Ft. Pierce, FL (July 29, 2012) – Thursday evening 16 Scotch Double teams kicked off this weekend’s state championship events. Returning Friday morning we saw Jennifer Page and Zeno Rawley of Stuart, Florida, sitting in the hot seat. To see who would vie for the championship round or settle for third, the teams of Colleen Russell & Steve Rolls of Port St. Lucie, Florida, would play the team from Miami, Florida Kelly Coyle & Jaran Hilton. Although it was a battle, the Miami team bested the Port St. Lucie team to earn the right to play in the State Championship Scotch Double Finals. However, Jennifer Page and Zeno Rawley would prove too much for team Miami to handle. Page and Rawley finished with an undefeated series to capture the State Championship title for the Scotch Doubles Division.
As the finals of the Scotch Doubles finished, the Men’s and Women’s Singles got underway. With a small field of 29 men and 15 women the draw was completed and play began. Throughout the day many a hill-hill match was played. There would be no clear victor to these two tournaments until the last eight ball was pocketed. Cue maker Danny Green not only knows how to make cues but he sure can use them as well, and settled for fourth place. Jerry Sotelo and Rich Johnson filled out the finals with 5th and 6th finishes. Saturday morning the men’s division found three contestants returning for the title Men’s Sunshine State 8-Ball Champion. Randy Epperson of Miami, Florida held the hot seat. Justin Gilsinan of Port St. Lucie and Johnny Aguillera were scheduled first thing Saturday morning to see who would settle for third place. Johnny Aguillera would be the victor and move on to meet Randy Epperson in the finals. This being a true double elimination tournament Johnny needed two sets for the win. The first set went much the course of the entire tournament with Johnny getting by with a hill-hill victory to set the scene for the final winner to take home the title of Sunshine State 8-Ball Champion final race. The final race came down to the final game and final eight ball to be decided with yet another hill-hill game. The deciding eight ball went to Johnny Aguillera along with the title Sunshine State ACS 8-Ball Champion Men’s Singles Division.
The ladies singles ran its course on Friday finishing late in the evening. Jeannie Seaver picked up yet another title and was crowned the Women’s Sunshine State ACS 8-Ball Champion. Cheryl Perez finished second, third place went to Jamie Toennies, with Cassidy Mulligan fourth, and fifth/sixth went to Janice Sessions1 and Janet Smith.
Saturday finished with the singles and registration started for the team events. On the Women’s team side Jeannie Seaver was once again a contributor to the finals of this event. Her team Power Pak, along with, sister Vanessa Seaver, Cassidy Mulligan, Tracy McCreary, and Kira Brown, took home the title Women’s Sunshine State ACS 8-Ball Team Champion. Second was the team After Eight, and settling for third were the St. Pete Girls. The ladies teams finished late Saturday evening.
The Men’s final three teams returned Sunday with a Palm Beach County ACS League in the hot seat and another in the semi-finals. Chalk’s Cheap held the hot seat from Saturday night and got right to a table to warm up while Smoke Signals and No Butts got to work on deciding who would go home in third place. When the smoke cleared, No Butts got theirs handed to them settling for third place.
As a spectator of these tournaments I have to say that when speaking to the third place team finishers they told me they expected to go two and out. I believe because these guys not only came as a team they ARE a team all year long and with that, their game was up by a good 30 percent above the individual’s ability. No Butts proved that with the right support group great things are accomplished.
Although Smoke Signals moved forward to face Chalk’s Cheap in the finals, Smoke Signals couldn’t get the fire lit and Chalk’s Cheap was crowned the Florida Sunshine State ACS 8-Ball Team Champion.
First place team members: Sam Kantar, Scott Nodell, Jesus Borjas, Jeff Hughes and Johnny Aguillera.
Second place team members: David Cypress, R.C., Junebug, Randy Epperson, Ted Harris, and Danny Green.
Special thanks to Janice Sessions for pictures and article. Executive Director of the American CueSports Association, John Lewis, flew in from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to referee the matches and make the calls. John had the expertise of Arvella Fisher and Justin Toennies referring and making the calls. Visit www.americancuesports.org.
Also our thanks to Ted Harris and Danny Green of Ted Harris Custom Cues, who were on hand for re-tipping and conditioning the cues. Visit www.tedharris.com e-mail poolcues@tedharris.com or call 754-246-6366