Johnson takes two against Subelka to go undefeated in short-field Ladies event.

 

One week ago, on the weekend of April 9-10, Greg Hogue made it to the hot seat during a stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, only to have the person he'd defeated in that match (Chip Compton) come back from the semifinals and defeat him twice in a double elimination final. The scenario was described here as a hot seat occupant's "worst nightmare."

 

On the weekend of April 16-17, Hogue, at a $2,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Astros in Lawrence, KS, found himself in the hot seat for the second week in a row, re-living the 'nightmare,' as it were. This time, Hogue sent Dustin Gunia to the semifinals, but this time, Hogue woke up. Although Gunia would force him to play a deciding 17th game in the opening set of a potential double elimination final, Hogue won that deciding game, and after (one presumes) an enormous sigh of relief, claimed the event title.

 

In a concurrently-run, $500-added Ladies event that drew only 7 entrants, Kerri Johnson defeated Morgan Subelka twice to claim that title. Johnson defeated Subelka in the hot seat match 7-5. On the loss side, Deb McWhirk came off a quarterfinal victory over Jacelyn Booher to challenge Subelka in the semifinals. Subelka earned a second shot against Johnson with a 7-3 victory over McWhirk. Johnson completed her four-match, undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Subelka in the finals. 

 

The first match between Hogue and Gunia in the Open event, vying for the hot seat, followed a 9-1 victory by Hogue over Steven Wyatt, and a 9-3 victory by Gunia over Mike Goscha. Hogue claimed the hot seat, double hill, and waited, as (no doubt) thoughts of a week ago played out in his head.

 

On the loss side, Wyatt picked up Dave Matlock, who'd gotten by Rafael Munoz 9-4 and Toby Noll 9-6 to reach him. Goscha drew Sharik Sayed, who'd eliminated Lance Schofield 9-7 and Taylor Anderson 9-6. Matlock and Sayed handed Wyatt and Goscha their second straight losses – Matlock 9-6 over Wyatt and Sayed 9-1 over Goscha – and advanced to the quarterfinals.

 

Sayed gave up only two racks to Matlock, and advanced to the semifinals against Gunia. Gunia shut Sayed out in those semifinals, which almost certainly gave Hogue something to think about as he prepared for the opening set of the true double elimination final. Though Gunia would once again force a deciding 17th game, Hogue won it to claim the title.

It was a busy (June 26-29) weekend at Shooter's in Olathe, KS where the Midwest 9-Ball Tour held a three-headed tournament beast, featuring a $500-added, 22-entrant Ladies event, a $1,000-added One Pocket event that drew 44, and a $3,500-added 9-Ball Open tournament that drew 92 entrants. Shane McMinn and Nicole Keeney both came from the loss side and double-dipped the hot seat occupant of the 9-ball and Ladies event, respectively, about which we will go into some detail shortly.

 

Josh Roberts went undefeated to capture his third One Pocket title since March, and his second in as many weeks. It was something of a star-studded, final 12 in the One Pocket event, details of which will be covered in a separate story.

 

Ladies first, because it's polite, and because Nicole Keeney had to spend just a little more time on the loss side than Shane McMinn did in the male event; two more matches, to be precise. Keeney had been climbing her 2014 'finish ladder' since January, chalking up a 4th place finish in the Music City Classic in January, a 3rd place finish last week (June 21-22) in Florida at the Zingales' Amateur Ladies Tournament and was runner-up to Vivian Villareal in the Big Tyme Classic Women's 9-Ball event in Texas in March. In Olathe, KS, she made it to a winners' side quarterfinal before being sent on her loss-side trip by Carrie Williams in a double hill battle. 

 

Williams moved on to face Rennae Hayes and won her second straight double hill match, putting her into the battle for the hot seat against Jessica Frideres, who'd defeated Deb McWhirk 7-1. Frideres grabbed the hot seat 7-2 in what proved to be her last win of the weekend.

 

Keeney, in the meantime, went to work on the loss side, downing Debbie Glover and Liz Lovely, both 7-5, to pick up McWhirk. Hayes drew Sabrina McCormack, who'd gotten by Kristin Prouty 7-1 and Sharon Rinkert 7-5. Keeney and McCormack moved on to the quarterfinals, once Keeney had eliminated McWhirk 7-4 McCormack had survived a double hill fight versus Hayes.

 

Keeney won two in a row 7-3; her quarterfinal match against McCormack, as well as her re-match against Williams in the semifinals. She took the opening set of the finals against Frideres 7-4, and though Frideres would put up a double hill fight in the second set, Keeney hung on to claim the Ladies title.

 

In the Open event, Shane McMinn picked up his second Midwest 9-Ball title of the year, having downed Skyler Woodward in the finals of the tour's third stop in March. He faced Woodward on this weekend, as well, at the start of his three-match, loss-side winning streak that put him into the finals.

 

McMinn faced Jordan Davis in one of the winners' side semifinals, as Danny Smith squared off against Robb Saez in the other. Davis sent McMinn to the loss side 9-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Smith, who'd downed Saez 9-5. Smith took the hot seat match, like Frideres, his last of the event 9-7.

 

McMinn and Woodward met up right away on the loss side. Woodward had gotten by John Gabriel and Chad Vilmont, both 9-4, to reach him. Saez drew David Matlock, who'd been defeated by Jordan Davis in a winners' side quarterfinal and then defeated Darryl Smith 9-6 and Cliff Joyner 9-3. McMinn defeated Woodward 9-4, while Matlock squeaked by Saez 9-8. McMinn ended Matlock's three-match, loss-side winning streak 9-7 in the quarterfinals and wreaked his vengeance on Davis 9-3 in the semifinals.

 

McMinn allowed Smith only a single rack in the opening set of the true double elimination final. He claimed the event title with a 9-5 win in the second set.