Shane McMinn Caps Off Weekend With 5th Annual Bobby Wells Memorial Victory

Evelyn Dysart, Joyce Wells, Shane McMinn, Gabe Owen, and David Matlock

The Midwest 9-Ball Tour hosted the 5th Annual Bobby Wells Memorial event the weekend of June 21-22, 2008, in Witchita, Kansas, at Side Pockets.  The $2500 added open and women's bar table events got off to a great start with known players including tour regulars and top names Gabe Owen, Shane McMinn, David Matlock, Chuck Raulston, and Julia Gabriel.

The women drew a total field of twelve ladies and eventually saw Julia Gabriel go undefeated for the tournament win.  Gabriel snagged the hot-seat from Peggy Fusselman 7-4 to sit waiting for her opponent in the final round.  Fusselman then bested Caroline Ortiz in the semi-final round to have another shot at Gabriel, but it was not to be her weekend as the score of the true double elimination final read 7-4.

In the main event, a field of seventy-nine players attempted to make their mark on this memorial weekend, but Shane McMinn held off a very capable Gabe Owen in the final round after coming from the one-loss side for that opportunity.  Owen patiently waited after he nailed the tight win (9-8) against David Matlock for the hot seat.  All the while, McMinn continued his trek through the one-loss side and eventually met up with David Matlock in the semis.  After a 9-6 ending, he moved on to dominate the first set of the true double elimination final against Owen 9-0, then fought his way to victory in the second by a very close margin of 9-7.  Congratulations to Shane and Julia!

For additional information on the tour, visit their website at www.9balltour.com  Future events: there are several new events not quite up on the AZ calendar yet for the tour, so for those of you that have not made it out to an event this season, here are a few in your area:

Shooters, June 26-29, 2008
Olathe, KS
$5,000.00 added:  $4000 added bar table 9-ball main event, $1000 one-pocket event
Entry $100 one-pocket/$65 open (ladies $50)

Side Pockets, July 19-20, 2008 – First Annual Gaylord Robinson Memorial
Papillion, NE
$2500 added (open and ladies bar table event)
$50 Entry (entry includes green fees, no quarters necessary)

Magoos, August 2-3, 2008 - 5th Annual Oklahoma State 8-Ball Championship
Tulsa, OK
$2000 added (open and ladies bar table event)
Entry $60 open/$50 ladies (entry includes green fees, no quarters necessary)

Break Billiards, September 6-7, 2008
Cahokia, IL
$2500 added (open and ladies bar table event)
Entry $35 for both

Results (main event):
1st $1050 Shane McMinn
2nd $650 Gabe Owen
3rd David Matlock $420
4th L.V. Abernathy $300
5th/6th Chuck Raulston/J.C. Riley $200
7th/8th Terry Young/Mike Patterson $150
9th-12th Cody Dunagan/Ryan Cobb/Cliff Brown/Jason Ayesh $100
13th-16th Larry Hart/Eric Cape/Chris Weast/Alan Martin $75

Results (women):
1st Julia Gabriel  $300
2nd Peggy Fusselman $125
3rd Caroline Ortiz $75