The defending champion of the River City Classic, Bobby McGrath, lost the first match he played on the weekend of October 15-16, and then won 10 straight, including a finals victory over Scott Herbeck to successfully defend that title. The event drew 55 entrants to Dave's Goodtime Billiards in Peoria, IL.
As McGrath was beginning his long trek back to the finals, Herbeck was advancing through six rounds of play to get into the hot seat. From among the winners' side final four, he defeated Jeff Jones, and then, Larry Parke, who'd sent Jamey Bowman west.
Jones moved over to tackle Justin Cone, who'd defeated Fred Fechter and Gary Lutman to reach him. McGrath, with five wins behind him, defeated Mike Henderson and Will Freeman for the right to face Bowman. McGrath downed Bowman and was joined in the quarterfinals by Cone, who'd eliminated Jones.
Once McGrath had dropped Cone into fourth place, he dropped Parke into third place, to complete the longest loss-side run possible. He completed his 10-match run with a victory over Herbeck to successfully defend his River City title.
