One pocket aficionados wait all year long for the biggest and most lucrative tournament of the year and this year’s event didn’t disappoint!
Owners James Leone (“Buff”) and Joey Painter, General Manager Steve Tesvich (“Bullseye”) and their staff welcomed players, fans and the biggest stakehorses in the country to the 8th Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic. Local sponsors added $31,000 to the event. They included Diamond Billiards, Aramith, Simonis, Lomax Custom Cues, Attorney Joseph P. Long, Savage Billiards and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Featuring three divisions – One Ball One Pocket, Pro One Pocket and Open 9 Ball – the event opened on Tuesday evening with a rousing Calcutta.
Fedor Gorst
Following the Calcutta and players meeting, the event opened with the $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket Championship.
2018 champ John Morra met this year’s Derby City Classic One Pocket runner-up Johnathan Pinegar (“Hennessee”) in the semis as did reigning Skinny Bob’s One Pocket champ Fedor Gorst and recent Big Tyme One Pocket runner-up Evan Lunda.
Hennessee edged out Morra 4-3 and Fedor defeated Evan 4-2 – both moved into the finals. The match was all Fedor as he smoked Hennessee 4-0 to take the title!
Wednesday evening marked the beginning of the main event – the $20,000 added Pro One Pocket. Festivities kicked off with a rousing Calcutta. To no one’s surprise, the two blind bids were Alex Pagulayan and Fedor Gorst – $38,000 and $40,000, respectively! When all the players were auctioned off, the total was a record breaking $286,900!
The event drew twenty six players each posting a $2,000 entry fee. The format was double elimination, races to five and alternate break with the three foul rule in effect – ball on the break would result in a re-rack.
Ray Hansen and Evan Lunda
Coming off a several year hiatus and after drawing a first round bye, local favorite Danny Smith beat young gun Sergio Rivas 5-2 while his next match with Tennessee’s Josh O’Neal gave him a tougher time – Danny escaped with a 5-4 victory. Also having drawn a first round bye and fresh off his runner-up finish at the Big Tyme Classic One Pocket Championship, Evan Lunda tore through two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Billy Thorpe 5-2 and One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost 5-1. Danny and Evan faced off and Lunda was the victor 5-2 and moved into the hot seat match.
In the lower portion of the bracket, another young gun was mowing down his opponents. Known primarily for his rotation prowess, Virginia’s Shane Wolford’s first win was over Florida’s Mike De Lawder 5-0 followed by a victory over South Carolina’s Brett Underwood 5-3. He then defeated defending champ and current Derby City Classic One Pocket winner Tony Chohan in a tough battle 5-4. Meanwhile, one of the most creative players in the game, 2013 Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Corey Deuel, drew a first round bye and then had a win over last year’s Iron City Open One Pocket Championship, Josh Roberts – 5-3. Next up was arguably the best player on the planet having won over forty titles since 2017 and is the back-to-back Derby City Classic Master of the Table – Fedor Gorst. Fedor and Corey both battled hard but when the smoke cleared it was Corey who came away with a 5-4 win to face Shane. Deuel then butted heads with Wolford and watched as Shane rocketed out to a 4-0 lead. Grinding it out, Corey then won game after game to tie it at four apiece but then watched as Shane got to the hill. After keeping him at bay for almost an hour, Shane finally managed to pocket the last ball and moved on to the hot seat match with Lunda.
It was great to see two young guys duking it out in the hot seat match! So much for the old trope, one pocket is an old man’s game! When it was over, Lunda stood undefeated and locked up his seat in the finals. Wolford headed west to await an opponent.
Over on the one loss side, there were champions slaying champions. After receiving a first round bye and losing his second match, BCA and One Pocket Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan had his work cut out for him. He mowed down the always tough John Morra 5-0, Tony Chohan 5-1 and Fedor Gorst 5-1 before succumbing to Danny Smith 5-3. Scott Frost survived a hill-hill battle with Justin Hall and then defeated Josh O’Neal 5-1 and Corey Deuel 5-3 before losing to Danny Smith 5-3. Danny then eliminated Shane leaving him with a well deserved third place finish.
TD Jason Hill with Alex Calderon
As this was true double elimination, Danny would have to defeat Evan twice for the title. The finals began and Evan shot out to a 4-0 game lead only needing one ball for the title. Slowly, Danny made a ball here and there and won his first game. Feeling the pressure, Evan made several mistakes and Danny won the next game also to make it 4-3. After taking a break, Evan came back and ran eight and out to win the game and the tournament!
The final event was the $10,000 added Open 9 Ball Championship. Played on seven foot Diamonds, 127 players posted a $100 entry to compete. The format was double elimination with alternate breaks and races to seven. Once down to sixteen players, it was single elimination with races to nine.
A Calcutta and players meeting was held and after two days of play, only four players remained. Alex Calderon eliminated Hennessee 9-5 and Robb Saez eliminated Vitaly Patsura 9-4. Both Hennessee and Vitaly finished in a tie for third place.
Alex and Robb moved into the finals – one race to nine for it all! Alex moved out to a 5-2 lead, extended it to 6-2 and reached the hill with Robb trailing at four. Alex closed out the match 9-4 to take the title!
PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank James Leone, Joey Painter, Steve Tesvich and their staff for taking such good care of everyone.
We’d like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for juggling the various events. We’d also like to thank Scott Rabon, Larry Schwartz, Jeremy Jones, Scott Frost, Billy Incardona, Josh Roberts and Tony Chohan for their topnotch commentary.
Thanks to custom cuemaker Steve Lomax of Lomax Cues for donating another beautiful $2000 cue!
And, last but not least, thanks to all our fans and sponsors for another great event. Our sponsors include Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, JB Cases, Hanshew Custom Cues, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH, Attorney Joseph P. Long, Savage Billiards and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the $18,000 added 8th Annual Midwest Billiards & Cue Expo. Held at Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA, it will feature four events – One Pocket, Nine Ball, a Banks Ring Game and Bar Table Nine Ball. Dates are July 12th-16th – hope to see you there!
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