In the tournament's stroke play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday, Ponich shot a 5-under 65 and a 2-under 68 to secure the No. 2 overall seed in the match play bracket. BYU’s Tyson Shelley, Cooper Jones, Zac Jones and Simon Kwon also emerged from the 156-player field to make match play.
Ponich survived a back-and-forth match against No. 63 Caleb Norton in the round of 64 on Wednesday. The senior took the lead on the 4th hole, but relinquished the lead on the 6th when Norton made a birdie on the par 5. Ponich won holes nine and 10 with a par and a birdie, giving him a 2-up lead. Norton squared the match on 15 before halving the next six holes at which point Ponich made birdie on the 22nd hole to earn a spot in the round of 32.
In the round of 32, Ponich secured a 1 up victory over 2008 champion Dan Horner. Horner held a 1 up lead heading to the 15th tee before Ponich rattled off three birdies in the final four holes to win the match 1 up.
In Thursday afternoon's round of 16, Ponich took on No. 18 Parker Bunn. Ponich birdied holes three, four and five to take a 2-up lead which he never relinquished. Bunn won holes six and 16, but Ponich closed out the match on 17, winning 2 and 1.
Ponich faced another former teammate in the quarterfinals on Friday morning as he and Elijah Turner went toe-to-toe for a spot in the semi-finals. Ponich won three consecutive holes to take an early 3-up lead, but Turner would win the 6th, 8th and 9th holes to square the match at the turn. Ponich won four holes on the back nine, including 16 and 17 to win 3 and 1.
In the semifinals, Ponich faced off with the University of Utah's Davis Johnson. Ponich won five holes on the front side to take a 4-up lead to the final nine. He closed out Johnson 4 and 3 to earn a date with Jones in the final.
Ponich then took down Jones in the final 2 and 1 to secure the state am title and earn an exemption to this year's U.S. Amateur Championship.
“Cole has worked through some injuries this year, so it was rewarding to watch him get this win. I’m excited to see him play in the U.S. Amateur next month,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank.