Matt Tetreault, Andrea Duvall (room owner) and Suad Kantarevic
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour crowned another first time tour stop winner as Suad Kantarevic won the third “Supplemental Tour Stop” at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard on July 10-11.
Kantarevic was one of fifty three players who came out to this “Supplemental” tour stop, held before the tour officially kicks off it’s 2021/2022 season in October. Kantarevic’s best career finish on the tour was a runner-up finish in last year’s N.E. Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open, dropping his finals match to Rodney Morris. Morris was not an obstacle for Kantarevic at this event, thought it might not have mattered as well as he was playing. Kantarevic cruised through Saturday matches against Glen Van Court, Cliff Hard, Jordan Turner and Jim Kearney, without allowing an opponent more than four games in any one match.
Sunday got started with Kantarevic still in top gear, as he sent Nick Brucato to the one loss side 9-3 in the first match of the day. That left Matt Tetreault as the last obstacle between Kantarevic and the hot-seat, after Tetreault defeated Dave Dreidel in their early Sunday match 9-8. The hot-seat match with Tetreault proved to be Kantarevic’s biggest challenge of the weekend, and he won it 9-7.
Brucato was on a tear on the one loss side, with dominating wins over Marko Clarke and Peter Khuoc, but he had no answer for Tetreault, dropping their semi-final match 7-1.
Any momentum that Tetreault may have gained with the win over Brucato was quickly stifled as Kantarevic ran away with a 9-3 win in the first set of the finals for his first ever Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Bruce Carroll go undefeated, with three consecutive hill-hill wins (Christine Cockrell, Jim Kearney and Rohit Aggarwal for the hot-seat) on his way to the hot-seat. Aggarwal came from the one loss side to offer one more challenge for Carroll but Carroll won the first set of the finals 3-0 for the tournament win.
It’s been a couple of years since the Western New York Pool Tour (WNYPT) has been in what could be described as full swing, or ‘stroke,’ if you prefer the pool analogy. Tour director Nick Brucato hasn’t been idle, but with children entering and proceeding through elementary school, his time was restricted somewhat, and what time he did have, he spent playing instead of organizing and directing tournaments. There have been a few here and there, unreported, over the past couple of years, but with a tournament held this past weekend, February 29, at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester, NY, Brucato is announcing the return, hopefully, the robust return of the Western New York Pool Tour.
“We’re going to start having two stops a month,” he said, literally still working on the precise schedule and sponsorships for the tour. “We’ll be back at Diamonds in Rochester in a couple of weeks.”
It’s perhaps fitting that this ‘return’ of the Western New York Tour was won by one of its strongest competitors, Dave Grau, who’s won a number of its stops over the year, while also competing and winning on the Joss Tour and a number of New England-based events. He won a Joss Tour stop in February last year and finished 9th at the 10th Annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open. His last recorded cash finish on the Western New York Tour came three years ago, when he finished as runner-up to Nick Brucato. They almost met in the finals at this most recent event; almost, as in . . . Brucato came from the loss side and was defeated by Grau in the semifinals. Grau and hot seat occupant, Jake Miosi, played a single deciding-game final, won by Grau.
The worked their way through the short field, facing two opponents to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal. Grau downed Dan Miosi 6-1 and survived a double hill fight against Geoff Montgomery to draw Qais Kolee in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Miosi opened with a double hill win over Fran Imburgia and then, shut out Brucato to pick up Sourith Thammavong in the other winners’ side semifinal.
With something of a pattern emerging, Miosi followed his double hill win and shutout with a second double hill win, over Thammavong. Grau sent Kolee to the loss side 6-3. Miosi broke the pattern with a 6-4 win over Grau to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Thammavong picked up Montgomery, who, following his defeat at the hands of Grau, chalked up loss side wins over Fran Imburgia 4-1 and a double hill win over Sean Zen. Kolee got Brucato, who was working on a modest two-match, loss-side streak in which he’d given up only a single rack; giving up none to Cory Welfare and the one, to Nick Cappolla.
Thammavong downed Montgomery 4-1, as Brucato gave up more racks in his third loss-side match than he’d given up against his previous two opponents combined. Kolee battled him to double hill, but Brucato prevailed, advancing to the quarterfinals and then, downing Thammavong 4-2.
Grau and Brucato battled to a somewhat predictable double hill juncture before Grau prevailed for a second shot at Miosi in the hot seat. It was decided that their second meetup would be a single game for the title. Grau won it to claim the first WNYPT pool title in quite a while.
Brucato thanked Diamond Billiard owners Fran and Jeremiah Imburgia and Cinder Ziegler and the staff for their hospitality. Stay tuned to these spaces for information about upcoming events on the tour and its sponsors.
Bucky Souvanthong, Brickhouse Billiards Co Owner Brad Rees and Ron Casanzio
The talk on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the six tournament winning streak put together by Jeremy Sossei. Over the October 26th – 27th weekend at Brick House Billiards in Syracuse NY, Bucky Souvanthong started building a winning streak of his own.
Souvanthong had three lopsided Saturday wins over Gary Hinkley (9-3), Eric Hamel (9-4) and Hendrik Drost (9-5). Things got tougher on Sunday morning though, as Souvanthong went to hill-hill before sending Ron Casanzio to the one loss side. Next up for Souvanthong was Jay Goyer in the hot-seat match. That match went to Souvanthong 9-6.
After wins over Tony Antone, Dave Ricci and Goyer, Ron Casanzio would be the one to come out of the one loss side to challenge Souvanthong in the finals. Looking back on Souvanthong and Casanzio’s hill-hill match earlier, it was no surprise that the rematch would be another close one. The players were tied at 7-7 when Souvanthong took the hill at 8-7 and then proceeded to make the 9-ball on the break in rack sixteen, for the 9-7 win.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester, NY on November 2nd and 3rd for their next stop. Players who are interested in playing in January’s Turning Stone Classic XXXIII are urged to contact Mike Zuglan and get their entry fees in.
Spencer Auigbelle, Qais Kolee, Nick Brucato & Kyle Bova
Possibly forgoing the inevitable march of procrastinators searching for gifts three days before Christmas, a hearty crew of 28 entrants braved near-freezing temperatures in Rochester, NY to attend the Western New York Pool Tour’s 6th Annual Jingle Grind Christmas Classic, hosted by Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester. At the end of the evening, Qais Kolee, sitting in the hot seat, and Kyle Bova, who’d won five on the loss side to get a shot at him, decided against a final match and split $1,650 in prize money, a decent ‘Merry Christmas’ money for the both of them.
Kolee had chalked up three straight 6-3 wins over Luis Bani, Jake Miosi and Geoff Montgomery to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Brad Wesley. Spencer Augbelle, in the meantime, had downed Dave Ricci 6-4, and then survived two straight double hill matches, sending Mark Hadley and Kyle Bova to the loss side. Bova, like Jacob Marley, would return to haunt Augbelle in the semifinals, but for the moment, Augbelle advanced to face Jeremiah Imburgia in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Kolee got into the hot seat match with a 6-4 victory over Wesley, and met up with Auigbelle, who’d defeated Imburgia 6-2. Kolee claimed the hot seat and his last victory of the day, 6-4.
On the loss side, Wesley picked up Bova, who, following his defeat at the hands of Augbelle, had shut out Nick Cappolla and given up four to Adam Smith. Imburgia drew tour director Nick Brucato, who never did get a chance for a re-match against Wesley, who’d sent him over, but was working on a modest, three-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent wins over Jerry Sullivan 6-3 and Geoff Montgomery 6-4.
Brucato’s hopes for a re-match were spoiled by Bova, who shut Wesley out. Brucato joined him in the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Imburgia. Bova ended Brucato’s day (competing) with a 6-4 quarterfinal win.
Bova and Augbelle’s semifinal re-match proved to be the last match of the event. Bova won it 6-4, and as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, claimed the event title. The decision to split the final two cash prizes was made, and everybody went home to their respective holiday revels.
Qays Kolee, Room Owner Andrea Duvall and Bucky Souvanthong
Bucky Souvanthong came through a field of 46 players to win his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop of the new season at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard on October 27th – 28th.
Kolee’s final three matches before the hot-seat match couldn’t have been much closer as he defeated Nick Brucato 9-8, Hendrick Drost 9-7 and Spencer Auigelle 9-8.
Souvanthong took the hot-seat with a fairly routine 9-5 win. Kolee scored a more convincing 7-4 win over Auigbelle on the one loss side, but dropped the first set of the finals against Souvanthong 9-3.
Twenty one players came back to Billiards on the Boulevard on Sunday for the $500 added second chance tournament. Fred Gokey defeated Mike Sykes for the hot-seat 3-2, and then defeated Nick Coppola in the second set of the finals (after a 3-0 loss in the first set) 3-2 for the win.
Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Director Mike Zuglan is urging players interested in playing in the Turning Stone Classic XXXI to contact him as soon as possible. He has “a handful of spots left”, and the event will certainly fill up.
Bruce Nagle went undefeated to win a very contested John Babravich / Jim Romanowski Memorial tournament held by the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour at Sharp Shooters Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam NY on October 13th – 14th.
While Nagle went undefeated, none of his wins (Jeremy Sossei, Sam Marranca, Nick Brucato, Tom Haas and Scott Haas for the hot-seat) were by a margin of more than three racks. His hot-seat opponent, Scott Haas, only had one match that could be continued one sided, when he defeated Willie Oney 9-4 on Saturday.
On the one loss side, Ron Casanzio was bouncing back from a Saturday loss to Brucato. While his Saturday wins on the left side of the board were pretty dominant, his Sunday started with back-to-back 7-5 wins (Nicolas Charette, Tom Haas and Sossei). Casanzio’s semi final win over Scott Haas was even closer at 7-6.
With all of the close matches that Nagle had, and Casanzio’s momentum from the one loss side, a close final match was expected. Surprisingly, Nagle scored his most lopsided win of the event in the first set of the finals when he defeated Casanzio 9-5 for first place.
In Sunday’s fourteen player second chance tournament, Bob Forchilli fought to a 6-7 overall record against Ben Werblow, but that was still enough for first place. Forchilli lost to Werblow 3-0 for the hot-seat, but came back to double dip Werblow in the finals 3-2 and 3-2.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend, with another $1500 / $500 added stop at Brick House Billiards in North Syracuse, NY. Joss Tour director Mike Zuglan says he is over 2/3 full as far as entries into the Turning Stone Classic XXXI on January 10 – 13. Interested players are urged to get their entries into Mike as soon as possible as this event will fill up.
(l to r): Spencer Auigbelle, Kayla (Manager of Shooters) & Jeremy Sossei
It’s been just over 10 years (November, 2007) since Jeremy Sossei chalked up his first win on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour. That first win, at what was the Ocean State 9-Ball Championships, saw him win five on the loss side, including a semifinal victory over George “Ginky” Sansouci to double dip Tony Robles in the finals, with the second set going double hill. On the weekend of February 17-18, at the 30th Northeast 9-Ball Open, Sossei recorded his 18th victory on the tour, going undefeated through the field. Though he would enter the event as the #2 player on the tour and face #1 (Matt Tetreault; 10 points ahead) in the hot seat match, it would be a four-years-in-the-making finals rematch against Canadian Spencer Auigbelle that would decide it. The win, combined with Tetreault’s third place finish, moved Sossei 65 points ahead of Tetreault and into the top spot in the tour standings. The $2,000-added ($500 for Second Chance) event drew 40 entrants to Sharpshooter’s Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY.
Four years ago, they’d met in the hot seat match and finals, with Sossei winning them both. This past weekend, they met first in a winners’ side quarterfinal, each having downed three opponents to get there. Sossei defeated Auigbelle 9-6 in that winners’ side quarterfinal and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bucky Souvanthong (who finished third in the event four years ago). Tetreault, in the meantime, squared off against Dave Giner in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sossei sent Souvanthong to the loss side 9-7, and in the hot seat match, faced Tetreault, who’d defeated Giner 9-2. The tour’s #2 player (Sossei) claimed the hot seat from the #1 player (Tetreault) 9-5 and waited on the return of (at the time) a player (Auigbelle) with only 60 ranking points chalked up over two events.
Auigbelle began his trip back to the finals with a 7-4 win over Mike Hurley, and then defeated Jorge Teixeira 7-2, to draw Giner. Souvanthong picked up Bruce Carroll, who’d been defeated in the opening round of play, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would end when he finally ran into Auigbelle. A double hill win over Nick Brucato, and a 7-2 victory over Bruce Nagle, set Carrol up against Souvanthong.
Carroll advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Souvanthong, while Auigbelle defeated Giner 7-1 to join him. Auigbelle ended Carroll’s loss-side streak 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, defeated Tetreault in the semifinals 7-3.
With momentum as a bit of a tail wind, Auigbelle won the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-3. Sossei came back and won the second 9-6 to claim the event title.
A 16-entrant Second Chance Tournament saw Jared Zimmerman go undefeated through the field, but not before Mark Stewart, who lost his opening round match and won seven on the loss side, challenged him in the finals. Zimmerman took that final 3-1 to claim the Second Chance title, and its $300 first prize. Stewart took home $200 as the runner-up, whiLe Mike Hurley finished third ($140). Josh Scheff finished fourth ($100), while Greg Bombard and Nick Brucato finished in the tie for fifth ($40 each). Ryan Smith was the raffle winner of a $1,200 Joss Cue.
The next stop on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25, will be hosted by East Ridge Billiards in Rochester, NY.
(l to r): Andrea Duvall (owner of Hippo’s), John McConnell, Ron Casanzio, & Matt Tetreault
Ron Casanzio has had several shots at the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s Al Conte Memorial over the years. He’s cashed in seven of the nine, to date. He was runner-up to Dennis Hatch in the first one (2009) and Shaun Wilkie in the fifth (2013). On the weekend of November 4-5, he became the event’s seventh winner, following in the footsteps of (in order) Hatch, Shane Winters, Mike Davis, Jeremy Sossei (three-time winner; ’12, ’14 and ‘15), Wilkie and Nelson Oliveira. The $1,500-added, 9th Annual Al Conte Memorial, the fourth stop on the 2017-2018 Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, drew 33 entrants to Hippo’s House of Billiards in Yorkville, NY.
Casanzio was one of three competitors at this event, along with Bucky Souvanthong and Angelo Hilton, who cashed in the first Al Conte Memorial. He became the only one of the three to do so in this one. Match by match, until the finals, Casanzio’s opponents steadily closed the margin of victory against him. He got by Bruce Nagle in the opening round 9-1, then Aaron Greenwood 9-3, and Marko Clarke 9-4 to join Matt Tetreault in one of the winners’ side semifinals. John McConnell, in the meantime, who’d sent Frank Cartani (9-4), Jerry Crowe (9-3), and Dwight Dixon (9-4) to the loss side, squared off against Mike Donnelly in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Casanzio got into the hot seat match with a continuation of the ‘reduced margin of victory’ phenomenon, downing Tetreault 9-5. McConnell joined him with a 9-5 victory over Donnelly. Casanzio claimed the hot seat 9-7 over McConnell and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Tetreault picked up Joe Darigis, who’d been sent over by Donnelly in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Nick Brucato 9-4 and Dwight Dixon 9-6. Donnelly drew Jose Mendez, who was on a modest four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had included recent wins over Norm Vernon 9-3 and Marko Clarke 9-5.
Tetreault advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-6 win over Darigis, and was joined by Mendez, who’d handed Donnelly his second straight loss 9-7. Tetreault eliminated Mendez in that quarterfinal 9-3, but had his hopes for a re-match against Casanzio eliminated when McConnell defeated him 9-5 in the semifinals.
In their second of two, Casanzio broke the ‘margin of victory’ chain. He defeated McConnell 9-5 to claim his first Al Conte Memorial title.
A $500-added Second Chance tournament saw Willie Oney finish in the top spot, downing Mark Creamer in the finals. Aaron Greenwood finished third and Bruce Carroll took the fourth spot. Pete Khudc took home a $1,200 Joss Cue in the event’s raffle.
The fifth stop on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be the 29th Ocean State 9-Ball Championship. Scheduled for the weekend of November 11-12, the $5,000-added event will be hosted by Snooker’s Billiards, Bar and Grill in Providence, RI.
Adam Devoe (room owner), Bucky Souvanthong, Bruce Nagle and Mike Zuglan
Last week's quarterfinal match on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour (stop #12) turned into this past week's finals (stop #13), as Bruce Nagle completed an undefeated run through a field of 39 entrants, defeating Bucky Souvanthong in the finals, to claim the title. The $1,500-added event ($500-added to Second Chance tournament), held on the weekend of March 18-19, was hosted by King Smiley Billiards in Fort Edward, NY.
Nagle and Souvanthong advanced through the bracket to the winners' side semifinals. Nagle made it out of them, Souvanthong did not. Nagle sent Nick Brucato to the loss side 9-2, as Steve Lillis downed Souvanthong, double hill. Nagle claimed the hot seat 9-5 over Lillis and waited for Souvanthong to complete a three-match, loss-side trip.
On the loss side, Souvanthong picked up Noah Wells, who, after being awarded a bye, was defeated by Brucato in the event's second round, and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. Wells had most recently downed Fred Gokey and Dave LeBrun, both 9-5. Brucato drew a re-match against Brent Boemmels, whom he'd defeated on the winners' side, just after sending Wells over. Boemmels was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak, having recently defeated Ben Werblow, double hill, and Dave Fernandez 9-5.
Souvanthong and Boemmels advanced to the quarterfinals; Boemells successfully wreaking his vengeance on Brucato, in a tightly contested match, 9-7, and Souvanthong sending Wells home 9-4. Souvanthong then defeated Boemmels 9-6 and Lillis, in the semifinals, 9-5.
In the finals, Souvanthong chalked up more racks against Nagle than any of Nagle's previous opponents, but it wasn't enough. Nagle hung on to complete his undefeated run 9-6, and though he's chalked up two wins on Second Chance tournaments on this year's tour (2016-2017), according to our records, this was his first Joss Tour main event win.
In the $500-added Second Chance Tournament, which drew 20 entrants, Frank Sorriento, who was runner-up in the March 11-12 Second Chance Tournament, won five on the loss side, to challenge and eventually double-dip hot seat occupant Dave LeBrun. Sorriento had survived a double hill battle versus Mike Shoemaker in the 5/6 matches, and over the next four matches, including the double set final gave up only one rack; to Mike Verducci in the semifinals. He finished with two shutouts over LeBrun.
In addition to the prize winners in both events, David Dumas was the raffle winner of a $1,500 Joss Cue. Players are reminded that the site for the next stop on the tour (#14), scheduled for April 8-9, has been changed from Salt City Billiards in Syracuse to Hippo's House of Billiards in Utica. Salt City Billiards was destroyed in an early morning fire last month (Feb. 8). No one was injured in the blaze, and though owners are optimistic about rebuilding, no final decisions have been made.
Joss Tour director Mike Zuglan is continuing to remind players that entries for Turning Stone XXVIII, scheduled for Aug. 31- Sept 3 are filling up fast, with nearly three-quarters of the field already registered. Visit the Turning Stone Web site (http://www.turningstone.com), or contact Zuglan, for further information.
Geoff Montgomery and Dave Dreidel won their respective events in 8-ball and 9-ball at the Dutch Mill Holiday Classic, held on January 13-14, under the auspices of the Western New York Tour. The two came within a single match of playing against each other in both finals. Each event drew 20 entrants to the Dutch Mill Restaurant, Party House and Pool Room in Greece, NY. Montgomery picked up a second title at a Friday the 13th Warm-Up, a single elimination event, which drew 16 entrants.
As is often, though not always, the case in double elimination tournaments, the finalists met twice in these two events. In the 8-ball tournament, Dan Miosi defeated Montgomery in the hot seat match, only to be unseated by him in a single-game final. Dreidel had been defeated by Montgomery in the opening round of the 8-ball tournament. Dreidel won nine on the loss side to earn a re-match against Montgomery in the semifinals, but a second win sent Montgomery to the finals, where he defeated Miosi. In the 9-ball tournament, Dreidel came back from a loss in the hot seat match to double dip Montgomery in the finals.
The Friday night 'warm up,' which featured races to 4, saw Montgomery and Mark Hatch square off in one semifinal, as tour director Nick Brucato faced Phil Johnson in the other. Montgomery shut Hatch out, as Johnson squeaked by Brucato 4-3. Montgomery took the final 4-1 over Johnson to add $400 to his weekend prize package.
In the 8-ball event, with Dreidel already long at work on the loss side, Montgomery advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Chris Bassett, while Dan Niosi faced Jeff Purall. Montgomery and Niosi moved into the hot seat match with 3-1 victories, and by that same score, Niosi grabbed the hot seat from Miosi.
On the loss side, five matches in to his nine-match streak, Dreidel eliminated Jake Miosi (son to Dan) 3-1, to draw Purall. Bassett picked up Jason DeWolf, who'd just defeated Chad Strong 3-2.
The two loss-side combatants handed the recent arrivals from the winners' side their second straight defeat; Dreidel downing Purall 3-1 and DeWolf defeating Bassett, double hill.
Dreidel won the subsequent quarterfinal, double hill, over DeWolf, and got a second shot at Montgomery with a 3-1 victory over Dan Niosi in the semifinals. Montgomery ended Dreidel's streak 3-1 for a second shot against Miosi. That second shot played out in a single game final, won by Montgomery to claim the title. Lynette Cooper and Tracy Roth picked up $65 each as the event's top two female finishers.
In the more traditional, double-meet-up way, Dreidel and Montgomery first squared off in the 9-ball event's hot seat match. Montgomery had shut out Jeff Purcell, as Dreidel was busy sending Nick Brucato to the loss side in a double hill fight. In another double hill fight, Montgomery sent Dreidel to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, having won his final match.
On the loss side, Purcell picked up Tracy Roth (on her way to a second 'top two females' cash award), who'd defeated Chad Strong, double hill. Brucato picked up the elder Miosi (Dan), who'd just eliminated Mindy Hagar 3-1 (Hagar picked up the second $30 cash prize for top female finisher). Purcell and Niosi advanced to the quarterfinals; Purcell 3-1 over Roth and Miosi, double hill over Brucato.
Purcell took the quarterfinal match 3-1 over Niosi, but had his loss-side streak ended 3-1 by Dreidel in the semifinals. Dreidel completed his much-shorter-this-time loss-side run with a 3-1 victory over Montgomery in the finals.
