UNLV junior John Oda, a 2014 Moanalua alumnus, is one of 16 players who have accepted an invite from the USGA to participate in a practice session for the 2017 Walker Cup, according to a UNLV school release.
The practice session will be held Dec. 14-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club, where the Walker Cup will be played Sept. 9-10, 2017.
The Walker Cup, a biennial event that started in 1922, features 10 male amateur golfers from the United States against a team of golfers from Great Britain and Ireland.
The 2017 Walker Cup team will be announced in August.
Oda is No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and holds the second-lowest scoring average (71.38) in UNLV men’s golf history. He won individual medalist honors twice this fall and has four victories in his collegiate career.
Mata’afa is second-team All-Pac-12
Washington State defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa, a 2014 Lahainaluna alumnus, was named to the All-Pac-12 second team on Tuesday.
Washington linebacker Psalm Wooching (Kealakehe ’12) and Utah defensive tackle Pasoni Tasini (Baldwin ’12) earned honorable mention honors.
Mata’afa, a redshirt sophomore, finished the regular season fifth in the Pac-12 with 121⁄2 tackles for loss and had a team-best four sacks. He’s sixth on the Cougars with 45 tackles entering the bowl season.
Wooching is tied for sixth on the Huskies with 35 tackles and has a team-leading five sacks and six tackles for loss.
Tasini has made 21 tackles this season, with 91⁄2 tackles for loss and 11⁄2 sacks.
Lotulelei lands first-team honor
UNLV senior Tau Lotulelei was named to the All-Mountain West Conference first team at linebacker on Tuesday.
Lotulelei, a 2012 Maui High alumnus, had the best season of his career this year, finishing with 117 total tackles.
He is the first Rebel selected to the All-MWC first team since his brother, John, in 2012.
Tau Lotulelei led the MWC with 161⁄2 tackles for loss and his 9.8 tackles per game ranked 16th in the nation. He also had 31⁄2 sacks, three pass breakups and one forced fumble that led to the Rebels’ win over Hawaii in October.
Lotulelei finishes his UNLV career fifth in total tackles with 318 after joining the team as a freshman walk-on.
