Men's Tennis Signs Two to National Letters of Intent

Men's Tennis Signs Two to National Letters of Intent

Nov. 24, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Matt Kuelker (St. Louis, Mo.) and Matt Ford (Allen, Texas), two highly successful junior players, have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Cleveland State men's tennis program beginning in the fall of 2010.

Head coach Brian Etzkin made the announcement on Tuesday (Nov. 24).

"This recruiting class is a great story," Etzkin said. "Matt Ford and Matt Kuelker were childhood friends growing up, have spent years apart doing their own thing and now they will be reunited in Cleveland. Both of them, along with a deep supporting cast, will enable this team to reload instead of rebuild next year. They love to be on the court, have good grades, and a tremendous competitive spirit. I am very happy they are now a part of the Viking Family.

Kuelker. who attends high school at Christian Brothers College, is currently ranked 75th (38-21 this year) in the nation and No. 1 in both the Plains region and the state of Missouri by tennisrecruiting.net.

In the past year, Kuelker has won two junior tournaments, including the Missouri Valley Indoor December Futures. He also reached the finals of two other tournaments, including the St. Louis Clays, and has been training at the Miller Tennis Academy with Billy Gulck and Mike Miller. This past year, Kuelker was the high school state champion of Missouri, playing for coach John Tiernan.

Ford, who preps at Lovejoy High School, is an accomplished junior tennis player. In the past year he has gone 35-26, including winning three matches at the Midwest Open.

He is a top-20 player in Texas and holds is ranked 165th on tennisrecruiting.net. Ford has had some national tournament success in the past, advancing to the third round of Kalamazoo as well as the third round of Winter Nationals in 2008. Until this year Matt has not played high school tennis, but plans to play this year and should be one of the favorites to win the Texas High School 3A Tournament.