Paul Potier outplayed, outmaneuvered, and outlasted fifty some other competitors at Panama Red's Bar and Grill in Portland, Oregon December 6th and 7th. Lilje and Lingelbach were successful in holding the rest of the Canadian crew at bay, but Potier would not be denied in the finals.
In the quarterfinals, Justin Lilje of Portland, OR smoked Potier with relative ease; while Steve Lingelbach, also of Portland, out moved Potier's young protégé Mike Vidas of Vancouver, Canada. The two Canadian's then dropped back to face Al Perez and Stan Tourangeau respectively. Perez, a name that hasn't captured a ton of media recognition, but has finished consistently in the cash in other local events, came up short against Potier; while Tourangeau, who has been running around like the hotdog of the Pacific NW, was unable to fire up a match win against Vidas "The Kid".
Potier and Vidas then faced off against one another. "The Kid" seemed tired and sluggish, or maybe making road kill out of his road partner wasn't in his best interest?! Whatever the case, Vidas was finished off in 4th place while Potier waited to see whether he would have to wrestle Lilje or Lingelbach in the third place position.
The two native Portlanders Justin Lilje and Steve Lingelbach have faced each other many times in many competitions. In this event they would meet again in the match for the hot seat. Both Steve Lingelbach and Justin Lilje have an enormous amount of heart and drive to win, and the match for the hot seat would be no different. Each ran tables and jockeyed back and forth for control, and it would be Lingelbach who ran to 9 games first sending Justin back to hopefully take care of Potier one more time.
Potier would have none of it. Just because him and his road crew had made Panama Red's a pit stop on their way down to the Reno Open, they planned to fully gas up and have a little extra to play on down at The Sands! Whether the late hour and fatigue had anything to do with it or not, Lilje struggled more with Potier the second time around and his heart just wasn't all the way in it. Potier finished him off and was on to the final race to 13 against Lingelbach.
Lingelbach jumped out to a decent lead against Potier, but the match turned when he missed a relatively easy 9 to bring the score to 6-4 instead of having a 7-3 lead. Potier then ran 3 racks to take the lead and Lingelbach fired back to catch up. Potier used his next opportunity to gain and stretch his lead with Lingelbach trying to catch up and keep the set alive. At a score of 12-10 Lingelbach's fatigue got him again and Potier took advantage to end the set and claim 1st place.
Complete Results:
1st Paul Potier Vancouver, BC $800
2nd Steve Lingelbach Troutdale, OR $500
3rd Justin Lilje Gresham, OR $300
4th Mike Vidas Vancouver, BC $200
5th Al Perez Portland, OR $150
Stan Tourangeau Vancouver, BC $150
7th Troy VanWinkle Portland, OR $75
Joe Trevino Portland, OR $75
9th Darin Walding Portland, OR $55
Hsin Huang Vancouver, BC $55
Jim Kellogg Portland, OR $55
Rick Hodge Portland, OR $55
