by Skip Maloney, Inside POOL Magazine

Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening is battling Gabe "The Babe" Owen for the hot seat at the Texas State Open.

As Labor Day came to close at midnight Monday, the field of 128 entrants who had signed on for the $3,250-added men’s division of the Texas Open had been reduced to six players. Shane Van Boening and Gabe Owen were the last two standing on the winners’ side of the bracket and were poised to do battle for the hot seat.

Earlier in the evening, by identical 9-7 scores, Boening sent Charlie Bryant to the one-loss side, as Owen did the same to Ismael Paez. Waiting for Bryant and Paez on the one-loss side were Glenn Atwell and Shawn Putnam. Atwell had defeated David Henson in a double-hill battle to advance to the event’s final eight, as Putnam was eliminating Cliff Joyner 9-6. Atwell then dropped James Roberts into a tie for seventh, while Putnam did the same to James Davis, Sr.

Just after midnight, Atwell and Bryant were at the table for the struggle that would determine fifth place, as were Putnam and Paez,. The two winners will then meet in the quarterfinals.