Gus Briseno
Gus Briseno started off the 2012 Desert Classic Tour schedule the same way he played most of the 2011 season; with a win.
Briseno was the early favorite in the field of 49 players at Bullshooters in Phoenix Arizona on January 21st and 22nd, and he lived up that billing with lopsided wins all day on Saturday. The closest any opponent got to Briseno was Bobby Emmons who was able to turn an 8-2 deficit into a 9-6 scoreline before Briseno won the match 10-6.
Sunday dawned with twelve players still holding hope for a tournament win. The winners side saw Briseno facing Ken Gouso and Pete Lhotka vs Brett Huth. Brisno and Huth would score wins in those matches to move one step closer to a victory.
The one loss side saw Chuck Evans eliminate Dennis Orender, Tucson’s George Teyechea beat Nick De Leon in De Leon’s first event in months, Mike Hamman over Ronn Rutan and Brian Reich beating Sammy Martinez.
With the field down to eight players, all hope of a tournament title going back to Tucson were eliminated when Chuck Evans beat Teyechea and Brian Reich beat Mike Hamman.
Evans and Reich kept their A-Games as they then eliminated Ken Gouso and Pete Lhotka in 5th place.
The hot-seat went to Briseno in another lopsided match as the cold that Huth was fighting off all weekend got the better of him. Briesno had a bit to do with the final score too as he won the match 10-2.
Back on the one loss side, Evans sent Brian Reich packing in 4th place.
Evans then faced off with the same player who had sent him to the one loss side; Brett Huth.
Evans came out fast with a 9-ball break following by a break and run in rack two for a 2-0 lead before Huth even saw a shot. That 2-0 lead would quickly become a 5-1 lead. Huth fought back to within one rack at 5-4, but that was as close as he would get before Evans won the match 8-5.
The final match between Briseno and Chuck Evans again saw Evans take an early 2-0 lead, but Briseno then won five straight games for a 5-2 lead. Once again, Briesno had his break working well as he was making balls on his break and gaining early control of the table. The time in the chair seemed to take it’s toll on Evans as he appeared to have problems getting his game going midway through the match. Briseno worked his way to a 9-5 lead the match appeared to be over when he made the 9-ball in the sixteenth rack, but the end of the tournament was postponed when the cue ball also found a pocket on the shot. Briseno regrouped and three fouled Evans in the next rack for the delayed tournament win.
