An even bracket of 64 players turned up at Bankshot Billiards in Ocala for another Fury Amateur 9-ball tour event on July 17, 2005. The room was full of players, spectators and plenty of tables for the large turnout. Spectators were treated to great seats on the first level as well as balcony seating overlooking the playing arena.
Rising above the rest near the end of the day were Dave Ross, Nomar Paula, Adam Wheeler and Brian Davalos. Paula sent Ross to the B-side with a 7-2 win and Wheeler took care of Davalos 7-4. When Wheeler and Paula matched up for the hot seat, there was no dispute that Wheeler dominated from the start. By running the first rack, Wheeler set the tone of the match and kept control of the table for a 7-1 landslide.
On the other side, Matt Bauries looked to be making a comeback from an earlier loss to Wheeler. Bauries shot strong all day and was now matched up with Ross. Bauries was running out to go up 4-2 but missed the 9-ball, allowing Ross to tie at 3-3. It proved costly as Ross took the next two games to win 5-3 and advance, leaving Bauries in 5th/6th. Meanwhile, Davalos was facing a tough match from last stop's winner, Ramsey Barrett. Barrett had won six B-side matches thus far but Davalos was able to make an out to escape 5-4 and advance to play Ross. In the match to see who would settle for 4th, Ross took an early 4-2 lead over Davalos. Davalos was notched another game to go 4-3 but a scratch on the 8-ball in the next rack left him in 4th place.
Ross started off the semifinals against Paula with a strong run out to lead 1-0. Ross was on his way to running the next rack but a miss on the 9-ball let Paula tie 1-1. Paula took the next three games to lead 4-1. Ross was staging a comeback but he miscued on the 7 and Paula took the opportunity and won 5-1 to move into the finals.
The final rematch between Wheeler and Paula began with Paula running out the first rack to go 1-0. Wheeler ran out to a safe on the 6 which gained him another shot to tie 1-1. A missed bank on the 8 by Wheeler cost him the next rack and Paula got back to the table to lead 2-1. Paula then ran out from the one to lead 3-1 and then began to run rack number 5 until he scratched on the 6-ball. Wheeler cleaned up the table to go 3-2. Paula attempted a 6-9 carom in the next game but missed it and Wheeler stepped in and made the 6-9 carom to tie at 3-3. Wheeler ran the next rack to gain the lead at 4-3 and then took advantage of a missed 8-ball by Paula to jump to 5-3. Paula had the break in the next game and ran out to a tricky shot on the 4-ball. He opted to bank the 4 into the 8 to carom it in, leading to a 6-9 carom and a game winning shot to go 5-4. Wheeler broke the next rack and shot in a 2-9 combo to regain the two game lead, 6-4. Paula fired back by breaking and running to tighten the score to 6-5 putting the pressure back on Wheeler. Wheeler broke the next rack and the cue got kicked into the side pocket. Paula made the 1-ball and set up for a 2-9 carom but overcut it, leaving Wheeler a shot at the 2-9 carom which he made to go up 7-5. The last two racks went smoothly for Wheeler as he ran out from the 1 to get on the hill and then broke and ran to close the set 9-5.
Results:
1st Adam Wheeler $580
2nd Nomar Paula $340
3rd Dave Ross $220
4th Brian Davalos $160
5th/6th Matt Bauries, Ramsey Barrett $100
7th/8th Trevor Moore, Julio Aquino $80
9th-12th Steve Foster, Robert Noon, Artie Gannotti, Jimmy Wise $60
13th-16th Tracie Hines, Scott Howard, Tim Baron, Robert Otto $40
