The ViperKidz 14th Annual Colorado State Juniors 9-Ball Championships was held this past Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 7-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
Wyoming’s own Tyler Blowers (15) won 4-1 against Colorado’s own Owen Crispin (17) for the hot-seat match. Little Issac Garcia stole the show playing way-over-his-own-handicap beating this year’s 8-ball champion Aaron Krapes 3-1 and newcomer Andon Buck 3-0 in the quarter finals.
Issac had a chance to make it the finals but ended up losing 5-1 to Owen to finish 3rd place in the championships. Owen being determined to keep the title here in Colorado made it to the finals and would have had to beat Ty twice to win the championships but in the end, it was Ty who won the final match 5-1 to win the championships…
All the kids were awarded points for each event they participated in this year’s events and at the end it was Ty Blowers won two of the three titles and was awarded a special prize that will be given at the first event scheduled for 2019.
We are super excited about next year’s schedule as it will include some additional bar table events.
Congratulations Tyler!
Top finishers:
Champion Ty Blowers – Jacoby custom cue, Plaque, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Owen Crispin – Plaque, Collectibles Package and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: Issac Garcia – Plaque and gift bag
4th Place finisher: Andon Buck – Plaque and gift bag
5th & 6th Place finishers: Aaron Krapes and Jerry Miller – Gift bags
7th-8th Place finishers: Amanda Campbell (Highest finishing female award and special gift bag) and Anthony Poitra – Gift bags
9th -12th Place finishers: Doug Moore, James Ballinger, Nick Macomber and Brandon Krapes – Gift bags
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great juniors’ programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program. For more information, photos, results, leader boards and future events please visit www.melissalittle.com
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and www.studio54denver.com
The ViperKidz Colorado Juniors 8-Ball Invitational Championships was held this past Saturday, October 27, 2018 at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 7-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
Colorado’s Jin Powell (8) beat Wyoming’s Tyler Blowers (14) for the hot seat 2-1 and then Tyler beat Jerry Miller for 3rd and came back to double dip Jin in the finals to win the championship.
The next ViperKidz event is the 13th Annual Colorado State Junior 9-Ball Championships and is scheduled for Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at the same location Felt Billiards.
All the kids are awarded points for each event they participate in and at the end of the year one person will receive an extra special prize for winning the all-around title and crowned the best junior player in the state.
Congratulations Tyler!
Top finishers:
Champion Ty Blowers – Jacoby custom cue, Plaque, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Jin Powell – Plaque, Collectibles Package and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: Jerry Miller – Plaque and gift bag
4th Place finisher & Highest Finishing Female Award: Amanda Campbell – (2) Plaques, Special gift bag and multiple gift bags.
5th & 6th Place finishers: Owen Crispin and Aaron Krapes
7th-8th Place finishers: Romey Grier and Michael Herera
9th -11th Place finishers: Issac Garcia, Aidin Sellers and Ryan Kojetin
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program.
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and www.studio54denver.com
Colorado’s popular juniors event kicked off with its 13th Annual Colorado State Juniors 9-Ball Championships this past Saturday, October 28th, 2017 which was held at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 8-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
14-year-old Jerry Miller of Evans, Colorado successfully won this year’s title by defeating Pueblo’s 14-year-old Nico Rodriquez winning two straight matches 4-0 & 4-1 in the finals to win this year’s championships.
Earlier in the year Nico won the 8-Ball Championship and Jerry won the 10-Ball event so there was no big surprise that these two were in finals of the end of the year’s State Championships.
Other Top finishers:
Champion Jerry Miller – Jacoby custom cue, trophy, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Nico Rodriquez – Trophy, huge Teddy Bear and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: James Ballinger – Trophy and gift bag
4th Place finisher & Highest Finishing Female Award: Amanda Campbell – (2) Trophies, Stuffed bear and multiple gift bags.
5th & 6th Place finishers: Issac and Hunter
7th-8th Place finishers: Jin and Mackenzie
9th -12th Place finishers: Nick H, Michael H, Noah and Soren
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program.
Mark your calendars as Melissa will be hosting three additional juniors events throughout the 2018 year.
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and Studio 54 Denver.
Fort Collins Colorado – Match-Ups Pool Hall hosted this years 9th Annual Colorado State Junior 9-Ball Champions. The one-day event had participates from all over Colorado’s Front Range that also included families travelling as far as Kansas and California to participates in this years juniors event.
The handicapped 9-ball tournament was packed-full of exciting matches as each of the participants was anxious to win the title and the Jacoby Custom cue grand prize. Colorado’s own 10-year-old Jerry Miller lost a tough match on the winner’s side and marched his way-winning notable matches against Kyleigh Weston (CO) and Dylan Harmon (KS) to make it to the finals.
Being a true double elimination tournament, little Jerry would have had to win twice against hot-seat match winner Nathan Diederich from CA. Jerry quickly won the first match with a score of 3-1. The second set, had the crowd on the edge of their seats as the close match closed with determined Nathan winning the final match 7-5 and becoming this years state champ!
14-year-old Nathan Diederrich, from Victorville, CA, has proven he is already among some of the best young upcoming pool players in U.S. as he also finished 4th in this years BEF Junior Nationals 14-under division.
Between the semi-finals and the finals, pros Mark Haddad from Colorado and Ohio’s Danny “The Shredder” Smith donated their time to perform a trick shot show, challenge matches and played a mini-grudge match to entertain the kids.
A special thanks to Match-Ups pool hall owners Nicole and Mike Hellmer for hosting this years event, Danny and Mark for encouraging and taking out time for the kids, Dr. Dave Alciatore for stopping by to watch and donated DVD’s to the kids, WPBA touring pro Melissa Little for donating $700 worth of future private lessons, baking cupcakes, organizing and running this fantastic event, Jacoby Custom Cues for donating every year’s grand prize, Qzetta.com for all the gift bag donations and an extra special thanks to ALL of the kids who participated in this years event!!
Colorado’s popular juniors event will kick off with its 9th Annual Colorado State Juniors 9-Ball Championships that is scheduled for Saturday, November 16th, 2013.
Tournament director and creator of this prestigious juniors event is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little. “This year will be the 1st time it is not hosted in downtown Denver and instead will continue forward each year in a new venue. I am excited to have the opportunity to host this event up north at Match-Up Billiards located at 625 S Mason Street, Fort Collins, Colorado and give the youth in neighboring states, like Wyoming, a better opportunity to participate.” says Little.
The youth event is open to any junior between the ages of 7-18 and will be handicapped by age groups. Doors will open at Match-Ups at 9 am and play will begin promptly at 10 am, $15 entry fee, double elimination, and participants will play 9-ball on the 9 ft. tables. Lots of prizes will be awarded to the kids throughout the event.
Other notable past Colorado State Champions are 2005 Zack Winter from Denver, CO., 2006 DJ Martinez from Pueblo, CO, 2007 Nicole Keeney from Englewood, CO., 2008 James Fortin from Denver, CO., 2009 Malek Haj Hussein from Colorado Springs, CO., 2010 Ricky Smiley from Colorado Springs, CO., 2011 Nick Weston from Greeley, CO., and last years winner was Randy Rodriguez from Cheyenne, WY.
Melissa Little would like to send out a special “Thanks” to long-time sponsors and supporter of the state championships Jacoby Custom Cues, Nicole and Mike Hellmer owners of Match-Ups Pool Hall and the new gift bag sponsor www.qzetta.com. Melissa created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool. She is also the creator of other programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, open clinics and her popular after school program.
For more information, photos, results and future events please visit www.melissalittle.com.
