The stars will be shining during the historic Andy Cloth World Tournament of 14.1 . A who's who of world class players will be in attendance to etch their name into history's elite of the father of all pool games. Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Stephan Cohen, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Mika Immonen, Tony Robles and many, many more. The main event will take place once more in New York City. As usual, a star studded field is expected this year at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting this world class event. The World Tournament Official Equipment include Viking Cue with all matches played on Andy Cloth. Event partners include Mr.Tom Gleich, Dr. Gregory Diehl, Mr. Greg Hunt of Amsterdam Billiards, & Mr. Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Patron sponsors include Mr. Harold Siegel of Excelsior Graphics, Dr. James Heller, Mr. Charles Eames of Charles Eames Photography, Frank Scharbach of Frank's Billard Cafe, Focused Apparel and the National Amateur Pool League.
The World Tournament will be live streamed on AZBTV , order by going to www.worldstraightpool.com . Official media partners are www.NYCGrind.com , Pool & Billiard Magazine, & tech support by Gotham City Technologies.
Results of the final qualifiers for the World Tournament:
NAPL Qualifier at Amsterdam Billiards : Eddie Kwok (NY)
Each of the three players will have to play 6 matches each in the first stage of the championship. If they qualify in their respective groups, they advance to a double elimination knockout stage. If they advance again, they qualify for the final stage of 16 players in a single knockout stage, but with longer match races. The finals will be a race to 300 balls made first, which could take as long as 6 hours.
3 spots open. Contact Dragon Promotions at 407-782-4978
In addition to the World Tournament will be the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame. A gourmet banquet dinner along with speeches from celebrity guests will take place July 15th at 8pm at Steinway Billiards. A special video presentation of each inductee will be produced and presented by www.NYCGrind.com's Jerry Tarantola.
Support straight pool and the 14.1 Hall of Fame by joining the World 141 Club & for a very inexpensive sponsorship, become one of the 141 special people joining the 141 Club which will fund this year's events. The list of benefits & gifts are huge. Goto http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html . Tickets will be sold at the door during the event. Sponsors and private contributors can still join this year's event. Final added money and fundraising for the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame are still being generated. To help be a part of this treasured event, please contact Dragon Promotions and join the World 141 Club.
Get the latest news and complete results of all years at www.worldstraightpool.com and daily year round updates on www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool . Follow Dragon Promotions news at www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Vendor spaces are also available, for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978. Full event info is atwww.dragonpromotions.com
For the second time in a row, Brandon Shuff met Shaun Wilkie in the finals of an Action Pool Tour event and won. In March, Wilkie was sent to the loss side in the opening round of play and worked his way back through nine matches on the loss side to face Shuff in the finals. Shuff's victory ended a six-event winning streak for Wilkie on the tour (four at the end of last season, two at the beginning of this current tour season). On the weekend of April 4-5, at an event hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA, which drew 61 entrants, Shuff once again took the undefeated route to the event title. Wilkie took the easier (shorter) undefeated route, as well this time, until the two met in the hot seat match and the finals.
Each of their winning percentages went down since the earlier meeting; Shuff winning 67% of his 97 games this time out (down from 72% of games won in March), Wilkie winning (just shy of) 60% of his 114 (down from 70% in March). Wilkie gave up over twice as many racks to opponents per match in this latest event – 2.5 per match to 5.75 – while Shuff's opponents improved from 2.8 racks per match to 4.57.
Shuff's trail went through Pooky Rasmeloungon, R.J. Carmona, Alex Travino, and Dominic Noe, before coming up against Paul Helms in one of the winners' side semifinals. Wilkie got by Troy Miller, Will Moon, Paul Oh and Matt Krah before facing Mike Davis in the other winners' side semifinal. Shuff downed Helms 9-3, while Wilkie made short 9-1 work of Davis. In their first of two, Shuff gained the hot seat over Wilkie 9-7.
Helms moved to the loss side and met up with Jimmy Varias, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak (including a bye) that began when he'd been sent west in the opening round of play. Varias survived a double hill match against Tom Zippler and eliminated Matt Krah 7-3 to pick up Helms. Davis drew Carmona, who'd gotten by Steve Ball 7-5 and Noe 7-4.
Helms ended the Varias loss side streak, and Davis knocked Carmona out of action, both 7-4.
Davis then eliminated Helms 7-1 in the quarterfinals and got a second shot at Wilkie. Though he'd do a lot better than the earlier 7-1 match and force a 13th and deciding game, Davis fell a second time to Wilkie. Wilkie then fell a second time to Shuff, who completed his second straight, undefeated weekend on the Action Pool Tour 11-9.
Shuff, who missed the first two stops on the tour, has a long way to go to catch Wilkie in his perch at the top of the current APT rankings; a trip made even more difficult by Wilkie's runner up finish in the last two events. The tour's next stop (May 9-10 at Clubhouse Billiards in Lynchburg, VA) will mark the midway point of the 10-event schedule.
Tour director Ozzy Reynolds noted that Shaun Wilkie's four straight wins on his Action Pool Tour would be a record that would be hard to break. Imagine his surprise when Wilkie upped the ante on the weekend of January 17-18 by going undefeated to win his fifth straight stop on the tour. The event drew 52 entrants to Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD.
It was not a random-draw easy path for Wilkie, either. After a bye, he had to contend with Brett Stottlemeyer, Paul Oh, and Karen Corr to move among the winners' side final four and a match against Dominic Noe. Alan Duty and Steve Fleming squared off in the other winners' side semifinal. Wilkie moved into the hot seat match 7-3 over Noe, and was joined by Duty, who'd survived a double hill battle versus Fleming. Wilkie claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on the return of what turned out to be Fleming.
Fleming's three-match, loss-side streak, started out the same way Wilkie's win-side streak had begun; against Brett Stottlemeyer, who, following his earlier defeat at the hands of Wilkie, won six in a row, including back-to-back shutouts over Tom Zippler and Shawn Jackson to draw Fleming. Noe picked up Garrett Waechter, who'd survived his first loss-side match (double hill win over David Stanley) and given up only four racks since, including one each to Will Stem and Allan Cannington, which set him (Waechter) up to face Noe.
Noe and Fleming advanced to the quarterfinal, defeating Waechter and Stottlemeyer, both matches ending in 5-1 scores. Duty put up a fight in the semifinals, but Fleming prevailed 5-4 for a second chance against Wilkie. For all the good it did him. Wilkie downed Fleming 9-5 to complete his "unprecedented" fifth straight win on the tour.
For their third consecutive year, Sandcastle Billiards hosted a qualifier event for the World Tournament of 14.1 Continuous Straight Pool. Only one slot remained available in the 16 man double-elimination qualifier tournament. The top 2 finishers were to be awarded a seat in the prestigious main event being held this year in New York from August 4th. A very talented and bloodthirsty field came out from various neighboring states to compete on this 12th with players by Noon time as they began practicing till the first round was called at 1pm.
Fans and players can attend the once a year special event August 4th-9th, 2014 at Steinway Billiards Cafe or watch online at www.worldstraightpool.com . $50 All Event Pay Per View special for the ANDY CLOTH World Tournament of 14.1 !! Price goes up on Aug 2. It will be a star studded gala with billiard super stars such as Mika Immonen, Shane Van Boening, John Schmidt, Stephan Cohen, Johnny Archer, Darren Appleton & many more with Charlie Williams as the event MC. The ANDY CLOTH World Tournament of 14.1 is sponsored by ANDY CLOTH, Kamui Brands, OB Cues, Amsterdam Billiard Club, Realrealcool.com, Pool & Billiard Magazine , Aramith Balls, and George Beckman Kinetic Sculptures. Official patron 14.1 aficionados are Stu Mattana, Tom Gleich, Harold Siegel, and Dr. Greg Diehl Plastic Surgery. Dragon Promotions and Dr. Michael Fedak are pleased to also bring the 4th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame inducting "King" James Rempe and Frank "Sailor" Stellman. Since 1912, this will be the 74th production of the oldest billiard event in the world.
The pills had been drawn at random and the first round matchups were as follows;
Although any one of these competitors were very capable of winning this event, only two of these cue proficient warriors would be awarded the honors to advance and compete in the 74th World Tournament of Straight Pool.
The first to receive those honors by ripping through the field undefeated for the 3rd in a row was Sandcastle’s very own house player, Dennis Spears aka “Spider”. With victories over NJ local player, Geovani Hosang 100-19, then 100-32 over Eddie Culhane also from NJ, then a close one over a very impressive Dominic Noe 100-87 and finally over World Tournament veteran and solid player Bob Madenjian 100-39, Spears once again defended his home turf and rightfully claimed the 1st spot.
The other valiant contender took a very scenic route with a first round loss. After getting sent to the one-loss side of the charts by Dominic Noe, Jeff Crawford originally from Elkhart, Indiana and currently residing in Parkesberg, Pennsylvania clawed his way through a gauntlet of skillful and commendable opponents.
Crawford’s first round loss to Noe was followed by a 2nd battle began. First taking down the fierce Sean “Alaska” Morgan of NY with a score of 100-60, then Sandcastle’s own Gerard Soriano 100-41, he went on to defeat Raxx Pool Room owner, Holden Chin 100-45, then the well revered NY player, Flaco Rodriguez 100-34 and finally being victorious over the unyielding Bob Madenjian, Crawford claimed the 2nd year slot into the main event.
Special recognition goes out to Sean Morgan and Holden Chin as they had a nail biting final score of 100-95 in their match. Congrats to Michael Franzyshen, Sandcastle In-House 14.1 handicapped league 3 –Time Champion for stepping up to the big leagues and also squeaking out a 100-95 victory over Sean Leinen. Acknowledge Gerard Soriano, long overdue for getting his feet wet. It’s not the last time you’ll see his name for sure. Thank you Sean Leinen and Bob Madenjian for making those long trips out to compete once again, Don Montalvo for doing what it took to make it possible to come out, Geovani Hosang and Jim Heller for your continued support and improved games as you entered the battlegrounds, the well respected Flaco Rodriguez, always a pleasure to have, Gene Ok and Dominic Noe, such a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you all at the main event.
Sandcastle Billiards would like to thank all those who came out to compete this year and all of its loyal regular patrons that continue to work to improve their game and share the same passion for the game enjoying the beauty of its complexity, poetry, high demand for focus and freedom of individual expression and style of play. “We’re not here just to make a dollar- we’re here to make a difference!” Good luck and play well.
The Action Pool Tour's Lambros Cues Round Robin Tournament is an annual invitation-only event for the tour's top 10 players to compete for a $2,000 Lambros Cue. In conjunction with this annual event, tour director Ozzy Reynolds conducts an Open 9-Ball Tournament and an awards ceremony, highlighting the season's best performances.
This year's event, held on the weekend of September 28-29 at First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA, recognized Brett Stottlemyer as the tour's 2012-2013 #1-ranked player, earning him free entry to October's US Open 9-Ball Championship. Reynolds took first place in the Round Robin tournament, while Brandon Shuff took home the top prize in the Open 9-Ball tournament that drew 32 entrants.
Reynolds changed things up a bit in the Round Robin Tournament this year. Previously, the 10 invited players would compete in a series of matches, culminating in a winner, based on the best overall performance (Brian Deska won this last year). This, however, led to circumstances in which players who were statistically out of the running for the top, Lambros Cue prize, would stop playing. This year, Reynolds created a four-player, single elimination set of matches (semifinals and finals), based on the Round Robin's top four players at the end of the matches.
"It worked really well," said Reynolds, "and added some intensity to the event."
The round robin matches, nine of them, used three different games. In short races to three, the first two games played were 9-ball, the second two were 10-ball games, while a double hill game (if necessary) was an 8-ball contest. The absence of Larry Kressel (#7), and Mike Davis (#5) allowed Brandon Shuff (#11) to move up and join the invited 10. It also advanced Shaun Wilkie (#12), but in his absence, Paul Oh (#13) became the 10th competitor.
Stottlemyer, and Dan Madden (#4) started strong with back to back shutouts, but over the course of the next seven matches, they were overtaken by Shuff, Reynolds (#4), Dominic Noe (#2) and Dave Hunt (#6). Noe chalked up an 8-1 record, which included two shutouts and four, double hill wins. Shuff finished with a 7-2 record, which included four shutouts. His two defeats, both double hill, came in matches against Reynolds and Noe. Reynolds finished 8-1, having given up his only match to Noe in a shutout. The last of the semifinalists was Hunt, who started out slowly, losing three of his first four, but edged Stottlemyer for the last semifinal spot by a single game (Stottlemyer had given up 17 racks, Hunt gave up 16).
The pairings for the semifinal matches pitted Reynolds against Hunt, while Shuff faced Noe. Reynolds defeated Hunt 3-1, while Noe battled Shuff to double hill before prevailing to enter the finals against Reynolds. Reynolds completed his 10-1 day with a 3-1 victory over Noe that earned him the Lambros Cue, valued at $2,000.
In the Open 9-Ball event, Brandon Shuff came back from a defeat in the hot seat match to double dip Danny Green in the event finals. Green, who'd only been able to attend two of the tour's 13 stops and thus, entered the 9-Ball Tournament ranked #41 on the tour, went through the tour's top ranked players to get into the hot seat. Following a bye, he took out Danny Mastermaker (#8), Dave Hunt, Dan Madden, and in a winners' side semifinal, Brian Deska, to get into the hot seat match against Shuff. Shuff, on the other hand, faced only one, top-ranked player – Ozzy Reynolds – whom he defeated 5-2 for a spot in the other winners' side semifinal versus Brian Dietzenbach. Shuff downed Dietzenbach 7-1 to face Green in the battle for the hot seat.
Green took that hot seat match 7-5, and waited on Shuff's return. Deska, in the meantime, had moved west to meet up with Dominic Noe, who'd defeated Reynolds 5-2, and Chris Bruner 7-2 to meet him. Dietzenbach picked up Danny Mastermaker, who'd shut out Pat Carosi, and downed Dan Madden 7-3.
It was Mastermaker and Deska in the quarterfinals; Mastermaker, having defeated Dietzenbach 7-5, as Deska was busy overcoming Noe by the same score. Deska took command of that quarterfinal match to win it 7-2, and though he put up a fight in the semifinals, Shuff prevailed 7-5 for a second shot at Green.
Shuff took the opening set of the double elimination final 7-4, and completed his 6-1 day with a 7-3 victory in the second set.
The Action Pool Tour also awarded another Lambros Cue, this one valued at $1,200, to Dan Madden who came out on top of a season-long competition in participation points. Madden had acquired a winning participation-point total of 167 points, based on attendance at 12 of the tour's 13 events in the 2012-2013 season. In addition, Debbie Davis was recognized as the tour's top female performer, having finished at #23 in the overall rankings, from participation in nine of the 13 tour stops.
Mike Davis followed his win in the Open portion of the George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament on Labor Day weekend by traveling four hours south to Herndon, VA and winning the season finale of the Action Pool Tour. In so doing, Davis stopped an eight-match, loss-side winning streak by Danny Green, who faced him in the finals. The event drew 64 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
Davis started strong, winning his first four matches by an aggregate score of 28-6. He shut out Steve Luskey and Doug Grams, while giving up three racks each to Jimmy Varias and Dan Madden. This set him up to face Chris Bruner in one winners' side semifinal, as Larry Kressel and Jimmy Endara squared off in the other. Davis was tested by Bruner and had to win a deciding 13th game to advance to the hot seat match, where he was met by Endara, who'd sent Kressel west 7-2. Davis then prevailed 7-4 over Endara and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Green.
Meanwhile, on the loss side, Green, who'd won his opening match and then fell to Brandon Shuff 7-4 in the second round, was chalking up the wins. He was tested by Sean Sporleder in his opening, loss-side match, but survived a double hill battle to move on and shut out Rocky Guell. He followed up with victories over Kim Whitman, Matt Kravitz, Dave Hunt and Brian Dietzenbach to pick up Bruner, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Kressel came over and met up with Dan Madden, who, following his loss to Davis, had defeated Dominic Noe 5-3 and just did get by Brandon Shuff, double hill.
Madden won a second straight double hill match, defeating Kressel, as Green was busy getting by Bruner 5-2. Green took the quarterfinal match 5-3, and then got a shot at Davis with a 5-2 win over Endara in the semifinals. Davis, though, stopped the streak with a 7-4 win in the finals that, in effect, ended the regular season of the Action Pool Tour.
Brett Stottlemyer, who finished in this event in the tie for 13th place, finished the season at the top of the Action Pool Tour rankings, and as a result, earned free entry to next month's US Open 9-Ball Championship. Dan Madden's fourth place finish in this event moved him up to second place. Tour director Ozzy Reynolds and Dominic Noe entered the tournament in second and third place, respectively, and finished with their positions reversed; Noe in third, and Reynolds in fourth, as Noe finished in the 9/12 slots, and Reynolds in the tie for 17th place.
Though this was the last point-earning stop on the tour, there is one more event left on the tour calendar – the Lambros Cue Round Robin tournament, scheduled for September 28-29 at First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA. The tour's top 10 players will participate in a series of round robin matches, and this year (unlike in the past), the top four finishers in the round robin will square off in a single elimination event, leading to a winner, who'll receive a $2,000 Lambros Cue. Prizes will be awarded at the event to the top players of the season, as well as awards for Best Sportsman, overall participation, top female performer, best sponsor and best room.
Mike Davis took two out of three matches against Brandon Shuff to claim the twelfth stop on the 2012-2013 Action Pool Tour season. Heading into the tour's final point-eligible event, scheduled for September 7-8, Davis' victory assured him a spot among the tour's top 10 players for the 2012-2013 season. The event drew 37 entrants to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
After being awarded an opening round bye, Davis got by Stephano Araviakis, Steve Wigglesworth and the tour's #3-ranked player, Dominic Noe. This set him up to play a winners' side semifinal match against Dan Madden, the #4-ranked player. Shuff and the tour's #1-ranked player, Brett Stottlemyer, squared off in the other winners' side semifinal. Shuff sent Stottlemyer to the loss side 9-6, and prepared for his first of three against Davis, who'd defeated Madden 9-2. Davis took the first of those three 9-6, and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Shuff to get back.
Stottlemyer moved to the loss side and met up with Shaun Wilkie, who'd been sent over by Shuff in the third round. Wilkie had picked up a forfeit victory over Dominic Noe and then given up only a single rack to Mike Ricciardella. Madden drew Danny Green, who'd eliminated Leo McDaniel 7-3, and Jeremy Perkins 7-5. Both of the matches, fought for advancement to the quarterfinals. went double hill; Stottlemyer picking up his second straight loss, advancing Wilkie, as Madden was ending Green's weekend.
The quarterfinal match between Madden and Wilkie (two of the tour's top 10) went to double hill, too, with Madden prevailing for a shot at Shuff in the semifinals. That match came within a game of being double hill, too, but Shuff earned his re-match against Davis in the finals with a 7-5 win over Madden.
Shuff took the opening set of the finals, chalking up his nine racks and restricting Davis to four. Davis, though, came back in the shortened second set to chalk up seven, holding Shuff to four and claiming his third Action Pool Tour victory.
Stottlemyer will be the 2012-2013 Action Pool Tour's top-ranked player
Regardless of the outcome of the APT's final stop on the weekend of September 7-8, at Breaker's Sky Lounge in Verndon, VA, Brett Stottlemyer will end the season as the tour's #1-ranked player. His fifth-place finish in this event earned him performance points that put him out of reach of his closest competitors for the tour ranking title. He will, as a result, be awarded the tour's top-ranking prize of free entry to the US Open 9-Ball Championships in October.
There could be an interesting battle on that final tour stop for the tour's second and third-ranked players. Separated, for the moment, by only 29 points in the tour's performance standings (and assuming their presence), tour director Ozzy Reynolds (#2, for now) and Dominic Noe will be battling for that position. If Reynolds finishes the final event ahead of Noe, he will secure the second spot. If the reverse is true, Noe could finish in that spot. There is, too, the possibility that the #4-ranked player, Dan Madden, could pass them both; assuming that at the last event, he is present and finishes ahead of them, way ahead of them.
On the weekend of July 13-14, sitting atop the leader board on the Action Pool Tour, Brett Stottlemyer was looking to solidify that position with his second victory on the (thus far) 11-stop season, dating back to October. Though there are others on the tour who've won more events (Mike Davis and Brandon Shuff, for example), Stottlemyer has participated in all 11 events, and it's his 'Participation Points' and relatively high finishes in each of those stops that has him at the top of the rankings, just ahead of tour director, Ozzy Reynolds, who has, for obvious reasons, also been in attendance at all 11 stops. Stottlemyer's search for a second victory was derailed by Chris Bruner, who entered the tournament at # 36 in the tour rankings, on the basis of attendance at five of the events. Bruner took two out of three matches against Stottlemyer to claim title to Event # 11, which drew 60 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge, in Herndon, VA.
They met first among the winners' side final eight. Bruner sent Stottlemyer west 7-4 and advanced among the winners' side final four for a match against Rafael Reyes. Danny Mastermaker, in the meantime, who'd won Stop # 8 in April and from his # 11 spot, was looking to step inside the Top 10 in rankings, met up with Dan Madden. Mastermaker dominated his match against Madden, winning 7-1 and advancing to the hot seat match against Bruner, who'd downed Reyes 7-4. Bruner then survived a double hill match against Mastermaker to claim the hot seat.
Stottlemyer, in the meantime, began his work on the loss side with a 6-1 victory over Danny Mastermaker's brother, Joey, and then defeated the #2-ranked Ozzie Reynolds 6-2, to meet up with Madden. Reyes drew Shaun Wilkie, who'd gotten by Daniel Jarquin 6-1 and #3-ranked Dominic Noe. It was Stottlemyer and Wilkie, advancing to the quarterfinals; Stottlemyer 6-2 over Madden and Wilkie 6-3 over Reyes.
Stottlemyer and Wilkie battled to double hill in those quarterfinals, with Stottlemyer prevailing to pick up Danny Mastermaker. Stottlemyer earned a second shot against Bruner with a 6-3 victory over Mastermaker in the semifinals, and then, took the opening set of the finals 7-3. Bruner, though, rallied to take the second set 6-4 and claim the event title. Though denied the event victory, Stottlemyer's second place finish did, in fact, solidify his top spot in the tour rankings, still ahead of Reynolds and Noe.
Larry Kressel (Photo courtesy of Action Pool Tour)
Larry Kressel jumped up about eight slots in the Action Pool Tour rankings (from #15 to #7) with an undefeated, June 22-23 weekend on the tour. Kressel downed Dave Hunt twice in the event that drew 39 entrants to Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
Kressel squared off against Chris Futrell in one winners' side semifinal, as Hunt took on tour director Ozzy Reynolds in the other. Kressel sent Futrell packing, westbound 9-5, as Hunt defeated Reynolds 9-3. In their first of two, Kressel sent Hunt to the semifinals 9-7.
On the loss side, Reynolds picked up R.J. Carmona, who'd defeated Max Schlothauer 7-5 and Nilbert Lim 7-1. Futrell drew the tour's current ranking leader, Brett Stottlemyer, who'd gotten by Chad Pike 7-4 and Eric Moore 7-1. Reynolds and Stottlemyer went down in identical 7-3 losses to Carmona and Futrell, who moved on to face each other in the quarterfinals.
The final two, loss-side matches proved to be double hill struggles. Futrell won the first of these in the quarterfinals against Carmona. Futrell and Hunt, both looking for a second chance against Kressel, battled to double hill in the semifinals until Hunt prevailed and got the chance. Kressel took the final set 9-5 to claim the event title.
The victory left Stottlemyer atop the tour rankings, with Reynolds moving into second place, ahead of Dominic Noe, who finished in this event, tied for 17th place. Hunt's second place finish moved him up a slot or two in the rankings, from his former #6 position into third, behind Reynolds and Noe.
Max Schlothauer, who's been on the pool scene for over a decade and was seen, most recently, placing third in the Super Billiards Expo's Amateur Championship, signed on for his first Action Pool Tour stop on the weekend of June 1-2, as the tour was celebrating its second year. He ended up defeating the tour's #1-ranked player, Brett Stottlemyer twice, and double dipped tour director Ozzy Reynolds in the finals to capture the event title. The event drew 42 entrants to VIP Billiards in Catonsville, MD.
Schlothauer and Reynolds met first in the battle for the hot seat. Schlothauer had begun his first-ever Action Pool Tour campaign by sending Stottlemyer to the loss side 9-6 in the opening round of play. He'd followed that with victories over Teresa Thomas, Alvin Thomas, and Dan Madden, at which point, he moved among the winners' side final four and matchup against Jimmy Varias.
Reynolds, in the meantime, who'd been awarded an opening round bye and survived a second round, double hill fight against Trevor Dentz, went on to defeat Rick Glasscock, Cheryl Sporleder and among the final four winners, met up with David Hennessy.
Schlothauer sent Varias west 9-3, as Reynolds advanced to the hot seat match to meet him with a 9-7 victory over Hennessy. In his second successful double hill match, Reynolds won the first of three over Schlothauer, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting his return.
On the loss side, Stottlemyer was at work on the eight-match winning streak that would bring him all the way back to the semifinals. He won his fifth against Cheryl Sporleder 7-2, and his sixth against Dominic Noe 7-1, which set him up to face Varias. Hennessy met Dave Hunt, who was on a seven-match, loss-side streak of his own, surviving a double hill match against Shaun Wilkie and defeating Don Steele 7-2, to pick up Hennessy.
Hunt advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-1 victory over Hennessy, and was met by Stottlemyer, who'd eliminated Varias 7-5. Stottlemyer won his seventh on the loss side (denying Hunt his eighth) with a 7-5 victory, setting up a re-match from the first round, in the semifinals. Schlothauer won his second against Stottlemyer 7-3 and earned a second shot against Reynolds.
Schlothauer took the opening set of the finals 9-7. In the race-to-7 second set, he defeated Reynolds 7-2 to capture the event title.
The husband and wife team of Sean and Cheryl Sporleder took home some prize money from the event. Sean won the Second Chance tournament, defeating Curtis Branker in the finals, while Cheryl, who finished in the tie for ninth place, captured the $100, highest female finisher prize.
