LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – The Chico State men's golf team has made the NCAA Championships Final. Now all that's left to do is win the darn thing!
 
The Wildcats took another step toward the program's first national title since 1966 – the team's stated goal since the end of last season – by winning the NCAA Championship West/South Central Super Regional at the University of New Mexico Golf Course in Las Cruces Wednesday.
 
The top five finishers at the four Super Regional sites advanced to the national finals.
 

Led by true freshman Matt Hutchins' 67 – his best collegiate round – Chico State carded the day's low score, a 5-under par 279, and won by six shots. The Wildcats will be making their third straight appearance at the NCAA Championship finals and fifth in seven seasons under Head Coach T.L. Brown.
 
Chico State entered the final day of the 54-hole tournament a shot out of the lead. The Wildcats won it going away.
 
Tied for fifth after a pedestrian first round (by their high standards), the Wildcats responded with the lowest two scores of the tournament. They moved up to second with Tuesday's 3-under-par 281 and then played two shots better to move to the top of the leaderboard and win their first regional title since 2004.
 
First to tee off for the Wildcats, Hutchins set the tone with a birdie on No. 1. It was his first of six. Lee Gearhart carded a 2-under-par 69. Another true freshman, Kelley Sullivan, also turned in his best collegiate round, an even-par 71. And Alistair Docherty and Justin Wiles each finished 2-over par Wednesday.
 
Gearhart tied for eighth overall with a three-day total of 1-under. Wiles and Hutchins (+1) tied for 13^th, Docherty (+2) tied for 17^th, and Sullivan (+4) tied for 22^nd in the 108-man field. No other team in the field placed all five players inside the top 60.
 
The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in the nation, would now love nothing more than to win the national title on the 50^th anniversary of their last.
 
Whether or not they reach the mountaintop May 17-21 at Green Valley Ranch in Denver, Colorado, this team has now firmly etched its faces on the Mt. Rushmore of Chico State men's golf.
 
Wednesday's win was the team's seventh of the season, matching the program record for victories, set in 2012. It also marked the Wildcats' 11^th top-two finish in 11 events, breaking a tie with the 2004 team for the most top-two finishes in the program's history.
 
Oklahoma Christian held a one-shot lead on the Wildcats entering Wednesday's action and still led by a shot at the turn. But the Wildcats combined for 11 birdies on the back nine. No other team had more than eight coming in. During that same stretch, the team made just seven bogeys. Every other team in the field made at least nine.
 
The Wildcats quickly caught Oklahoma Christian and methodically added strokes to their lead. Sullivan birdied the 197-yard par-3 11^th. Gearhart made one of only four birdies Wednesday on No. 12. Sullivan birdied 13. Gearhart and Docherty birdied 14. Docherty, Wiles and Hutchins birdied 15. Docherty and Hutchins birdied 16. And Hutchins birdied 17.
 
By the time Hutchins came in with his 67, it was clear the Wildcats were going to win barring a major meltdown.
 
Oklahoma Christian finished in second, six shots behind the Wildcats. Dallas Baptist, which carded the day's second-best round, a 3-under-par 281, finished third at 15-over par. California Baptist was fourth at plus-17, and BYU-Hawaii grabbed the fifth and final NCAA Finals qualifying spot at 20-over par.
 
The Wildcats have finished among the top five in stroke play in 31 of their last 32 tournaments. The lone exception came at last year's NCAA Championship Finals when the Wildcats finished seventh in stroke play, good enough to advance to medal/match play.
 
The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play at the NCAA Championships will advance to medal/match play. Chico State advanced to the medal/match finals in 2012, semifinals in 2014 and the quarterfinals in 2015.
 
Below are Chico State's individual results:
 
2016 Chico State West/South Central Super Regional Results
Team – 292-281-279–852 (E), 1st
Lee Gearhart – 70-73-69–212 (-1), T8
Matt Hutchins ­– 75-72-67–214 (+1), T13
Justin Wiles – 74-68-72–214 (+1), T13
Alistair Docherty – 74-69-72–215 (+2), T17
Kelley Sullivan – 74-72-71–217 (+4), T22 
 
Complete results are available on Golfstat via THIS LINK.