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Matt Wilson goes undefeated to win Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s season finale

Doug Winnett, Matt Wilson and Miguel Hernandez

Daniel Herring claims tour’s 2022 Tour Champion title

Daniel Herring was going to be the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s 2022 Tour Champion before the first rack was broken at the tour finale, held this past weekend (Nov. 19-20) at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX. Though he’d finish in the tie for 17th/24th competing in the finale, Herring was ahead by 350 points in the tour rankings going into it and effectively, couldn’t be caught. As it happened, his closest competitor for the tour champion title, Joshua Paredes, who finished in the tie for 9th/12th in the finale, was able to narrow the points gap down to 45 points (from 350 to 305) and remain in 2nd place in the rankings. Matt Wilson, who was in a tie for 9th place in the tour rankings going in and finished about 35 points behind Paredes for third place in the final rankings, went undefeated in the finale, claiming his second tour stop title. He’d defeated Herring in the finals of April’s stop. The $3,760-added tour finale drew 36 by-invitation-only entrants to Rusty’s.

After being awarded an opening round bye, Wilson’s path went through Curtis Caldwell and Fahad Alrawi (double hill), before running into Joshua Paredes in a winners’ side quarterfinal. He downed Paredes, double hill and faced Mark Lawson in a winners’ side semifinal. At the other end of the bracket, Doug Winnett opened with a 10-2 win over Jennifer Hooten and then locked up into two straight double hill battles against Robbie Smith and Tony Loeper. Winnett won them both to pick up Alberto Nieto Garcia in the other winners’ side semifinal. 

Wilson defeated Lawson 5-3 and was joined in the hot seat match by Winnett, who’d sent Garcia to the loss side 7-2. With Winnett racing to 8, Wilson claimed the hot seat 5-5 and waited on Miguel Hernandez, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Lawson and was working on a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way back to the finals.

On the loss side, Hernandez first ran into Curtis Caldwell, defeating him 6-6 (Caldwell racing to 8) and then, facing Don Baker, who’d arrived with Daniel Herring and Joshua Paredes as notches on his ‘gun belt,’ defeated him 6-3. Hernandez drew Garcia, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Lawson picked up Robert Reighter, who’d recently defeated Clint Palaci 7-5 and Tony Loeper 6-5 (Loeper racing to 8).

The two loss-side opponents in the 5th/6th matches advanced; Reighter defeating Lawson 5-3, while Hernandez dispatched Garcia 6-2. Hernandez and Reighter locked up in a double-hill, quarterfinal fight that continued Hernandez’ loss-side run and stopped Reighter’s. 

With Winnett racing to 7 in the semifinals, Hernandez took another step. He defeated Winnett 6-5 and got a shot at the event title versus Wilson, waiting for him in the hot seat.

In a straight-up race to 6, the ‘570’ (Fargo Rate, Hernandez) faced the ‘536’(Wilson), Hernandez needing to win two matches to claim the title. Wilson took the first and only set to complete his undefeated run and claim the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s season finale title.

Tour directors thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Cuetec, and associate sponsor, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. 

The Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s 2023 schedule is, at the moment, a work in progress. The schedule is expected to be posted ‘sometime in December,’ according to tour representatives.

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Moore adds to his best-earnings year with a single-loss run on Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour

Jesse Moore, Cameron Cummings and Joshua Paredes

In the absence of the top five competitors in the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings, two somewhat unlikely candidates emerged to finish as winner and runner-up at the 9th stop on the 2022 tour. Jesse Moore, who last year returned to the regional tour tables after what appeared to be an 11-year absence, went undefeated to the hot seat this past weekend (Sept. 17-18). Though he would lose the first set of a true double elimination final to runner-up Joshua Paredes, Moore persevered to take the second set and claim the title. The $1,750-added event drew 49 entrants to Jeffro’s in Canton, TX.

Having cashed three times previously this year, twice on the DFW 9-Ball Tour (finishing 4th and 7th) and once (17th) at Pool Action TV’s 9th annual Big Tyme Classic in Spring, TX in May, Moore was already in the midst of his best earnings year, to date. He’s brought home more cash this year than in the other two years his name showed up on our payout lists, combined; twice last year and once (his first known cash finish) in 2010. The win elevated him from the tour standing’s 30s to 5th place.

Joshua Paredes, whose runner-up finish at Stop #5 on the tour, combined with six other appearances, brought him in to this latest stop on the tour at #9 in the standings, was elevated to #2, five standing-points ahead of the absent Tony Top. With two wins and two runner-up finishes on the 2022 tour, Daniel Herring is at the top of the tour standings and uncatchable for the tour champion title. If Herring were to take a house by the sea somewhere, not compete in the tour’s final two stops and Paredes were to win them both, Paredes would finish five points behind Herring. 

After an opening round bye, Moore’s path to the winners’ circle went through Fahad Alrawi, and Daniel Bowman before he ran into a double-hill struggle against David Franklin in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Franklin began the match with six ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 10 and chalked up three of the four he needed to win. Moore had the final ‘say’ in the matter and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Ruben Juarez. Paredes worked his way through Monty Allbadi, Max Sun, Pasini Taloa and Clint Freeman to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Cameron Cummings.

Moore navigated his way through his second double-hill match, eventually downing Juarez and advancing to the hot seat match. Paredes joined him after defeating Cummings 5-4 (Cummings racing to 7). Paredes, racing to 4, forced Moore into his third straight double hill battle, but Moore closed it at 9-3 to claim the hot seat.

On the loss side, Cummings moved over and picked up Roger Prachyl, who’d recently defeated Michael Pickering, double hill (5-8; Pickering racing to 9) and David Franklin 6-1, was working on a four-match winning streak that was about to end. Juarez picked up Clint Freeman, who’d followed his winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Paredes with wins over Daniel Bowman 9-3 and, in a ‘Clint’ duel, Clint Palaci 7-4.

Freeman and Prachyl’s loss-side streaks came to an end with Juarez downing Freeman 5-4 (Freeman racing to 9) and Cummings defeating Prachyl 7-1. Cummings earned himself a rematch against Paredes with a 6-1 victory over Juarez in the quarterfinals, but Paredes defeated him 5-1 in the semifinals that followed.

Paredes began both sets of the true double-elimination final with four beads on the wire in a race to 9. They both chalked up five racks in the opening set, which, added to Paredes’ four, gave him the first-set win. Moore took the second set 9-2 to claim the event title.

Tour representatives thanked the owners and staff at Jeffro’s for their hospitality along with title sponsor Cuetec, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 23-24, will be hosted by Snookered in Frisco, TX. 

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Tour Newcomer Jon Rawlins Goes Undefeated for DFW 9-Ball Tour Win

Jon Rawlins, Fahad Alrawi and Albert Duran

Regional Tours being centered in specific areas of the country, usually attract a regular group of players who are familiar with each other from playing in stops on that tour, as well as other local events. Each stop typically comes down to which of the regulars is playing their best on that particular weekend. Once in a while though, a tour newbie dusts off his cue case and surprises everyone in the field. That was the case at the DFW 9-Ball Tour Tour Stop at Stixx and Stones Billiards in Lewisville, Texas on July 23rd – 24th. 

Jon Rawlins, a regular in nearby Denton Texas, ponied up his $80 to enter his first DFW Tour Stop, and went undefeated through the field of 75 players. Rawlins kicked off the event with a 7-0 win over Jim Dixon and followed that up with wins over Joshua Paredes and Raven Rahman on Saturday. 

Rawlins came back on Sunday and proved that Saturday was no fluke, as he defeated Alberto Nieto Garcia, Rachelle Dytko and Fahad Alrawi to get to the hot-seat match. Rawlins opponent for the hot-seat, Albert Duran, was on a bit of a roll himself. Duran, a Fargo 519 was getting weight from most opponents all weekend. He only needed to use that weight once, defeating Daniel Herring 4-5 in a first round 10-4 race. Duran went on to defeat Blake West, Pedro Mungia, Aaron Fleming, Jamie Welch and Tony Loeper to take his place in the hot-seat match. That hot-seat match was a 6-5 race and Duran would have needed the weight and more as Rawlins scored a 6-2 win to take the hot-seat. 

Duran found Alrawi on the one loss side, and the two competitors went hill-hill before Duran scored the win to earn another shot at Rawlins in the finals. Unfortunately for Duran, the finals were a repeat of the hot-seat match, with Rawlins scoring another 6-2 win for first place. 

The DFW 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on August 20th – 21st at Snookered Billiards in Frisco, Texas. 

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Herring goes undefeated at Stop #2 on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour

Aloysius Yapp, Daniel Herring and Tony Top

As a competitor on a regional tour, when the runner-up of the 2021 US Open 9-Ball Championships, who also finished third at last year’s World 10-Ball Championships and won an event on the CSI Predator US Pro Billiards Series back in September, shows up on the tour’s entrant roster, you have a tendency to pay attention. Pool is all about being in the moment at the tables and avoiding distractions related to who you might or might not have to face somewhere down the line, but when such a competitor pops up on your radar, you do scan the brackets every once in a while. And when you discover that this formidable opponent has only given up five racks through his first 54 games (winning almost nine out of every 10), your focus on the tables may be all well and good, but you do start wondering whether you might be one of the players designated to stop him. 

That said, if you enter a tournament as one of three players at the top of a regional tour’s rankings, you might actually look forward to the challenge. It was Tony Top, who entered last weekend’s event as the number #2 competitor in the tour’s rankings, who met the challenge and stopped one Aloysius Yapp, from what might well have been an undefeated run to the title. Twice, in fact. It was, however, Daniel Herring, the tour’s 2021 Tour Champion, who entered the tournament ranked #5 (5th/6th in the season opener) and finished it in the #1 spot, ahead of Top by just two points. He did that by going undefeated through the field. He didn’t have to face Yapp, but he did down Top twice, in the hot seat and finals. The $1,750-added, Stop# 2 on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour drew 80 entrants to Stixx & Stones in Lewisville, TX.

Yapp’s ‘take no prisoners’ run through his first five opponents, as he was racing to 10, included two shutouts (Tina Soto and Miguel Hernandez), two matches in which he gave up two racks (his opening match vs. Jeffrey Cho and later, against Fahad Alrawi) and a single match that allowed Crispian Ng a single rack. All of which put him against Top for the first time, in a winners’ side semifinal. Top, with an opening round bye in his pocket, had gotten by his first four opponents – Jim Dixon, Robbie Cleland, Clint Palaci and Tony Loeper – by an aggregate score of 32-14 (70% game-winning average).

Herring, in the meantime, started his journey to the winners’ circle with wins over Chase Laferney (2), Darrell Smith (4), Matt Dixon (3), Sharik Sayed (5) and TJ Davis (4) and came to his winners’ side semifinal match against Juan Parra, sporting a game-winning average a single percentage point lower than Top’s at 69%. 

Top began his first match against Yapp with five ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 9 and came within a single game of chalking up as many (actual) racks against him in the single match than all five of his previous opponents combined. He sent Yapp to the loss side 4-7. Herring joined him in the hot seat match after downing Parra 7-2. In a straight-up race to 7, Herring claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Top.

On the loss side, Yapp and Parra picked up Matt Wilson and Sharik Sayed, respectively. Wilson was likely not thinking a lot about Aloysius Yapp when he began his eight-match, loss-side winning streak, initiated by Tony Loeper in the second winners’ side round. Like most people who lose an opening round in a large, double-elimination bracket, he was more likely to be focused on surviving the matches right in front of him. If he was bracket-watching at all, he might have noted that the guy who’d sent him to the loss side, Loeper, was progressing as well, and there was a chance, the way the bracket was working out, that he could get an opportunity for a rematch in the quarterfinal. That didn’t happen, because Loeper fell into the 7/8 slot. Wilson chalked up wins #7 & #8 against TJ Davis, double hill, and Denny Sneed 5-6 (Sneed racing to 9) before falling to Yapp 10-2.

Sayed was working on a modest, five-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Crispian Ng 8-4 and Loeper 9-3. He joined Yapp in the quarterfinals after eliminating Parra 8-4.

Yapp ended Sayed’s brief loss-side streak 8-4 in the quarterfinals to set up a rematch against Top in the semifinals. Top started this match, as well, with five ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 9. He added four for a second time to end Yapp’s prior-to-him romp through the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball field.

Top now had to turn his attention to winning two matches in a row over Herring, waiting for him in the hot seat. He failed to chalk up two racks against him in what proved to be the only set necessary.  Herring completed his undefeated run 7-1 to claim the event title.

Tour director Monica Anderson thanked the ownership and staff at Stixx & Stones for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and associate sponsor Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop #3 on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 19-20, will be hosted by Snookered in Frisco, TX. 

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Stanley maintains top spot with undefeated win on the Omega Billiard Tour

Doug Pitts, Jesse Hernandez and Rick Stanley

 

Rick Stanley came into the 7th stop on the Omega Billiard Tour as its top player, ahead of Mike Voelkering by 70 points. At the end of that July 15-16, $1,700-added event that drew 64 entrants to Open Table in Azle, TX, Stanley had held on to that top spot, with Voelkering, finishing fourth, maintaining his position in second place. Stanley went undefeated through the field to capture the event title.
 
After four wins each, Stanley and Voelkering went head to head in one of the winners' side semifinals of this most recent event, as Jesse Hernandez (#17 on the tour's rankings list) and Robin Barbour (#16) squared off in the other one. Stanley (racing to 9) sent Voelkering (racing to 7) to the loss side 9-4. Hernandez sent Barbour over 7-3 to join Stanley in the hot seat match. Stanley put an exclamation point onto his victory in the hot seat match by shutting Hernandez out.
 
Over on the loss side, Voelkering opened his loss-side trek against Fahad Alrawi, who'd defeated Chris Rickman, double hill, and Justin Whitehead 5-2 to reach him. Barbour drew Douglas Pitts, who'd been defeated in the opening round of play and was on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak, that would include, most recently, victories over Jay Murillo 7-1 and Luis Lopez 7-4.
 
Voelkering and Pitts advanced to the quarterfinals; Voelkering 7-1 over Alrawi, and Pitts, chalking up loss-side win #8, 7-4 over Barbour. Voelkering's opportunity to gain ranking ground on Stanley was spoiled by Pitts, who won his last match of the weekend with a 7-5 win over Voelkering. Hernandez, though, spoiled any hopes Pitts may have been entertaining about an event victory by defeating him 7-2 in the semifinals.
 
After being shut out in the hot seat match, Hernandez put up a fight in those finals. He managed to chalk up four, but Stanley chalked up his requisite nine, claimed the event title and maintained his top-ranking on the Omega Billiard Tour.
 
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Open Table, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, scheduled for Aug. 5-6, will be hosted by Wizards in Richardson, TX.