JONESBORO, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin golf team recovered from a disappointing 18-over-par 306 in the opening round of the Arkansas State Red Wolf Classic, by carding a 1-under-par 287 in round to and moved into a tie for 13th place at 17-over-par 593. Pacing the Skyhawks were Graham Sleigh and Sam Hinson, who each finished round two in red numbers. Sleigh's 1-under-par 73-70 143 also have him among the top 10 individuals heading into the final round for a second straight tournament.

The 2010 Arkansas State Red Wolf Classic is a 54-hole stroke play tournament conducted by Arkansas State University and hosted at the RidgePointe Country Club in Jonesboro, Ark. The 101-player field is made up of 18 teams from eight different states and 11 participants competing as individuals. The par 72 RidgePointe course is playing at 6,565 yards.

"We got off to a bad start and didn't putt well as a team in the first round," said UT Martin head coach Jerry Carpenter. "We changed our game plan a bit between rounds and I told the guys to not be as greedy on the greens and take what each hole would give us. By being too aggressive we were hurting more than we were helping, but after making that mental change we played much better."

The Skyhawks made such an improvement that as a team they recorded the fourth lowest second round score of the day. UT Martin was one of only four teams, in the field of 18 to record a sub-par second round showing.

In the opening round Sleigh watched his score balloon to 3-over-par before finishing birdie, birdie to record a 1-over-par 73. That momentum carried over to the second round where Sleigh recorded 12 pars and three birdies, before his lone bogey of the round set his score at 2-under-par 70.

"Graham played very solid in both rounds because he was finding the fairways and greens then did his scoring by putting well," added Carpenter. "He has been working really hard and putting in a lot of extra work and now it is really starting to show."

Hinson worked his way through the opening round at 6-over-par 78 then a triple-bogey on his seventh hole of the second round seemed to be sending his second round in the same direction. However Hinson recovered with a birdie on the very next hole, the first four in all down the stretch as his finished the second round at 1-under-par 71.

Jonathan Martin didn't make a lot of pars in either of the opening rounds, recording nine birdies and an eagle on day one. However he also gave back nine bogeys and four doubles to finish the day at 6-over-par 150. Baily Childress recovered from his opening round 80, with an even-par 72 to finish day one at 8-over-par 152. Rounding out the Skyhawk scoring on day one was Adam Clark with rounds of 13-over-par 79-78 157.

Playing as an individual, UT Martin's Christopher Schwartz carded rounds of 12-over-par 78-80 156.

In the team competition Central Arkansas holds a seven stroke lead at 11-under-par 565, while Stephen F. Austin sits at 4-under-par 572. Arkansas-Little Rock rounds out the top three at even-par 576.

In the individual competition, Arkansas-Little Rock's Sebastian Gunnarsson is at 8-under-par 136 after two rounds, while Central Arkansas's Steven Lecuyer sits two strokes back at 6-under-par 138. A three-way tie at 5-under-par 139 between, Zach Portemont of Troy, Josh Sims of Central Arkansas and Michael Smith of Stephen F. Austin rounds out the top five.

The Skyhawks will return to the links tomorrow morning at 8:40 a.m. when they tee off the No. 10 hole for the final round of the ASU Red Wolf Classic.