Mark Hatch and Dan Miosi met in the finals of the January 28 stop on the Western New York Tour. Miosi had come back from the loss-side to challenge Hatch, who was in the hot seat. At the time they met, Hatch, through three matches, had yet to give up a single rack. In what was to have been a true double elimination final, Miosi battled to double hill and prevailed in the opening set. They opted, at that point, to split the top two prizes, with Miosi as the official 'winner' of the event that had drawn 11 entrants to Bison Billiards in Buffalo, NY.
They both opened the short field tournament with shutouts; Miosi picked up a 'bye' and then shut out Brian Vaughn. Hatch had shut out Vicky Sharen. Both were now among the winners' side final four with Hatch facing Shawn McCluski and Miosi squaring off against Ed Gearheart. Hatch shut out McCluski, while Gearheart sent Miosi west 5-3. Hatch then won what proved to be his last victory with a third straight shutout, against Gearhead, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting Miosi's return.
On the loss side, Miosi picked up Bobby Schrader, who'd just defeated tour director Nick Brucato in a double hill match. McCluski drew Roger Jackson, who'd downed Corey Bailey, also double hill. Miosi got into the quarterfinals with a 5-3 win over Schrader and in the subsequent quarterfinals faced McCluski, who'd eliminated Jackson 4-3.
Miosi defeated McCluski and then, Gearhart in the semifinals by identical 5-2 scores. He battled to double hill in the opening set of the finals that followed against Hatch, at which point, the two declared a 'truce' of sorts, and opted to split the top two prizes, with Miosi assigned the role of official winner.
