Dominant Play By Kuntz Lifts Cardinals Into Title Match Against Richmond

Braxton Kuntz and Ali Khan each won both their matches on the opening day of The Match Play 2025 at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, to lead Ball State to a championship match on Tuesday against top-seeded Richmond.

The Cardinals, while defending their match play title at Lake Jovita the past two seasons, got dominant play from Kuntz in both rounds. The senior from Winnipeg, Manitoba, won by six holes with five to play in a Round 1 matchup against Andres Rodriguez of Evansville, and won by five holes with four to play against Victor Caliguri of Dayton.

The Canadian lefty dispatched his competition while shooting 3-under par in the opening round and 6-under in his decisive second round. He needed only 27 holes over two rounds to win both matches.

Ball State trumped the Aces 5-1 in the opening round, behind wins in each of the Cardinals' top five positions. Ball State managed a tie in a hotly contested second-round team duel with the Flyers that ended in a 2-2-2 tie, but it was Kuntz' lopsided margin that helped Ball State earn a "margin-of-victory" tiebreaker to reach Tuesday's championship.

Playing out of Ball State's No. 2 position behind Carter Smith, Kuntz was arguably the tournament's best player over two rounds, collecting birdies on nearly half of the holes he played (11 of 27).

Ball State will play for its third consecutive match play championship when it meets Richmond on Tuesday. The Spiders beat Central Michigan, 6-0, and Loyola-Chicago, 4-2, to advance to the final.

Loyola meets Dayton for third place, Bowling Green battles USC Upstate for fifth place, and Evansville faces Central Michigan for seventh place. Play begins with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m.

Dominant Play By Kuntz Lifts Cardinals Into Title Match Against Richmond

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Players Mentioned

Ali Khan

Braxton Kuntz

Carter Smith

Players Mentioned

Ali Khan

Braxton Kuntz

Carter Smith