Our friend Matt.

Anyone that knew Matt Krchmar loved him. He was endlessly kind, loving, funny, adventurous, hard-working, honest and just all kinds of awesome. At only 33 years old, he faced a deadly lymphoma diagnosis. Our community quickly rallied support for Matt raising funds to get the experimental medical treatment that he needed to give his all to try and defeat this illness.

In June, 2016 Matt went to the hospital due to some discomfort in his abdomen. After several exhausting days of tests, Matt learned he had multiple tumors throughout his body as well as cancer in his bones and spinal cord. He was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Matt spent many months in treatment for this devastating illness. With the support of his awesome wife Kelly, his parents Jim and Debbie and Kelly's parents Karen and Gary, Matt underwent intensive chemotherapy. Unfortunately, after all his fighting, a PET scan revealed that the tumor in Matt's abdomen had grown. On July 30, 2018, after a more than valiant fight, Matt passed away with Kelly by his side.

Even after the first tournament, Matt always felt there was someone more deserving than him. Anyone that knew him would tell you that the word ‘humble’ didn’t do him justice. It was this attitude in mind, and thanks to a conversation we had with him, that we decided to keep this charity going for as long as possible. Matt wanted us to try and find a deserving recipient of the money raised from the tournament named in his honor. And we will always do exactly that. We miss you, Matt!

If you feel inspired to help, please consider donating or just help spread the word!