Felix Beardy, Scott Tollefson and Jeri Bouvette won the 8-ball, 9-ball and Ladies tournaments, respectively, of the 13th Annual Northern Lights Shootout, held from December 1-4 at the Rugby Armory in Rugby, ND. All three winners were forced into the second set of true double elimination finals by their respective opponents. The $3,750-added main 8-ball event drew 74 entrants. The $300-added 9-ball event drew 32, while 10 women competed in the $725-added Ladies event.
In his first visit to this Northern Lights Shootout, Tollefson, playing in the 9-ball event, advanced to the hot seat, by sending his eventual finals opponent, Sean Monkman, to the semifinals. There, Monkman ran into Jarrod Spence, who'd been sent to the loss-side in the second round of play, and worked himself all the way back to finish in third place. Monkman returned and in the opening set of the finals, forced a final, double hill game, which he won. In the second set, Tollefson took command to complete the 9-ball event with a 7-3 win.
In the Ladies event, Jeri Bouvette defended the title she had won last year with a second set victory over Rachael Nadeau. Sam Matuska finished third and Joan Jacobs finished fourth.
In the main 8-ball event, it was Jesse Engel, who forced hot seat occupant Felix Beardy into a second set in the finals. Both had been among the winners' side final four, but Engel was moved west by Dean Flanders 6-3, as Beardy moved into the hot seat match with a 6-2 victory over Kenny Azure. Beardy downed Flanders 6-4 to gain the hot seat, and awaited Engel's return.
Engel moved over to pick up Danny Olson, who'd gotten by Dusty Geller, and then benefited from a forfeit by his own father, David Olson, who allowed the son to advance. Azure picked up Jeff Claire, who'd defeated Tyler Perry and Tom Kaminski. It was Engel and Claire advancing to the quarterfinals; Engel with a 6-2 victory over Olson, and Claire, 6-3 over Azure.
Engel then survived a double hill battle versus Azure in those quarterfinals, and faced Flanders in the semifinals. Flanders took an early 4-0 lead, but Engel came back to win six in a row for a crack at Beardy. Engel took the opening set of the double elimination final 6-2, but managed only a single rack in the second set, won by Beardy to claim the event title.
A $745-added, 8-ball Hard Luck (or, Second Chance) tournament drew 44 entrants and was won, officially, by Fabian Louison. Louison and his potential finals opponent, Blair Lawson, opted out of a final matchup, and agreed to split the first and second place prize. Kevin LaLonde finished third, and Jeff Nadeau finished fourth.
