On Saturday, January 12, John Trobiano chalked up his second victory on the 2012/2013 Tri-State Tour with an undefeated run through a field of 45 entrants. The $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event was hosted by Castle Billiards, in East Rutherford, NJ, site of Trobiano's last victory on the tour in October.
Trobiano faced three different opponents in his final three matches. Among the winners' side final four, he defeated Geoff Bauer 7-3, as Kyle Bubet downed Greg Ackerman 6-5 to meet him in the hot seat. Trobiano sent Bubet to the semifinals 8-6 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be the return of Ackerman.
On the loss side, Joe Kuligowski was working on an eight-match winning streak that included surviving three double hill matches, that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. Kuligowski chalked up the sixth and seventh of those against Gary O'Callaghan (winner of the previous week's tour stop) 7-6 and Ricardo Mejia 7-3, which set him up against Bauer. Ackerman, in the meantime, drew Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Gralin Hilton 6-4 and Robert Veit 6-5 to reach him.
Kuligowki gave up only a single rack against Bauer and moved into the quarterfinals against Ackerman, who'd eliminated Rice 6-3. Kuligowski's streak ended with an 8-4 victory by Ackerman, who turned to face Bubet for the second time.
Ackerman repaid Bubet's victory among the winners' side final four with a double hill win in the semifinals that gave him a shot against Trobiano. Trobiano, though, completed his undefeated run with a 7-6 win over Ackerman to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $1,000-added, A-D event scheduled for January 20 at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
