fruisen has high expectations for his team. One thing that could benefit the Thoroughbreds is that they have already competed on one of the courses in Destin. Back in the fall, the team played three of their four rounds at the Raven Golf Club, during the GolfWeek Invite from October 14–16.
“We’re one of the top teams in the country and we know we are,” Fruisen said. “We’ve got a lot of talent. Now we’re at nationals and we really do think we have a chance to be one of the top teams there. We’re familiar with the courses and they seem to fit us. We’re really excited.”
Although the competition will last four days, the team will be in Florida for a little over a week. For Fruisen, though, it will be all about business.
“It is the national championships,” he said. “Some teams take the approach that they’re just happy to be there. But no, the days are full. They’ve got all summer to go to the beach or whatever. They have one shot to do something great and we’re going to make sure we take full advantage of it.”