Nevel Tells Archer “The Truth”

Nevel Tells Archer “The Truth”
Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Wilmington, NC

by Lea Andrews

A late loss at the March 6-7 stop of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina tour did nothing to slow down Larry Nevel. “The Truth” rebounded to top the tough field that gathered at Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC, for the $1,000-added event.

After handing Nevel his 7-4 loss, Keith Bennett moved into the hot seat match against Johnny Archer, who’d just shut out Trey Greene. Archer claimed the hot seat 7-3, while Bennett moved over to semifinals. On the west side, an early victim of Nevel’s, Michael “Bulldawg” Fuller, notched a 7-4 win over Zach Wilson and a shut-out win over Greene to reach the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, another one of Nevel’s victims, Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam, who’d reached the finals in each of his three Jacoby appearances so far, found his streak come to an end at his fourth event as he faced Nevel once again. Nevel dropped Putnam into fifth 7-2 to meet back up with Fuller, and another 7-2 win put him into the semifinals against Bennett. Earning his revenge 7-3, Nevel advanced to the single race-to-11 final match.

Though Archer got out to a 3-0 and 5-1 lead, Nevel was able to take advantage of a scratch on the break and a dry break to gain momentum and tie it up at six games apiece, but when he made nothing on the break in the next rack, Archer regained the lead 7-6. It was his last lead, though. Another scratch on the break allowed Nevel to tie it up, and two more racks in a row put him on the hill 10-7. Archer marked up the next rack, but after pocketing three balls on the break in the final rack, he found himself without a shot on the 2 ball. Archer’s well-played safety left Nevel hooked, but Nevel’s unbelievable kick shot put the 2 ball in the pocket and left the path to the 9 ball open. Nevel pocketed the rest of the balls to earn his victory 11-8.

Nevel also took first in Friday’s 16-entrant early bird tournament, earning $150 for his 7-1 win in the finals over Zach Wilson, who took home $95. Hindu Williams earned $50 for third, while Kenny Chin earned $25 for fourth. Patty Sutherland won the ladies’ division on Saturday, while Caleb Grissom topped the juniors’. In Sunday’s second chance event, Kenny Chin earned $80 for edging out Barry Irving 7-6, while Irving earned $20. Karl Deweese took home $80 for beating out five others in the break contest, and CJ Genta became the owner of a new Jacoby Custom Cue after her name was drawn in the raffle.

Results:
1st Larry Nevel $1,000
2nd Johnny Archer $400
3rd Keith Bennett $100

Bowman, Jones and Rousey Outshoot the Shooters Field

Bowman, Jones and Rousey Outshoot the Shooters Field
Midwest 9-Ball Tour / Olathe, KS

by Lea Andrews

Though James Barracks tried twice to take him down, Jesse Bowman turned out to be invincible in the 9-ball division of the February 18-21 Midwest 9-Ball Tour stop. The $5,000-added event, which also featured a 45-player one-pocket division and a 21-entrant ladies’ division, drew 100 9-ball contenders to Shooters in Olathe, KS.

After getting past Jeremy “Double J” Jones 9-4, Bowman met up with Barracks for the first time in the hot seat match. Barracks was coming off a smooth 9-2 win over Jon Kucharo, but he couldn’t manage to mark up the final game against Bowman, who claimed the hot seat 9-8.

On the one-loss side, Jason Klatt was making a run for the finals, ousting Sean Turner 9-6 to face Will Freeman, who’d notched his own 9-6 victory over Dustin Gunia. Holding Freeman to five games, Klatt moved on to Kucharo. Meanwhile, Dan Olson got past Darryl Smith 9-6 to meet up with Shane McMinn, who’d taken care of Taylor Anderson 9-3. A 9-6 victory pitted Olson against Jones, who pushed his way 9-7 into the quarterfinals, where he met up with Klatt. Fresh off a 9-6 win over Kucharo, Klatt rode the momentum into his match with Jones, whom he held to just three games. That score got flipped on him in the semifinals, though, as Barracks fought for his rematch with Bowman.

The true double-elimination final match featured two players for whom break and runs are the norm, but Bowman took advantage of a few of Barracks’ dry breaks to take his victory in one set 9-6.

In the one-pocket division, Jeremy Jones took the hot seat with a 3-1 victory over Joe Gray. On the left side of the bracket, Jesse Bowman made his way past Dale Pence and Mike Banks Jr. to face Gray in the semifinals, but Gray put him in third 3-2 to get another crack at Jones in the true double-elimination final match, but he didn’t fare any better the second time around, as Jones took care of him 3-1 once again.

In the ladies’ division, Sarah Rousey was the one to beat, and though Rhonda Pierce came closest in the hot seat match, she couldn’t take the final game, and Rousey took the set 7-6. On the one-loss side, Jeannie Vogelsang, who’d taken a first-round loss to Apryl McGill, made her way steadily through the field, finishing up with wins over Cindy Wessling 7-2 and Michelle McDermott 7-5 to reach the semifinals, where she breezed through Pierce 7-3. Rousey proved to be quite a different story, though, marking up game after game in the true-double elimination final match to earn her victory in one decisive 7-0 set.

One-Pocket Results:
1st Jeremy Jones
2nd Joe Gray
3rd Jesse Bowman
4th Mike Banks, Jr.
5th Dale Pence
Gary Lutman
7th Danny Harriman
K.C. Massey
9th Jerry Reardon
Randy Cole
Mickey Brandt
Chip Compton

9-Ball Results:
1st Jesse Bowman
2nd James Barracks
3rd Jason Klatt
4th Jeremy Jones
5th Dan Olson
Jon Kucharo
7th Shane McMinn
Will Freeman
9th Darryl Smith
Taylor Anderson
Dustin Gunia
Sean Turner
13th Chase Rudder
Jody McLaughlin
Chad Bilmont
Gary Lutman
17th Jeff Trent
John Gabriel
Jerry Reardon
Lloyd Moreland
Daniel Herring
Kevin Condreay
David Matlock
Jordan Davis

Ladies’ Results:
1st Sarah Rousey
2nd Jeannie Vogelsang
3rd Rhonda Pierce
4th Michelle McDermott
5th Cindy Wessling
Apryl McGill

Berry Breaks the Bank

Berry Breaks the Bank
Billiard Congress of Wisconsin Open 9-Ball Tour / Waukesha, WI

by Jonathan Demet

Master Z’s in Waukesha, WI, brought out 15 players on February 14 for the BCW Open 9-Ball Tour. All players hoped to take a win straight to the bank, and it was Mark Berry who took home the lion’s share of the purse.

On the winners’ side, John Zager won over Jeff Carter 8-4, while Berry showcased his skill by besting Jon Giles 8-2. In the following hot seat match, Berry continued his strong play by winning over Zager 8-3.

Over on the west side of the chart Jonathan Demet eliminated Todd Rathkamp 6-1, up-and-coming junior player Tyler Styer squeaked by Scott Kugel 6-4, Robert Treffeisen ousted Dave Leverenz 6-2, and Gary Johnson won a big match over previous state champion Craig Powers 6-1.

With six players left on the left side, Demet bested Styer 6-2, while Johnson knocked Robert Treffeisen out 6-1. Carter than defeated Demet 6-2, and Giles took out Johnson 6-3. In the quarterfinals Carter eliminated Giles in fourth place and advanced to meet Zager. Carter fell to Zager in the semifinals 6-3, but Zager’s momentum was over, as Berry trounced him in the final match 8-3.

Results:
1st Mark Berry $400
2nd John Zager $235
3rd Jeff Carter $150

Parica Snares Swanson Memorial at Hollywood Billiards

Parica Takes Down 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial
Jay Swanson Memorial / Hollywood, CA

by Lea Andrews

Jose “Amang” Parica showed the crowd at Hollywood Billiards in Hollywood, CA, that he was the man to beat as he shot his way into the hot seat of the 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial 9-Ball Tournament, and when he met up with Sal Butera in the extended-race finals, he showed them that no man was up to the task. Parica topped the 192-entrant field that gathered February 13-14 for the $4,000-added event, which featured an impressive $15,520 prize purse.

Parica’s victims on his run to the hot seat didn’t include Butera, who’d been edged out by Wayne Pullen 8-7 in one of the later rounds. Pullen went on to do the same to Butch Carba before trouncing Marcus Rodriguez 8-1 to face Parica in the hot seat match. Parica, who was coming off wins over Louis Ulrich 8-4, Greg Harada 8-4, and Marshall Jung 8-7, took care of Pullen easily 8-1.

Pullen moved over to his spot in the semis, where he was awaiting the winner the quarterfinal match-up of Butera—who’d ousted Brian Parks 7-2, last year’s runner-up Oscar Dominguez 7-4, and Jung 7-5—and Rodriguez, who’d just edged out Harada 7-6. Since both Butera and Rodriguez were victims of Pullen, both were vying for the chance at the rematch—and, of course, a crack at Parica in the finals—but Butera was the one who earned it, moving on to the ultimate revenge over Pullen: a shutout.

But toppling the undefeated Parica was quite a different story. Though Butera started off ahead in the single race to 13, getting up 3-1, Parica fought back, pushing his way to get ahead 4-3 and 8-5. Butera wasn’t giving up, though, and he kept at it, finally managing to regain the lead 11-10 and 12-11. While Parica pushed it to hill-hill, it looked to be Butera’s tournament in the final rack until a bobbled 6 ball gave the Filipino another chance. But with no real way to get on the 7 ball, he had to rely on his safety game, which served him well. Butera managed to hit the 7, but he left Parica a shot, which “Amang” took willingly to run out for game, set, match, and tournament.

Results:
1st Jose Parica $3,000
2nd Sal Butera $1,500
3rd Wayne Pullen $1,000
4th Marcus Rodriguez $750
5th Marshall Jung $535
Greg Harada
7th Oscar Dominguez $400
Bernardo Chavez
9th Nick Spano $300
Dane Elmstead
Brian Parks
Butch Carba
13th Abe Lim $200
Louis Ulrich
Corey Harper
Rudy Jurez
17th George Ramirez $175
Ernesto Dominguez
Ken Johnson
Jay Beatty
Dave Hemmah
John Pasquarella
Max Eberle
Brenden Crockett

Parica Leads the Way at Jay Swanson Memorial

Parica Leads the Way at Jay Swanson Memorial

14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial Tournament / Hollywood, CA

by Lea Andrews

While some people may be feeling the heat of Valentine’s Day evening, Jose Parica is feeling the heat of the hot seat of the 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial 9-Ball Tournament. The $4,000-added event, which features a $15,520 total prize purse, drew 192 players to Hollywood Billiards in Hollywood, CA, February 13-14.

Parica, who finished fourth in last year’s event, plowed his way into the hot seat match with wins over Louis Ulrich 8-4, Greg Gerado 8-4, and hill-hill over Marshall Young, who was coming off an 8-5 win over Bernardo “King Kong” Chavez. Waiting for Parica in the hot seat match was Wayne Pullen, who’d notched back-to-back hill-hill victories over Sal Butera and Butch Carba to meet up with Marcus Rodriguez, who’d notched his own hill-hill win over Bryan Parks. But after sailing past Rodriguez 8-1, Pullen found himself on the wrong end of another 8-1 match as Parica tossed him over to the semis.

Still alive on the left side of the bracket is Butera, who rebounded from his loss to Pullen by ousting his own protégé, 14-year-old CSI Junior Master Brenden Crockett. After backing that win up with a 7-3 victory over Ulrich, Butera flew by Parks 7-2 and last year’s runner-up Oscar Dominguez 7-4. Dominguez, who’d just knocked out Abe Lim 7-2 and Carba 7-1, landed in seventh this year. Meanwhile, Gerado was making a run for a rematch with Parica, winning 7-3 over Dane Elmstead, who’d just edged out Corey Harper 7-6, to face Chavez, who’d taken care of Nick Spano 7-6. Gerado flipped that score on Chavez, putting him in seventh 7-6, but then the score got flipped on him, and his hopes of meeting back up with Parica ended as he landed in fifth courtesy of Rodriguez. Rodriguez will battle it out in the quarterfinals with Butera, who got past Young 7-5, and the winner will earn the rematch with Pullen in the semifinals.