After two days of grueling play at the Jay Swanson Memorial, it came down to the last two men standing, Mitch Ellerman from Phoenix, Arizona and Oscar Dominguez from Sylmar, California.
Many fans were surprised that Jose Parica finished 4th instead of making it to the final table but it was Mike Mitchell from Ripon, California that surprised quite a few people this weekend with his 3rd place finish. He definately proved that he was a force to be reckoned with.
With all the awesome players that showed up this weekend, it was exciting to watch two of the best young players in the country meet up in the finals.
Mitch, 22, breezed through the Winner's bracket with wins against Max Eberle and Jose Parica while Oscar, 24, fought his way through the one loss side in matches against the likes of Louis Ulrich and Justin Bergman.
The finals would be decided by one race to 11. After hours of waiting, Mitch was ready to play and came out of the gate with guns blazing. Ellerman won the coin toss and then broke and ran out the first rack. In the next game, Mitch scratched on the break and Oscar answered Mitch's break and run with one of his own. Oscar then won the next two, making the score 3-1. Mitch wasn't going to go away without a fight and managed to win the next three to retake the lead at 4-3. Oscar and Mitch then traded games until the score was 6-6. At that point, Mitch went back ahead by two games and Oscar brought it back to within one game at 8-7. Mitch was determined and kept Dominguez at 7 while he proceeded to reach the hill but again Oscar was able to win another game before hanging up the 2 ball to give Mitch the run out and the win.
What an outstanding tournament both players had. Dominguez's play was very impressive throughout the entire weekend right up til the end. Ellerman's game was just as awesome. He never gave up when he was down and kept fighting til he came out the victor. Thanks to Jeff Bey, owner of Hollywood Billiards and Bill Stock, Mark Estes, and Jay Helfert for an outstanding tournament and for all the cooperation I was afforded.
7th/ 8th prize $400.00
Corey Harper
Max Eberle
5th/ 6th prize $525.00
Sal Butera
Louis Ulrich
4th prize $750.00
Jose Parica
3rd prize $1000.00
Mike Mitchell
2nd prize $1500.00
Oscar Dominguez
1st prize $ 2500.00
Mitch Ellerman
