Ryan McCarthy, working all day from the one-loss side of the bracket, won six in a row to get into the finals of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, September 11, and then won a seventh match in the finals against Ken Debroske to take home the first place prize. The $750-added C-D handicapped event drew 18 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
As McCarthy was working his way back, following an opening round, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Jason Egeln, Debroske was working his way into the hot seat. From among the winners' side final four, DeBroske defeated Andrew Cleary 7-4, as Scott Abramowitz sent Tony Iggy west 6-5. DeBroske gained the hot seat with a 6-3 win over Abramowitz.
McCarthy's six-match return to the finals began with a 6-3 victory over Allen Wong, and continued with wins over Ken Decuire, 6-2 and Glenn Andaya, 6-4, which set him up to face Cleary. Iggy met up with Egeln, who'd defeated Sandie Patarino 6-5 and JoeVarvaro 6-4. A 7-5 win for McCarthy over Cleary, set McCarthy up for a quarterfinal rematch against Egeln, who'd defeated Iggy 6-2.
McCarthy came out on top in the rematch 6-4 and then defeated Abramowitz by the same score in the semifinals. In the single elimination finals that followed, McCarthy got out to a 3-1 lead, and then, after allowing DeBroske to get within a game at 3-2, won four straight to reach the hill with a commanding 7-2 lead. DeBroske fought back with three racks of his own, McCarthy won the 13th rack to spoil Debroske's bid for an undefeated day.
