Barela unanimous All-Big Ten First team selection

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin senior men’s golfer Griffin Barela has been named as a unanimous selection for the All-Big Ten First Team as announced by the conference on Wednesday.

Hailing from Lakewood, Colorado, Barela is only the 13th Badger in history to be named first-team All-Big Ten and one of only two (with former teammate Jordan Hahn) to earn the first-team honor in the past 20 seasons. The awards are determined by a vote of the conference coaches at the Big Ten Championships.

Looking back, former Badger Dan Woltman earned consecutive All-Big Ten second-team honors in both 2008 and 2009, while Jon Turcott earned the team’s last overall All-Big Ten honor in 2002. The Big Ten separated the honors into first and second teams starting in 2003.

The Big Ten also announced UW teammate Robbie Morway as Wisconsin’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.

A Lakewood, Colorado native, Barela has finished among the top 25 in all nine tournaments this season, including three top-10 placings and tied for sixth overall (69-72-78=219) at the Big Ten Championship this past week. Barela and the Badgers finished fifth in the team standings, UW’s best finish since the 2014-15 season.

Among his top finishes, he placed third at both the Badger Invitational and the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate. Barela also led the Badgers with the lowest season average with a 71.07 — setting a career best as a Badger — and has been under par in all of his competition finishes.

Barela’s current season average of 71.07 stands as the men’s golf program’s best in school history, topping Hahn’s previous record of 71.59 set in 2019. Barela’s career season average of 73.02 also edges Hahn (73.09) again for program best.