Johnson takes two against Subelka to go undefeated in short-field Ladies event.
One week ago, on the weekend of April 9-10, Greg Hogue made it to the hot seat during a stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, only to have the person he'd defeated in that match (Chip Compton) come back from the semifinals and defeat him twice in a double elimination final. The scenario was described here as a hot seat occupant's "worst nightmare."
On the weekend of April 16-17, Hogue, at a $2,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Astros in Lawrence, KS, found himself in the hot seat for the second week in a row, re-living the 'nightmare,' as it were. This time, Hogue sent Dustin Gunia to the semifinals, but this time, Hogue woke up. Although Gunia would force him to play a deciding 17th game in the opening set of a potential double elimination final, Hogue won that deciding game, and after (one presumes) an enormous sigh of relief, claimed the event title.
In a concurrently-run, $500-added Ladies event that drew only 7 entrants, Kerri Johnson defeated Morgan Subelka twice to claim that title. Johnson defeated Subelka in the hot seat match 7-5. On the loss side, Deb McWhirk came off a quarterfinal victory over Jacelyn Booher to challenge Subelka in the semifinals. Subelka earned a second shot against Johnson with a 7-3 victory over McWhirk. Johnson completed her four-match, undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Subelka in the finals.
The first match between Hogue and Gunia in the Open event, vying for the hot seat, followed a 9-1 victory by Hogue over Steven Wyatt, and a 9-3 victory by Gunia over Mike Goscha. Hogue claimed the hot seat, double hill, and waited, as (no doubt) thoughts of a week ago played out in his head.
On the loss side, Wyatt picked up Dave Matlock, who'd gotten by Rafael Munoz 9-4 and Toby Noll 9-6 to reach him. Goscha drew Sharik Sayed, who'd eliminated Lance Schofield 9-7 and Taylor Anderson 9-6. Matlock and Sayed handed Wyatt and Goscha their second straight losses - Matlock 9-6 over Wyatt and Sayed 9-1 over Goscha - and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Sayed gave up only two racks to Matlock, and advanced to the semifinals against Gunia. Gunia shut Sayed out in those semifinals, which almost certainly gave Hogue something to think about as he prepared for the opening set of the true double elimination final. Though Gunia would once again force a deciding 17th game, Hogue won it to claim the title.
