Aragon Aces Wheelchair Billiards National Championship
National Wheelchair Player Association Championships / Brea, CA
by Skip Maloney
Aaron Aragon won the National Wheelchair Players Associations (NWPA) National Championships in Brea, CA.
Wheelchair competitors from as far away as Glasgow, Scotland, gathered in Brea, CA, the weekend of October 25-27 to compete in the National Wheelchair Players Associations (NWPA) National Championships. Joining the 22-entrant field was Aaron Aragon, who defeated Glasgow native Matt Duffy twice to finish undefeated, capturing first place in the $7,500-added event, hosted by Diamond Billiards.
Aragon and Duffy, operating from the final four on the winners’ side, sent Bob Calderon and Charles Interrante west and faced each other for the first time in the hot seat match. Aragon took the first of his two wins against Duffy 9-6 and awaited his return.
Bill Frisby and Terry Guess were waiting for Calderon and Interrante on the one-loss side; Frisby having dropped Ken Force 7-5 into a tie for seventh place, as Guess did likewise 7-1 to Joe Hardy. Frisby advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-3 victory over Interrante and was joined by Calderon after a 7-1 win over Guess. Calderon dropped Frisby into fourth place and faced Duffy in the semifinals.
Duffy ended Calderon’s tournament bid 7-3 and turned to face Aragon for the second time. A second set was avoided as Aragon won 9-6 and took first-place honors.
Results:
1st Aaron Aragon $1,400
2nd Matt Duffy $1,100
3rd Bob Calderon $750
4th Bill Frisby $575
5/6th Charles Interrante $400
5/6th Terry Guess
7/8th Ken Force $300
7/8th Joe Hardy
9/12th Tom Hein
9/12th Braden Murphy
9/12th Jeff Dolezal
9/12th Don Jackson
