Jim Yager (co-owner Shooters), Shane McMinn, Evelyn Dysart and George Trujillo
Shane McMinn moved to the one-loss side after the opening round of play in the 9th Annual Handicapped 9-Ball Tournament, held every year on Thanksgiving weekend; this year from November 26-28 at Shooter's in Wichita, KS. With 128 competitors gathered for the $2,000-added event, run by representatives of the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, McMinn had to work his way back through 13 opponents on the one-loss side to face and defeat hot seat occupant George Trujillo in a shortened double elimination final.
The number of racks each player had to win to advance in this tournament matched their handicaps, and in the opening round of play, McMinn, rated at 12, faced Kevin Koch, rated at 3. McMinn reached 11, but Koch, with two games to his credit, won the deciding, double hill match to send McMinn on his 13-match voyage back to the finals.
By Sunday, the winners' side bracket had worked its way down to the final four. Two 8s – Tom Jarboe and George Trujillo - squared off for a chance at the hot seat match, as did two 10s – Junior Brown and Steve Deason. Trujillo defeated Jarboe 8-6, as Brown got by Deason 10-6. Trujillo gained the hot seat 8-7, in what would prove to be his final win of the weekend.
Over on the one-loss side, with four victories already under his belt (versus Bobby Dilliard, Candace Toll, Jesse Smith, and Mike Banks, Jr.), McMinn was into the money rounds. He followed up with two straight 12-6 victories over Shannon Meyer and Dave Parks, and then shutout Neil Holly. Victories over Marshal Roney 12-8, and Steve Rector 12-3, set him up to face Deason, coming over from the winners' side final four. Jarboe picked up Chip Compton, who'd most recently defeated David Griffin 12-5 and Mike Tedder 12-7.
A 12-3 victory for Compton over Jarboe, and a 12-8 victory for McMinn over Deason set up a quarterfinal match that recreated the finals of a Southwest 10-Ball Tour stop, held in Oklahoma City, back in September. Same players, different result. Compton got by McMinn twice in the earlier matchup, including the double hill final, but it was McMinn who survived this quarterfinal, advancing 12-5 (both rated at 12) to meet Brown in the semifinals.
McMinn cleared his final hurdle with a 12-7 victory over Brown. In what should have been a double elimination final, the opening set was called with McMinn ahead, 11-5. Tour officials cited Trujillo for unsportsmanlike conduct, and McMinn was declared the winner.
