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Wilkie chalks up second victory on the Action Pool Tour

Shaun Wilkie

It was, in a way, the final that might have happened at the 2017 VA State 10-Ball Championships in February, had it not been for Dennis Orcollo. At that event, the second stop on the 2017 Action Pool Tour (APT), Orcollo was sent to the loss side by Shaun Wilkie in a winners' side semifinal, and immediately picked up Mike Davis, who was in the middle of a six-match, loss-side winning streak. Orcollo shut Davis out, advanced to the finals and claimed the title with a victory over Wilkie.
 
On the weekend of April 15-16, at the fourth stop on the APT, Wilkie and Davis got the chance they never had to face each other in the earlier tournament. They met twice in this one; once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Davis took the first one, but Wilkie came back to chalk up a 'deuces wild' victory in the finals. Wilkie claimed his second match against Davis (who was playing in his second APT event of the year), and, following his victory on the tour's second stop, picked up his second APT title of the year. The event drew 70 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA. 
 
In a concurrently-run Ladies event, which drew a short field of 11 entrants, Nicole King and Tina Malm played twice as well, each looking for their second title on the APT Tour. Malm had taken the season opener in February, and King claimed Stop #3 last month. Like Davis in the Open, Malm claimed the hot seat, but like Wilkie, King came back from the semifinals to defeat Malm in the finals and claim the title. It was the second time in a row on this young APT season that Wilkie and King had won the Open and Ladies titles.
 
Wilkie got off to a flying start in the Open. After an opening round bye, he played four matches to get into a winners' side semifinal match against Larry Kressel (runner-up to Chris Byers in the Amateur event of the Super Billiards Expo earlier in the month). He'd given up only five racks total in those opening four matches, which included a shutout over Jenny Acot, a single rack each to Steve Ball and Aldrin Manreal, and three against Greg Sabins in a winners' side quarterfinal. Davis, too, opened with a shutout (over Jon Crider) and gave up only six racks in his four-match run to a winners' side semifinal against Alex Parker. Davis gave up three to Jamey Mellott, two to Justin Powers and (obviously picking up some speed) one to Chris Funk.
 
Wilkie sent Kressel to the loss side 7-3, as Davis was sending Parker over 7-1. In what proved to be their only double hill match, individually or together, Davis claimed the hot seat, and waited for Wilkie to get back.
 
On the loss side, Kressel drew Matt Krah, who, following a defeat at the hands of Parker, downed Jamey Mellott 6-3, and Jimmy Varia 6-4. Parker picked up Brian Dietzenbach, who'd lost to Kressel, and then defeated Tom Zippler 6-3, before surviving a double hill battle versus Greg Sabins. Kressel eliminated Krah 6-2, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Dietzenbach, who'd ended Parker's weekend 6-4.
 
Kressel appeared to be a man on a mission in those quarterfinals, and shut Dietzenbach out for a crack at Shaun Wilkie in the semifinals. It turned out to be something of a 'mission impossible' as Wilkie allowed Dietzenbach only two racks in those semifinals for his own second shot against Davis in the hot seat. Now, it was Wilkie who was on a mission. Mission accomplished with a 9-3 win over Davis in the finals.
 
King wins her second Ladies APT event of the year
 
Nicole King's second straight Ladies APT victory took five matches to claim, two of them in matches against Tina Malm. King opened with a shutout over Giulletta Dahl, and a 5-2 win over Kristin Horgen, before coming up against Judie Wilson in a winners' side semifinal. Malm played only four matches total. An opening round bye was followed by a 5-1 victory over Deeqa Nur, which set Malm up in a winners' side semifinal against Sharita Green.
 
King downed Wilson 5-3, while Malm was chalking up a shutout over Green. Malm claimed the hot seat 5-3.
 
On the loss side, Wilson picked up Nur, who, following her defeat at the hands of Malm, had (after an opening round, loss-side bye) Lai Li 4-1. Green drew Sierra Reams, who'd defeated Tina Scott 4-1 and Melissa Mason, double hill, to reach her.
 
Nur survived a double hill fight against Wilson, and in the quarterfinals met up with Reams, who'd shut out Green. Nur took the quarterfinals 4-2 over Reams, but was shut out by King in the semifinals. King downed Malm 7-2 in the finals, denying Malm her second APT title to claim it for herself. 

Woodward goes undefeated to win Men’s Open Chinook Winds 10-Ball Championships

Skyler Woodward

Skyler Woodward added 28 points to his Mosconi Cup ranking total on the weekend of October 7-10, with an undefeated run in the Men's Division of the 4th Annual Chinook Winds 10-Ball Championships. Woodward is 77 points behind the Mosconi Cup rankings leader, Shane Van Boening, and 32 points ahead of Rodney Morris, who finished in the tie for 5th. The $10,000-added event drew 100 entrants to the Chinook Winds Resort & Casino in Lincoln, OR. A $4,000-added Ladies Open event (still ongoing as of this writing) was run concurrently, and drew 29 entrants.
 
Woodward also won the Friday night "Warm Up" event, which drew 73 entrants, and featured three matches between Woodward and Morris; the hot seat match, won by Woodward, and the finals, which they split, with Woodward winning the decisive last match.
 
In the main event, two preliminary brackets yielded 16 competitors advancing to a final bracket of 32, 16 on each side. With memories of Friday night's "Warm Up" in place, Woodward and Morris were still in play to battle it out for the title (and Mosconi Cup points), though Morris, originally defeated, double hill, by Dan Louie in one of the preliminary brackets, was on the loss side.
 
In a winners' side quarterfinal, Woodward downed Todd Marsh 7-3 and advanced to face Chris McDaniel. Filipino Antonio Lining, in the meantime, survived a double hill battle versus Max Eberle to face Amar Kang in the other winners' side semifinal. Kang got by Lining 7-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Woodward, who'd sent McDaniel to the loss side 7-3.Woodward defeated Kang 7-4 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be Lining.
 
On the loss side (final bracket, after winning three in the preliminary bracket), Morris had gotten by Ruben Silva 7-5, Chris Byers 7-1 and Ramil Gallego 7-5 to draw Lining. McDaniel drew Chris Eberle, who'd defeated Christ "Spike" Airdo 7-3, and Jason Williams, double hill, to reach him.
 
The potential for a Woodward/Morris matchup in the finals was thwarted by a double hill win for Lining, who advanced to the quarterfinals. He was met by McDaniel, who defeated Eberle 7-2.
 
Lining gave up only a single rack to McDaniel in those quarterfinals, and turned for a re-match against Kang in the semifinals. He eliminated Kang ??-?? to earn a shot against Woodward. To no avail, as it turned out. Woodward made it a single set final with a double hill win to claim the event title.

Woodward double dips Anderson to win Chinook Winds Open 8-Ball Championships

Skyler Woodward

In many ways, athletes are defined by their opponents. Quality opponents bring out the best in a given player's skills. Skyler Woodward came back from a defeat at the hands of Dennis Orcollo to win three loss-side matches against Shaun Wilkie, Mike Dechaine, and in a re-match, Orcollo. He then double dipped hot seat occupant Taylor Anderson to win the $12,000-added Men's Chinook Winds Open, part of the Western BCA 8-Ball Championships, on the weekend of March 11-13. The event drew 128 entrants to the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, Oregon.
 
In the $5,000-added Women's event (separate story), Nicole Keeney successfully thwarted a strong challenge by Mary Coffman to win that title. The women's tournament drew 37 entrants.
 
In the Open event, Skyler Woodward worked his way through a preliminary bracket, defeating his first four opponents by an aggregate score of 28-8. This advanced him to the winners' side of a final, 16-player bracket. Joining him from the winners' side of the two preliminary brackets were Steve Knoll, Hunter Lombardo, Orcollo, Dechaine, Chris Byers, Anderson and Wilkie. Advancing to the final bracket from the loss side, were Rodney Morris, Rene Rendon, Richard Geiler, John Schmidt, Eddie Carrido, Billy Thorpe, Ernesto Dominguez and last year's champion, Corey Deuel.
 
In the event's winners' side quarterfinals, Woodward downed Steve Knoll 7-3 and faced Orcollo in a winners' side semifinal. Dechaine and Anderson met in the other semifinal. Orcollo sent Woodward to the loss side 7-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Anderson, who'd defeated Dechaine 7-3. Anderson, who was playing his best against quality opponents, and like Woodward, had defeated Wilkie and Dechaine, went on to defeat Orcollo, as well, 7-5 to claim the hot seat.
 
On the loss side, Woodward picked up Wilkie, who'd defeated Schmidt 7-2 and Rendon 7-3. Dechaine drew Billy Thorpe, who'd eliminated Knoll 7-2 and survived a double hill match that ousted the defending champ, Deuel. Thorpe came out on the losing side of his second straight double hill match, sending Dechaine to the quarterfinals. Woodward joined him after a 7-5 win over Wilkie.
 
Woodward took the quarterfinal match over Dechaine 7-5 to earn a semifinal rematch against Orcollo. He defeated Orcollo 7-2 and turned to a double elimination final against Anderson. Woodward forced a case game in the opening set against Anderson, and won it. He took the second set 7-4 to claim the title.