In her second tournament back on the Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour, Las Vegas’ Rebecca Wagner shook off the rust and came through the one loss side to win stop three at Main Street Billiards in Mesa, Arizona on June 4th – 5th.
Wagner was the top rated player in the event, and she had to earn each and every match win, as she was giving up 6-3 races in many of her matches. She made it past 6-3 races against Claudia Justus and Misty Anderson, but a 6-3 race against tour veteran Terri Johnson-McCauley was too much for Wagner to handle. “She came with some crazy good outs that I didn’t anticipate.” said Wagner.
Johnson-McCauley didn’t have too long to celebrate on the winners side, as she dropped her next match to eventual hot-seat occupant Kaitlin Stengel. Stengel followed up the win over Johnson-McCauley with a hill-hill win over Stephanie Martin and then a win against Simone Huskey for the hot-seat.
Back on the one loss side, Wagner ended Saturday with two hill-hill wins (both 6-3 races) over Jamie Hagerty and Joanne Mattingly.
Wagner’s Sunday started with a 6-5 match against Rae Evans, who had not lost a match through the first two AWBT events this season. That perfect record was brought to an end by Huskey on the winner’s side Saturday and Wagner was happy to end Evans’ weekend in 9th place after a hill-hill match.
Wagner went on to win four more matches on Sunday to get to the single elimination final against Stengel. As Stengel is still a bit of a newcomer to the tour, this was the first meeting between Wagner and Stengel, but Stengel said she was familiar with her opponent’s game. “I had never played Rebecca Wagner but I have had the pleasure of watching her shoot before. Rebecca plays an excellent game, striking when she has the opportunity and playing safe until she does.” she said.
For Stengel, the appearance in her first final on tour was proof that her hard work is paying off. “Mitch (Ellerman) was kind enough to give me a few pointers while playing some racks at Metro Sports Bar last week, and I’ve also been working with Jon Smith a bit in the last few months. Both of them have really helped me with my stroke mechanics, cue ball movement and practicing with intention” said Stengel. “Over the last 6 months I have been putting a lot of attention on my mental focus during competitions. I definitely think that this, along with a nice sprinkle of luck, was what made the biggest difference for me at this event”.
In the end, the finals appeared to come down to experience. For Wagner, a final match like this is nothing new, but for Stengel it was her first time in a situation like this. “ I think that the nerves of being up against such a high caliber player and the fatigue from a long weekend of pool definitely took its toll on my game” said Stengel. “The skill level difference got into my head and I didn’t approach my sequences in the same way I had for the rest of the weekend”.
Wagner won the extended final match 8-2 and while she says she thinks she is playing at maybe 80% of her game, she isn’t sure how many more events she will be able to get back out to attend in the immediate future. “I’m still working two full time jobs so probably not much time for competition but I’ll sneak an event or two in” she said.
Both Wagner and Stengel will have their next opportunities on July 9th – 10th when the AWBT travels to Pockets in Tucson, Arizona for stop #4.
With over 500 players, 112 teams and a venue that drew accolades from every attendee, the 2012 Lucasi Hybrid Cues ACS Midwest 8-Ball Championships at the Riverside Casino & Resort in Riverside, Iowa, January 19-22, enjoyed another attendance expansion in a warm environment amongst the winter plains of the Midwest The $10,400-added championships – produced by the American CueSports Alliance (ACS) – offered competition in six primary events and three secondary events: Men’s and Women’s Advanced 8-Ball Singles, Men’s and Women’s Open 8-Ball Singles, Men’s and Women’s four-person 8-Ball Teams, Scotch Doubles 8-Ball and separate handicapped Men’s and Women’s 9-Ball Singles.
In the 20-player Men’s Advanced 8-Ball Singles, young Chad Behnke (Farley, IA) followed up on his recent Iowa ACS Men’s Advanced title with a 6-0 thrashing of once-defeated Alan Schares (Independence, IA) in the finals to secure the ACS Midwest title.
In the 7-player Women’s Advanced 8-Ball Singles, multi-time national champion and 2010 ACS Midwest champion Jessica Frideres (Ft. Dodge, IA) regained her crown after a runner-up finish to Chicago’s Amy Latzko in 2011, by outpointing Connie O’Heron (Wausau, WI) 5-2 in this 2012 finals.
In the 155-player Men’s Open 8-Ball Singles, Washington Iowa’s undefeated Mike Peiffer (Washington, IA) recovered from a final’s first-set 0-4 trouncing by 17-year old Anthony Asher (St. Joseph, MO) to regain the momentum in the deciding set to claim the title by a 4-2 margin.
In the 64-player Women’s Open 8-Ball Singles, Simone Huskey (Silvis, IL) dominated the division, capping off her title with a 3-0 final’s win over Georgia Countryman (Braidwood, IL).
In the Men’s 8-Ball Teams, undefeated “Freewheelers” (IL) [Dan Hayes (Captain-Advanced), Tony Sifuentez, Dave Reimer and John Stukel] captured the hot seat over the 80-team field despite having to race to 11 each match (teams with no “Advanced” player raced to 9). The finals against “Hot Shots” (IA) [Todd Davis (Captain-Open), Abe Palmer, Jerry Udelhofen and Laurence Henderson] proved a challenge for “Freewheelers,” as “Hot Shots” prevailed in the first set, 9-6. But “Freewheelers” avenged the loss in set #2 to gain the title by an 11-5 margin!
In the Women’s 8-Ball Teams, the team of “Empty Pockets” (IL) [Linda Cruz (Captain–Advanced), Joan Livingston, Kay Reimer and Sue Wiechec] spotted most teams two games to dispatch the 32-team field, including some narrow escapes; but the one-set finals against “Just The Tip” [Patty Anderson (Captain-Open), Stacy McNamara, Jolyn Cox and Debbie Melroy] was anti-climactic, as “Empty Pockets” dominated by a 9-3 score to claim the Championship!
The team of Dawn Spencer and Jerry Dietz (IA), captured the Scotch Doubles 8-Ball event over a field of eighteen teams by dispatching the team of Dawn Huser/Jason Miller (IL) in the finals 3-1. Open player Jim Gessay of Hartland, WI, outpointed a 128-player field in the Men’s 9-Ball Singles for the top spot, including taking advantage of a 2-game spot from Advanced player Ron Martin (E. Moline, IL) by a 4-4 margin in the finals for the crown! Sheree Houseman (Muscatine, IA) bested a field of 20 for the Women’s 9-Ball Singles honors – besting Shari Rice (Omaha, NE) in the finals 3-2. “Transformers” (IL) [Frank DeCastecker (Captain-Advanced), Jerry French, Mike Christopher and Ted Cole] captured the Men’s 2nd Chance Team division over “Krug’z Guerillas” (IA) [Jody McCormick (Captain), Jeff Nguyen (Advanced), Devin Barclay, James Miller and Marc Wells], while “No Balls Just Racks” (MO) [Paula Reeder (Captain-Advanced), Jennifer Fugman, Tawni Lewis, Courtney Cadwell, Pam Brown and Mindy Spiker] outpaced “Lucky Dawgs” (IL) [Kelly McBride (Captain-Open), Simone Huskey, Cathy Harness and Heidi French] in the finals of the Women’s 2nd Chance Team division.
The ACS would like to thank the title sponsor of the event – Lucasi Hybrid Cues, the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort for its support and outstanding hospitality, and other sponsors Iowa Sports Center apparel, Old Time Billiards and Diveney Custom Cues; and Nick Varner Signature Cues and Cases, whose multi-World Champion namesake took on all challengers throughout the event! The event was conducted by Gary & Shelly Benson and John Maestry under the auspices of High Country Promotions. Special thanks as well to ACS referees Cecil Messer, Robert Ball, James Reed and Tom Fankhauser, and to the equipment crew of Mike Peiffer, Chris Bringman, Shane Lee and Jeremy Bush.
