Mark Dimick, Kathy McMinn manager and Chip Compton
With Shane McMinn and John Gabriel out of the running early (a sentence not often heard on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour), Mark Dimick went undefeated through a field of 61 entrants, on-hand for the April 6-7 stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour. The 8-ball tournament was referred to as a 'warm-up' for the Oklahoma State 8-Ball Championships, scheduled for April 15-21 at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK. The $2,000-added Open event drew those 61 entrants to Magoo's in Tulsa, OK, while the $400-added Ladies event, won by Rhonda Pierce, drew 18 entrants.
Though he didn't have to face McMinn or Gabriel, Dimick did have to face two other familiar faces on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour - Gabe Owen, in the battle for the hot seat, and Chip Compton in the finals. Owen had sent Compton west 7-1 from among the winners' side final four, as Dimick was busy sending Jim Wease over 7-3. Dimick just did get by Owen in the battle for the hot seat 7-6, and waited, as it turned out, on the return of Compton.
Compton moved over to pick up Caleb Moore, who'd survived a double hill battle against Joey Gray and handled Eric Pickar easily 5-1. Wease drew Rafael Martinez, who'd gotten by Sonny Tiger and Sean King, both 5-2. Martinez chalked up his third straight 5-2 win (against Wease), and in the quarterfinals, met Compton, who'd downed Moore 5-3.
Compton shut Martinez out in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals, battled Gabe Owen to double hill before prevailing for a shot at Dimick in the hot seat. Compton and Dimick battled to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination final, before Dimick sunk the final 8-ball to render a second set unnecessary and claim the event title.
In the ladies event, Rhonda Pierce and Liz Lovely battled twice to determine the winner. They met first in the hot seat, where Pierce prevailed 5-3. Lovely moved to the semifinals for a match against Wendy Kent, who'd just survived a double hill match against Brittany Colbert in the quarterfinals. Lovely defeated Kent in those semifinals 4-2, but chalked up only a single game in the first set of the finals against Pierce, who claimed the top prize.
Open
1st Mark Dimick $760
2nd Chip Compton $525
3rd Gabe Owen $340
4th Rafael Martinez $250
5th Jim Wease $150
Caleb Moore
7th Sean King $125
Eric Pickar
9th Sonny Tiger $100
Marc Shelton
Joey Gray
13th Darrell Pierce $75
Joe Abrams
Gordy VanDerVeer
Ladies
1st Rhonda Pierce $300
2nd Liz Lovely $200
3rd Wendy Kent $100
4th Brittany Colbert $70
