Though he’d been among the top 10 finishers in 14 major events since January of 2016, an event victory had eluded Jorge Rodriguez since he won the season opener of the 2016 Predator Pro Am Tour. Rodriguez changed that at the second stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s 2017-2018 season. Rodriguez went undefeated through a field of 59, on hand for the $1,500-added Hudson Valley Fall Classic, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY on the weekend of September 30-October 1.

 

Rodriguez faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of the event. Following victories over Geovanni Hosang, and Ron Casanzio, Rodriguez gave up only one rack to his next two opponents, shutting out Thomas Haas, and giving up the single rack to Geoff Montgomery. This set Rodriguez up in a winners’ side semifinal against Matt Tetreault. In the meantime, Zion Zvi, who’d just sent Rodriguez’ eventual opponent in the finals, Jeremy Sossei to the loss side, squared off against Lee Van Corteza in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Rodriguez sent Matt Tetreault to the loss side 9-3, as Zvi downed Van Corteza 9-6. Rodriguez claimed the hot seat over Zvi 9-7 and waited for Sossei to complete a five-match, loss-side run that would put him into the finals.

 

Sossei opened his loss-side run with a 9-5 win over Jason Michas, and a 9-3 win over Carmen Lombardo, which set him up to face Tetreault. Van Corteza drew Rhys Chen, who was in the midst of his own six-match, loss-side run that had most recently included wins over Geoff Montgomery 9-5 and Olli Turkulainen 9-7.

 

Van Corteza ended Chen’s run in a double hill match, while Sossei was eliminating Tetreault 9-3. The Sossei/Van Corteza quarterfinal came within a game of going double hill, but Sossei advanced 9-7. The Sossei/Zvi semifinal rematch did go double hill, and when it was over, Sossei had earned himself a shot at Rodriguez in the hot seat.

 

Rodriguez completed his undefeated run with a 9-7 win over Sossei in the finals. The win put Rodriguez at the top of early tour rankings, alongside Nelson Oliveira who had won the season opener in September, but did not compete in Nanuet.

 

A $500-added, 19-entrant Second Chance event was won by Rob Pole, who defeated Mike Salerno in the finals. Scott Haas finished third, ahead of Jim Kearney. Brian Hunter and Ron Plontkowski finished in the tie for fifth.

 

The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 14-15, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Sharpshooter’s Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY. A week later (October 21-22), at the same location, the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour will hold its second annual Juniors Tournament, featuring separate divisional events for 18-and-under and 12-and-under competitors. The 12-and-under group will play on 7-foot Diamond tables, while the older group will face off on 9-foot Diamonds. Last year’s winner in the 18-and-under group was Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who defeated Peter Abatangelo in the finals. Ivo Linkin won the 12-and-under competition, downing Zach Hemendinger twice in a true double elimination final.

 

Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked the ownership and staff at The Spot for their hospitality and asked that players be reminded of the upcoming Turning Stone XXIX, scheduled for January 4-7 at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY. Players interested in competing should touch base with Zuglan as soon as possible to secure a slot in the event.

As he's done numerous times in the past, John Trobiano entered a Tri-State tournament on March 1, that, as owner of Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, he was hosting. As he has also done a number of times, he won the $1,000-added AB-CD event that had drawn 35 entrants to his location. Occupying the hot seat at the end of the night, Trobiano and Brian Hunter, who'd won five on the loss side, opted out of a final match, splitting the top prizes, while conceding the event victory to the undefeated Trobiano.

 

Trobiano would open his five-match run on the AB side, with a victory over Borana Andoni. He followed with victories over Antonio G.errero, and Asia Cycak, before meeting up with house pro Scott Simonetti in one of the winners' side semifinals. Pat Mareno, working on the CD side initially, got by Steve Persaud, Allison Honeymar and Eddie Perez, before coming up against Ryzard Szpila in the other semifinal. Trobiana survived a double hill fight against Simonetti, and in the hot seat match, met Mareno, who'd defeated Szpila, also double hill. Trobiano won what would prove to be his last match of the night, defeating Mareno 9-7.

 

On the loss side, Simonetti ran right into the streaking Hunter, who'd defeated Mike Zimny 7-4 and Asia Cycak 7-3, to reach him. Szpila met up with Jennifer "Sweet P" Pedutem, who, having been sent to the loss side by Szpila in the third round of play, was on a streak of her own. She got by Jan Mierzwa 8-5 and Frank Siezcka 7-2 to meet Szpila a second time. Hunter and Pedutem advanced to the quarterfinals; Hunter downing Simonetti 7-2 and Pedutem wreaking her vengeance on Szpila, ending his day 8-4.

 

It was Hunter who won the quarterfinal battle, ending Pedutem's run 10-5. He then defeated Mareno in the semifinals 8-6 for a chance against Trobiano, which never happened. The two finalists opted out of the final match, leaving Trobiano as the undefeated winner.

 

Tour representatives congratulated Trobiano and thanked him and his staff for their hospitality. Thanks were tendered to tour sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics, as well. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for March 22, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.

Brian Hunter was sent to the loss-side early in the January 14-15 stop of the Predator Tour and clawed his way back through 11 matches to get into the finals, where he first, forced an extension to 10 games and then prevailed over hot seat occupant, Ray Feliciano to capture the event title. The $500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 81 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. A concurrently running, Open/Pro event was still underway, when the handicapped event came to a conclusion after midnight Sunday.

As Hunter was battling his way through the loss-bracket, Feliciano was moving among the winners’ side final four to face Junior Singh. Joining them were Dave Ascolese and Wellington Reyes. Feliciano downed Singh 7-5 to get into the hot seat match versus Ascolese, who’d defeated Reyes by the same score. Feliciano got into the hot seat with an 8-3 victory over Ascolese.

Hunter, in the meantime, who would not be afforded the opportunity to face the player who’d sent him to the loss side (Ricky Ragoonanan), was in the midst of his 11-match winning streak. With six behind him, Hunter defeated Steve Wright, double hill, and Lionel Rivera 7-2 to draw Reyes. Singh picked up Bob Schlott, who’d defeated Mike Fisher 7-3 and Brian Russell 7-2 to reach him. Hunter and Schlott advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-5 victories over Reyes and Singh.

Hunter then survived a double hill battle versus Schlott to get into the semifinals against Ascolese. A 7-4 victory over Ascolese put him into the single, potentially extended-race finals, where he would first need to reach eight games ahead of Feliciano, and then win two more to secure the event title. He did both, reaching eight games, ahead by two already. Feliciano, though, fought back to win three of the next four and knot things at double hill. Hunter won the final game to bring home the top prize.

Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Steinway and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.

Jorge Rodriguez spent most of his time during the January 14-15 stop on the Predator Tour in the west bracket. He’d been sent there in the opening round of the Open/Pro event on that stop by Jeremy Sossei, and spent all but the final match among fellow loss-side opponents; seven of them, to be precise, including a successful rematch versus Sossei. He faced and defeated hot seat occupant, Jennifer Barretta in the finals to capture the Open/Pro title. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 21 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The concurrently-run, A-D handicapped event, which drew 81 entrants, also featured a winner – Brian Hunter – who’d spent most of his time in the west bracket.

From among the winners’ side final four, Barretta defeated Sean Morgan 8-6, while Sossei was busy sending Raphael DaBreo west 8-5. Barretta and Sossei battled to double hill before Barretta prevailed to sit in the hot seat. It would prove to be her final win of the event.

Over on the loss-side, with two notches on his loss-side belt already, Rodriguez benefited from a forfeit, and then, defeated Zion Zvi 7-4, to pick up Morgan. It was Jerry Tarantola, advancing past Rob Pole and tour director Tony Robles, both 7-5, who picked up DaBreo. Rodriguez and Tarantola combined to make Morgan and DaBreo’s loss-side journey brief. Rodriguez moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-2 victory over Morgan. Tarantola joined him after downing DaBreo 7-4.

Rodriguez ended Tarantola’s tournament bid with a 7-5 win in the quarterfinals, and got his chance at revenge against Sossei in the semifinals that followed. He took full advantage, defeating Sossei 7-2, and turned to face Barretta. He completed an eight-match winning streak, by allowing Barretta only two racks in the extended race-to-11 finals.

Robles thanked Manny Steinway and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.