John Trobiano fought from behind to win a number of matches that eventually left him in the hot seat. Then, in the finals, he battled Dave Danchak, who'd won seven on the loss side, to double hill, before prevailing to finish the October 6 event undefeated. The $500-added event drew 32 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Mike Aro, who sent Danchak west, advanced to the winners' side semifinals for a matchup versus Felix Menendez. Trobiano, in the meantime, squared off against Scott Simonetti. Trobiano sent Simonetti west 7-3, as Aro was working on a 6-3 victory Simonetti. Trobiano prevailed in a double hill hot seat match over Aro and waited in the hot seat for Danchak.
With two, loss-side wins chalked up already, Danchak defeated Dennis Kennedy 6-2 and Eddie DeCosta double hill to draw Menendez. Simonetti picked up Guy Iannuzzi, who'd gotten by Paul Spaanstra 7-3, and Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5. Simonetti survived a double hill battle versus Iannuzzi, and moved into the quarterfinals against Danchak, who'd eliminated Menendez double hill.
Danchak dropped Simonetti into fourth place 10-6, to earn his re-match against Aro in the semifinals. He completed his loss-side run with a 6-4 victory over Aro. Trobiano opened the finals with three straight racks, which, with Danchak's handicap, essentially tied things up. They battled back and forth at that point to the double hill 14th rack. Trobiano completed his undefeated run in the 15th rack to capture the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
