TUCSON, Ariz. – The NM State men's golf team wrapped up play at the N.I.T. on Sunday, finishing eighth in a competitive 13-team field at Omni Tucson National Resort. Across the two-day event, the Aggies posted a team score of 859 (-5) on the par-72, 7,200-yard layout.
 
NM State competed against a strong lineup that included nationally recognized programs such as Texas, Arizona, Iowa State and BYU. The Aggies finished ahead of Wyoming, Fresno State and Grand Canyon, while narrowly trailing several Power Four programs in the final standings.
 
Ethan Klose delivered the top individual performance for The Aggies, tying for fifth place overall after carding a 71 (-1) in the final round to finish at nine-under for the week. Klose finished among a cluster of players near the top of the leaderboard and was the Aggies' lone representative inside the top 10.
 
Javier Delgadillo turned in a solid final round of 71 (-1) to finish tied for 35th, while Mateo Payán also provided a strong effort, closing the week out with a 70 (-2) to finish tied for 37th.
 
Max Chan finished tied for 61st after posting a 74 (+2), while Evaristo Mariscal rounded out the Aggie lineup with a 76 (+4) to place 72nd overall.
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• NM State's five eagles paced the entire field in Tucson this week and marks the most combined eagles in a tournament since the Aggies tallied four eagles at the GCU Invitational in March of last season. This also marks the second consecutive year that the Aggies performed well at the N.I.T. as they notched four eagles in last year's event.
• The Aggie eagles were highlighted by two each from Max Chan and Mateo Payán.
• Ethan Klose's T5 finish marked the second top-five finish of his career and the fourth top-10 finish of his career. His 54-hole score of 207 (-9) is also the best 54-hole score of his career in both total strokes and strokes to par.
• Ethan Klose finished the week with 16 birdies to rank tied for first among the field.
• Sophomore Mateo Payán finished the week eight-under on the course's par 5s to rank tied for third among the field.

 
AGGIE LEADERBOARD
8. NM State – 290-283-286-859 (-5)
 
T5. Ethan Klose – 68-68-71-207 (-9)
T35. Javier Delgadillo – 72-71-71-214 (-2)
T37. Mateo Payán – 74-71-70-215 (-1)
T61. Max Chan – 76-73-74-223 (+7)
72. Vari Mariscal – 82-79-76-237 (+21)
 
For complete coverage of NM State Men's Golf, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateMGolf), Instagram (@NMStateMGolf) and Facebook (NM State Men's Golf). You can also follow along with Aggie Men's Golf via NMStateSports.com.