PELLA, Iowa — Knox College senior Pranav Nandakumar wrapped up his 36 holes at the Central Fall Classic in third place overall, carding a 70-77—147 (+3) to lead the Prairie Fire to an 11th-place finish in the 16-team field. as a team, Knox came into the clubhouse with a 657 (+81) at the Bos Landen Golf Resort while the University of Dubuque won the team title by 13 strokes over host Central College at 23-over par.

Practically no one was safe from the 6,617-yard, par-72 course as the 87 players in the field averaged nearly an 83 (+11) per round, but Nandakumar held the lead after the first round before shooting 5-over in Tuesday's final round. He added three more birdies to his total of eight in the tournament and ended up three strokes behind Dubuque's John Dobbe, who was the only other player to finish a round under par to end up with medalist honors at even par.

Junior Nathaniel Zug overcame his first-round demons to shave nine strokes off his total and card a 7-over 79 in the final round with three birdies of his own. His performance allowed him to climb 16 places in the standings into a tie for 53rd at 23-over.

• Nandakumar has finished in the top 10 in three of the four tournaments this fall and sports a stroke average of 73.9 over seven rounds.
• The three other Prairie Fire golfers found the second round even more difficult with senior Gabriel Newman providing the best 18 holes among them with an 87 (+15).

Knox will serve as the host for its final tournament of the fall with the Prairie Fire Fall Classic on Oct. 25-26.