Lee Vann Corteza
The Turning Stone Classic XL got underway on January 9th, with its usual field of 128 players made up of top pros and the best regional players from the Northeast and Canada.
For the longest time, this event has been thought of as “belonging” to Eagle Eye Jayson Shaw, who has won this title a record nine times. Some fans were boasting online that it was an “even money” bet to take Shaw against the field of 127 other players. That field of 127 other players included Mika Immonen, Lee Vann Corteza, John Morra, Erik Hjorliefson, Danny Hewitt, Jeremy Sossei, Matt Krah, Bucky Souvanthong, Frankie Hernandez and more though.
Shaw lived up to those fans expectations early, going undefeated for his first four rounds of play. An early 9-2 win over Russian Ruslan Chinahov looked to be a good omen for Shaw. The fifth round of play changed things though, as 2007 Champion Lee Vann Corteza made quick work of Shaw 9-4.
Also looking strong was reigning Champion Germany’s Moritz Neuhausen, who’s fifth round 9-2 win over German transplant to New York Christoph Neumayer, kept him on the winner’s side. Canadians Danny Hewitt and Jesse Piercey filled out the top four unbeaten spots in the brackets.
Round six saw Corteza blank Piercey 9-0, while Neuhausen had quite a bit more trouble with Hewitt before dispatching him hill-hill. Corteza then took the hot-seat with a 9-6 win over Neuhausen.
Neuhausen’s time on the one loss side was not very long after his hot-seat loss, as he handed Neumayer another 9-2 loss to setup the rematch between the two former champions Neuhausen and Corteza in the finals.
The final match was another true battle with both champions looking to earn their second career Turning Stone titles. Corteza kicked things off with a 3-1 lead, but Neuhausen knotted things back up at 3-3 very quickly. Neuhausen took his first lead with a 9-ball break for a 6-5 lead, but Corteza fought back to regain the lead at 9-8. Corteza took control of things from there and earned a 13-10 win for Turning Stone Classic Title #2.
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