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Wagner Back in the AWBT Winner’s Circle

Kaitlin Stengel and Rebecca Wagner

In her second tournament back on the Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour, Las Vegas’ Rebecca Wagner shook off the rust and came through the one loss side to win stop three at Main Street Billiards in Mesa, Arizona on June 4th – 5th. 

Wagner was the top rated player in the event, and she had to earn each and every match win, as she was giving up 6-3 races in many of her matches. She made it past 6-3 races against Claudia Justus and Misty Anderson, but a 6-3 race against tour veteran Terri Johnson-McCauley was too much for Wagner to handle. “She came with some crazy good outs that I didn’t anticipate.” said Wagner. 

Johnson-McCauley didn’t have too long to celebrate on the winners side, as she dropped her next match to eventual hot-seat occupant Kaitlin Stengel. Stengel followed up the win over Johnson-McCauley with a hill-hill win over Stephanie Martin and then a win against Simone Huskey for the hot-seat. 

Back on the one loss side, Wagner ended Saturday with two hill-hill wins (both 6-3 races) over Jamie Hagerty and Joanne Mattingly.

Wagner’s Sunday started with a 6-5 match against Rae Evans, who had not lost a match through the first two AWBT events this season. That perfect record was brought to an end by Huskey on the winner’s side Saturday and Wagner was happy to end Evans’ weekend in 9th place after a hill-hill match. 

Wagner went on to win four more matches on Sunday to get to the single elimination final against Stengel. As Stengel is still a bit of a newcomer to the tour, this was the first meeting between Wagner and Stengel, but Stengel said she was familiar with her opponent’s game. “I had never played Rebecca Wagner but I have had the pleasure of watching her shoot before. Rebecca plays an excellent game, striking when she has the opportunity and playing safe until she does.” she said.

For Stengel, the appearance in her first final on tour was proof that her hard work is paying off. “Mitch (Ellerman) was kind enough to give me a few pointers while playing some racks at Metro Sports Bar last week, and I’ve also been working with Jon Smith a bit in the last few months. Both of them have really helped me with my stroke mechanics, cue ball movement and practicing with intention” said Stengel. “Over the last 6 months I have been putting a lot of attention on my mental focus during competitions. I definitely think that this, along with a nice sprinkle of luck, was what made the biggest difference for me at this event”. 

In the end, the finals appeared to come down to experience. For Wagner, a final match like this is nothing new, but for Stengel it was her first time in a situation like this. “ I think that the nerves of being up against such a high caliber player and the fatigue from a long weekend of pool definitely took its toll on my game” said Stengel. “The skill level difference got into my head and I didn’t approach my sequences in the same way I had for the rest of the weekend”.

Wagner won the extended final match 8-2 and while she says she thinks she is playing at maybe 80% of her game, she isn’t sure how many more events she will be able to get back out to attend in the immediate future. “I’m still working two full time jobs so probably not much time for competition but I’ll sneak an event or two in” she said. 

Both Wagner and Stengel will have their next opportunities on July 9th – 10th when the AWBT travels to Pockets in Tucson, Arizona for stop #4. 

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Wagner Wins AWBT Tour Stop

Rebecca Wagner (Photo courtesy of Nick De Leon)

Rebecca Wagner made it a perfect “two for two” with her second win in as many appearances on the Arizona Woman’s Billiard Tour in 2015. 
 
After a shaky 7-5 start over Claudia Justus, Wagner was untouchable as she won her next two matches by a combined score of 14-2 to advance to Sunday play on the right side of the board. Matching Wagner match for match, was Fort Worth’s Tara Williams. Williams had wins over Marcy Thomas, Bernie Store and Sara Miller on Saturday to remain undefeated. 
 
Joining Wagner and Williams on the winner’s side after one day of play were Nina Tagley and Susan Williams.
 
On the one loss side, Store was mowing down the competition with her sights set on Sunday play. Wins over Sandi Wilson, Claudia Justus and Amanda Pulley were enough to get her there. Sara Miller, Jaye Succo and Justine Bishop would also make it to Sunday play on the one loss side.
 
Sunday matches saw Wagner and Tara Williams keep pace with each other as Williams beat Nina Tagley 7-5 and Wagner beat Susan Williams 7-2. Wagner and Tara Williams would face each other for the hot-seat, which was won by Wagner 7-4.
 
Sunday play on the one loss side saw Sara Miller eliminate Jaye Succo in 7th place, and then Susan Wiliams in 5th place. Meanwhile Bernie Store eliminated Justine Bishop in 7th place and then Nina Tagley in 5th place.
 
The rivalry continued between Miller and Store, with Store pulling out a 7-5 win this time. Miller had a chance to tie the score at 6-6, but missed a 9-ball that gifted the match to Store. 
 
The semi-final match, between Store and Tara Williams, looked to be on its way to a quick finish with Williams cruising to a 5-0 lead. That was when things took a bad turn for Williams. Williams missed a couple of balls that she would have made early in the match and all of a sudden her “can’t miss” confidence was shaken. Store was more than happy to take advantage of the opportunities and the match was eventually tied at 6-6. Both players struggled in the final game, but a miss on the 7-ball was all that Williams could take as she unscrewed her cue and congratulated Store for the win.
 
The extended final match started out close. Store took an early 2-0 lead, but Wagner came back to a tie at 3-3. The score would be tied again at 4-4 and 5-5 before Wagner took control and climbed to the hill at 8-5. A great 6-9 combo by Store brought her back within two racks at 8-6, but it was just delaying the finish as Wagner broke and ran the next rack for the 9-6 win.
 
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Amanda Pulley bounce back from a loss in her first match to run the one loss side with five match wins and then defeat Tami Hathcock in the finals for first place.
 
The Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour will be back in action on October 17th and 18th at Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson.
 
Assistant Tour director Tres Kane gave his thanks to Mike and Julie Bates, and the staff of Bullshooters for hosting and adding $300 to the main event and $100 to the second chance event, Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 to the main event and his partner Kristie Ortega for running another fine event.

Joven Bustamante undefeated at Diamond Pool Tour Stop

Joven Bustamante

Joven Bustamante scored back to back wins over Scott Frost to top off an undefeated run through the field at the Diamond Pool Tour’s third stop of the year at Stinger’s Sports Bar & Grill in Glendale, AZ on April 11th and  12th.
 
The event drew a field of 80 players, with 25 “A” players and 55 “B” players. The “A” bracket saw surprise early losses by points leader Bobby Emmons and Nick De Leon. Neither player would qualify for Sunday play, much to the crowd’s surprise. Bustamante, who had not fared well in last month’s event, had wins over Tucson’s George Teyechea, Jason Polk and Spike Aiardo, before facing off against Frost for the “A” bracket hot-seat. Frost looked unstoppable all day with wins over Rick Armbrust, Mickey Provencio and Tyson Cole. Frost did not allow an opponent past three games, and entered the hot-seat match with a combined 27-5 rack record. Even as strong as Frost was playing, he would drop the hot-seat match to Bustamante 9-7.
 
The “B” bracket was taken to school by Junior Point Leader Nick Kline. Kline had knocked on the door of making it to Sunday play in tour stops one and two, but he was a force to be reckoned with in the “B” bracket all weekend. Kline’s aggressive play led to wins over Trevor Long, Claudia Justus and Joe Chyzy on Saturday. Kline came back Sunday, and picked up where he left off on Saturday, with wins over Rick Schmitz and Jamie Cole to take the “B” bracket hot-seat.
 
The Greenmail top lady bonus was split again this month, with Heather Cortez and Sophia Morquecho both earning $50. Morquecho was also the winner of the random drawing for a two night stay at The Casino Del Sol Resort in Tucson, the presenting sponsor for the tour.  
 
There was no Greenmail bounty awarded since last month’s winner, Vilmos Foldes, was not in attendance at this event. 
 
The “A” and “B” brackets came together late Sunday with Bustamante, Frost, Kline and Cole fighting it out. Frost eliminated Cole in fourth place, while Bustamante was sending Kline left to face Frost in the semi-final match. The match between Frost and Kline was close, with Kline representing himself well, before dropping the match 7-4. This led to the rematch between Bustamante and Frost in the double elimination finals. Both players showed the fans in attendance what run-out 9-ball looks like on a 7’ Diamond Smart Table, but in the end it was Bustamante who scored the 9-6 win in the first set of the finals.
 
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance tournament on Sunday drew 14 players, with last month’s winner, Steve Blackburn, settling for second place after a 3-0 / 3-0 double dipping at the hand of Daric Craft. Todd Dilley turned in a third place finish.
 
The Diamond Pool Tour will head to Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson on May 2nd and 3rd, for their fourth stop of the season.
 
Tour organizers thanked Dale and his great wait staff for hosting two days of pool players, as well as Lenny Marshall from On The Rail TV for the live streaming coverage all weekend. Thanks also went out to George Teyechea and Jerry Briesath for their help commentating matches, and to Rick Schmitz for all the great photos from the event. 
 
The Diamond Pool Tour is proudly sponsored by:
Diamond Billiard Products – http://diamondbilliards.com/
Casino Del Sol Resort – http://www.casinodelsolresort.com/
Neil’s Garage Cabinets – http://www.neilsgaragecabinets.com/
Greenmail Internet Marketing – http://www.greenmailinc.com/
QB Custom Cues – http://qbcustomcues.com/
Volturi Custom Cases – http://volturicases.com/
Cue Sport International – http://www.playcsipool.com/
The Arizona BCA, TAP and APA league systems. 

 

Bernie Store Wins AWBT Season Opener

Bernie Store and Heather Cortez

The AWBT kicked off their 2018 season on March 10th – 11th at Bullshooters with a field of 43 players and Bernie Store coming back from the one loss side to win and stake early claim to the AWBT points list. 

 

Store’s path through the brackets started off with wins over Stephanie Woodman, Carol Strong and Sandi Wilson before running into Heather Cortez in the final eight. Cortez, the 2017 points list winner, sent Bernie packing to the one loss side in a hill-hill match. 

 
After her win over Store, Cortez went on to defeat Nina Tagley in the final four and then Amanda Pulley for the hot-seat 7-3.
 
On the one loss side, Store got down to business with wins over Justine Bishop, Beth Orth, Jaye Succo (a hill-hill nail biter), Tagley and then Pulley in the semi-finals.
 
As is always the case on the AWBT, the finals were an extended race to 9 and Store cruised to a comfortable 9-5 victory for first place.
 
Sixteen players came back to Bullshooters on Sunday to compete in the second chance event, where Pearl Ortiz defeated Justine Bishop in the finals for first place. 
 
In addition to the ladies events, the AWBT also held their first “Balls Only” event where Jason Melm completed an undefeated run with back to back wins over James Main in the finals for first place and $310 in prize money.
 
The AWBT will be at Freezer’s for the second stop of the season on April 28th – 29th where they will be playing 9-ball on the 9 foot tables with $500 in added prize money.