Julio Burgos and Anthony Meglino
When you think of top-notch players in various regions all across the country, the name Julio Burgos just doesn’t jump to the front of anyone’s list. According to Peter Ghostine, tour director of the AllOutPool Tour, that is likely to change. And soon. Burgos’ skills have been recognized, most recently on Saturday, June 16 at the 5th stop on the AllOutPool Tour, when he won nine on the loss side to defeat John Ditoro in the semifinals, and Anthony Meglino, double hill, in the finals to win his first-ever major tournament. The event drew 46 players to Beyond Billiards in Davie, FL.
“He’s new,” said Ghostine. “He’s very young, in his 20s, and he’s just coming out of his shell.”
Even in that metaphoric shell, Burgos’ skills have been noted. Though the only recorded instances of his appearance on anyone’s payout list occurred this year, when he finished 65th at the Derby City Classic’s One Pocket event in January and 17th at the 4th Texas 10-Ball Championships a month later, he entered Saturday’s handicapped tournament bearing the same handicap as the much more readily-recognized Anthony Meglino. The finals between them was a straight-up race to 11.
“We’ve been tracking his (progress) on the road, so we pretty much know his potential,” said Ghostine. “The data’s not there yet, but we’ve seen enough to know that he’s ranked that high.
“He’s capable,” he added, “of beating anybody.”
And he did, on Saturday. He beat 11 ‘anybodys;’ one in his opening round (Jason Sheerman, 8-6) and after a loss to Cristobal DeBarros (9-7), nine more on the loss side, and then, the final.
As Burgos toiled away on the loss side, his final two opponents advanced to the winners’ side semifinals. Meglino faced John Foster, as DiToro squared off against Tony Kolbe. Identical 8-4 victories sent Meglino and DiToro to the hot seat match, and eventually, in that hot seat match, DiToro to the semifinals.
With four loss-side wins to his credit (over Chad Scarborough, Michelle Ceglarek, Sandy Cheng, and TD Peter Ghostine), Burgos defeated Scott Franck 9-1, and Erick Poveda 9-3 to draw Kolbe, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. John Foster picked up Sam Kantar, who’d been shut out by DiToro in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Laz Figueroa 7-3, and William Rubin 7-4.
Burgos advanced to the quarterfinals, 9-2 over Kolbe (all scores are indicated with appropriate on-the-wire figures already added). Foster joined him by eliminating Kantar 8-2. Burgos then defeated Foster, double hill (8-7), in those quarterfinals and completed his loss-side run with a victory over (not just anybody, but wily veteran) John DiToro 8-5 in the semifinals.
At 9-9 in the race-to-11 finals, Meglino was on the verge of reaching the hill first, but miscued, affording Burgos the opportunity, which he took. Meglino did tie it up to force the deciding game, but the final rack went to Burgos, who chalked up his first victory on the AllOutPool Tour, or anywhere else, for that matter. It will likely not be his last.
In addition to the regular payouts, Janis Sessions picked up $50 as the event’s top female finisher. Tony Vierra won the event’s Made-in-USA RYO Rack raffle, valued at $200. Tour director Peter Ghostine thanked the ownership and staff at Beyond Billiards, as well as sponsors Dennis Searing, Billiard Engineering and RYO Racks. The next stop on the AllOutPool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of July 21-22, will be hosted by Shooter’s Billiards in Port St. Lucie, FL.
