Ron Casanzio went undefeated, while Mike Wishwanick came from the loss side, and benefited from a forfeit in the finals of a two-event stop on the Western New York Tour, held on Saturday, August 8. Casanzio's victory was in a 9-Ball Open-Pro event that drew 14 entrants, while Wishwanick competed in an 8-Ball Amateur event that drew 15, both to Eastridge Billiards in Rochester, NY.
Casanzio's five-match march to the Open-Pro 9-Ball winners' circle went through Tour Director Nick Brucato twice. They met first in the hot seat match. Casanzio had sent Dave Dreidel to the loss side 6-2, while Brucato defeated Wishwanick 6-1. Casanzio and Brucato locked up in a double hill battle that eventually sent Brucato to the loss side, leaving Casanzio in the hot seat.
On the loss side, every match played from the 9/12 slots to the semifinals finished with a 4-2 score. Dreidel joined up in the 5/6 slots and picked up Kyle Bova, recent winner over Dan Veinot and Dave Johnson. Wishwanick drew Jerry Sullivan, who'd eliminated Tracy Rothe and Ro Kam. Wishwanick took the quarterfinals over Dreidel (they would later be finalists in the 8-Ball event), but was eliminated by Brucato in the semifinals.
Fortunes were reversed somewhat in the finals. Casanzio and Brucato had fought a double hill, hot seat match, but the finals were a bit of a rout. Casanzio gave up only a single rack to complete his undefeated day and claim the 9-Ball Open-Pro title.
In the 8-Ball event, the eventual winner (Wishwanick) was sent to the loss side in the opening round by Jerry Sullivan, who advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Dreidel. Ro Kam, in the meantime, squared off against Andrew Bellimeo. Dreidel downed Sullivan 3-1 and in the hot seat match, squared off against Kam, who'd defeated Bellimeo 3-2. Dreidel's final match of the dual tournaments saw him claim the hot seat from Kam 3-1. An injury to his teenage daughter (reportedly serious, but not life threatening) forced him to leave the tournament early, which would eventually lead to Wishwanick's claiming of the event title.
On the loss side, Wishwanick was on a six-match winning streak that would eventually earn him that title. He shut out Dave Johnson and gave up just a single rack to Tom Cronin, which set him up for a re-match against Sullivan. Bellimeo drew Fran Imburgia, who'd eliminated Shane Longest and Charlie Kelly, both 3-1.
Wishwanick succesfully navigated his re-match against Sullivan, winning it 3-1, as Imburgia downed Bellimeo 3-2. Wishwanick finished Imburgia 3-1 in the quarterfinals, and in what proved to be his last hurdle, defeated Kam in the semifinals 3-1. Dreidel had left at that point, and the event title went to Wishwanick.
