In the words of the infamous Roseanne, Roseanna Danna, "it's always something." Not only did the Western New York Tour's stop on Saturday, October 15 have to contend with the absence of potential entrants because of the US Open, but upon arrival at Steel City Billiards in Brentwood, PA, the lights went out. This, according to Tour Director Nick Brucato, reduced the field from what he saw as a potential for 20 entrants down to the five, who, after a long delay, did manage to get started late on Saturday afternoon.
It was Brucato who ended up winning the round-robin format tournament, which worked its way through five rounds of play. In the opening round, Brucato squared off against Andy Shaw, while Ryan Ellifirtz faced Dennis Ars. Jeff Krowe was awarded a bye. Shaw downed Brucato 9-7, as Ars got by Ellifirtz 9-4.
In the second round, it was Ellifirtz drawing the bye, as Brucato took on Ars, and Krowe battled Shaw. Shaw won his second in a row with a 9-5 victory over Krowe, while Brucato evened his record at 1-1, with a 9-7 win over Ars.
In the third round, Ars drew the bye, as Brucato defeated Krowe 9-1 and Ellifirtz got by Shaw 9-7. A fourth round pitted Shaw against Ars, which, had Shaw won, would have ended the event, with Shaw in first place, and Brucato in second. As it turned out, though, Ars defeated Shaw 9-6, leaving Ars, Shaw and Brucato with 2-1 records.
In the final draw, Shaw picked up the bye and awaited the winner of a Brucato and Ars matchup. Brucato jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and allowed Ars only two racks in an eventual 9-2 victory. He opened up the finals versus Shaw the same way. Shaw, though, Shaw fought back to tie things at 6-6, before Brucato won three of the next four to capture the 'snake bit' stop on the Western New York Tour. In addition to his prize money for finishing in second place, Shaw earned a free entry to the tour's next stop, set for October 22 at Bison Billiards in Buffalo.
