Four years ago, Teddy Lapadula split the top two prizes in a Tri-State event with Tom McCloud, who was in the hot seat for the February 13 stop on the tour. They split the money, but the undefeated McCloud claimed the event title. On Saturday, March 29 (this year), LaPadula shared the top two prizes again, although this time, for the first time, he went undefeated through the field to be the one in the hot seat, sharing the top prize with someone (Ed Crespo), who, like he had done four years ago, had worked his way through a series of loss-side matches to earn a spot in the finals, which ultimately, didn't happen. The $1,000-added event drew 40 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Padula's path to the win passed through Sam Vitellaro, Franciszek Siecz, Greg Matos and Allison Honeymar (the previous week's winner) before meeting Pat Mareno in a winners' side semifinal. He downed Mareno 6-4 and in the battle for the hot seat faced Rajesh Vannala, who'd just sent Crespo to the losers' bracket 7-5. LaPadula won what proved to be his last match of the night 8-6 to sit in the hot seat for the first time.
On the loss side, Crespo picked up Keith Adamik, who'd defeated Stewart Warnock 7-6 (another winner from last week's two-event weekend), and Mike Zimny 7-3. Mareno drew Ryszard Szpila, who'd gotten by Honeymar 6-3 and Ed DaCosta 6-2. Crespo edged Adamik 7-6 and in the quarterfinals, faced Szpila, who'd eliminated Mareno 6-5.
Crespo defeated Szpila and spoiled Vannala's bid for a rematch against LaPadula, by winning his own rematch against him 7-5, in the semifinals. 'Long-time compatriots' LaPadula and Crespo opted out of the final match, splitting the money, but leaving the undefeated LaPadula in possession of the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. On April 5, the Tri-State Tour will hold the Paul Fanelli Memorial event at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
