Tosado Takes It All

Tri-State Tour / Parsippany, NJ

by Rick Davis

The Tri-State Tour held its annual invitational event over the July 8-9 weekend at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, where the top players in each class faced off while the players for the year were recognized. After nearly 100 hours of preparation by the Tri-State staff and much support from sponsors such as Viking Cues and Stealth Cues, the event took off and took over 30 hours for play to complete.

There were seven divisions of play, all having 16 players except one with 8 players, that played through to one top player. Each of these players then faced off until an overall winner was determined.

In the A+/A class Wali Muhammad bested Michael Tosado 7-4 in the hot seat match. On the one-loss side Mark Bantovick ousted Noel Bensurto in the quarterfinals. Tosado then eliminated Bantovick 7-4 in the semifinals and then proceeded to drill Muhammad 9-2 in the finals to claim the division.

In the B+ class Brian Cap bested Dan Chapman 7-2 in the hot seat match to earn his spot in the finals. Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Ariel Rivera ousted Trevor Heal in the quarterfinals only to fall 7-3 to Chapman in the semifinals. Chapman had one more shot at Cap but was again repealed as Cap took the match 7-3 to claim the division.

In the B class Bill Meima squeaked by Bogie Uzdejczyk double-hill in the hot seat match, while Mike Wong was making a comeback on the one-loss side. Wong ousted several players to reach the quarterfinals, where he eliminated Tom McCloud then followed that up by knocking out Uzdejczyk double-hill in the semifinals. Earning his way to the finals, Wong did not squander his chance and dominated Meima 9-3 to earn the division title.

In the C+ class Lenny Knapp defeated Greg Hecht 6-2 in the hot seat match, while Jacob Schwartz ousted Jason Egeln in the quarterfinals. Schwartz then took Hecht double-hill in the semifinals, and though he got close in the finals, Knapp kept in control for the 8-6 win.

In the C class Ron Mason defeated Mike Harrington 6-3 in the hot seat match. Then, on the one-loss side, Tim Malloy eliminated James Dellarata 6-3 in the quarterfinals but was then knocked out himself 6-2 by Harrington. Harrington went on for a rematch against Mason but was denied again, this time double-hill, but with Mason on top again and this time taking the division title.

In the D+ class Xenia Balleste slipped past Mike Poisler double-hill in the hot seat match, while Jim Ireland did the same against Ray Marisette in the quarterfinals. Ireland went on to eliminate Poisler 5-3 in the semifinals only to become another victim for Balleste, who defeated Ireland 7-4 in the finals to earn the class title.

In the D class action was fast and furious. John Kang drilled Ada Lio 5-1 in the hot seat match, while Maya DelVillar slipped past Pete Gallo double-hill in the quarterfinals. Lio ousted DelVillar double-hill in the semifinals then was ousted herself as Kang took the final match 5-2 to earn the division.

Next, the champions of the individual division faced off until an overall winner was found. Brian Cap (B+) defeated Mike Wong (B) 7-3, Lenny Knapp (C+) bested Ron Mason (C) 6-5 and Xenia Balleste (D+) won over John Kang (D) 5-4. The C and D division winners faced off next, and Balleste bested Knapp 7-6. The winner of the A and B division also met, with Michael Tosado defeating Brian Cap 7-6. Finally, the winner of the all-A/B faced the winner of all-C/D, and in the end it was Tosado who come out on top of Balleste 10-6.

In addition to tournament action, the players of the year were announced based on points earned through the season events. Also announced were Most Improved Player and Sportsman of the Year.

Player of the Year:
Open: Danny Barouty

A+/A:
1st Tony Liang

B+:
1st Carl Yusef Kahn

B:
1st Michael Wong

C+:
1st Greg Hecht

C:
1st Mike Harrington

D+:
1st Jim Ireland

D:
1st Ed Savage

Ladies:
1st Gail Glazebrook

Most Improved Player: Charles Bromley Jr.

Sportsman of the Year: Mike Davie