Free Finishes Strong
Great Southern Billiard Tour / Greenwood, SC

by Lea Andrews

After a setback in the first set of the finals of the April 17-18 Great Southern Billiard Tour stop, Marty “Flawless” Free turned the tables on Mike Templeton to become the last man standing. Free, Templeton, and 42 others arrived at the newly opened Slate Billiards in Greenwood, SC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

B-ranked Free edged past A-ranked Dennis Spears 7-7 to reach the hot seat match. Spears, who was racing to 9, moved west, while Free moved on to B-ranked junior player Tyler Mayfield, who recently celebrated his 16th birthday. Mayfield had gotten past B-ranked TJ Seabolt 7-4, but he managed just one game against Free, and he moved over to the semifinals.

On the left side of the bracket, recent winner Mike Basha took care of fellow B player Derrick Horn 7-2 to face JR Poste, who’d ousted A-ranked Glen Russell 7-7. Putting Poste in seventh 7-3, Basha moved on to Seabolt, where his hopes of putting another notch in his GSBT belt ended 7-2. Meanwhile, Templeton, an early 7-4 victim of Mayfield’s, had gone on to knock aside B players Wesley Stokes 7-5 and Brian Wise 7-4.

Templeton earned his spot in the quarterfinals by edging out Spears hill-hill 7-8, and a 7-5 victory over Seabolt gave him his rematch with Mayfield. His 7-2 revenge came with the added bonus of a spot in the finals, and he took advantage of the opportunity by claiming the first set of the true double-elimination match 7-3. In the second set, though, Free was warm and ready, and he claimed the victory for himself 7-3.

Results:
1st Marty Free $1,000
2nd Mike Templeton $500
3rd Tyler Mayfield $300
4th TJ Seabolt $200
5th Mike Basha $100
Dennis Spears
7th JR Poste $40
Brian Wise