9-Ball Shootout Black Tier Champion Dustin Gunia
World’s Largest Pool League Awards More Than $750,000
Poolplayers looking for yet another opportunity to make it to Vegas are finding their way there by competing in the APA Poolplayer Championships. More than 2,500 players made their way to the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in early May for APA’s annual spring event.
Poolplayers from 49 states and two countries competed for nearly $750,000 in five events: the 8-Ball Classic, 9-Ball Shootout, 8 and 9-Ball Doubles Championships and the Wheelchair Championship.
After five days of nearly non-stop action, 12 new champions had cemented their poolplaying legacy by taking home an APA title.
The final round of the 9-Ball Shootout featured four championship matches, one for each Skill Level Tier, with two shooters in each tier competing for $10,000 in cash and prizes.
In the Green Tier, Robbie Schreckengost of Kearneysville, W.V., defeated Donavan Balan of Hacienda Heights, Calif. In the White Tier, Bryan Marcum of Worthington, Ohio, defeated Shareef Chandler-El of Schaumburg, Ill. In the first year of the newly added Gray Tier, Edward Arciniega of National City, Calif., defeated Terry Lecreux of Toronto. In the Black Tier, Dustin Gunia of Omaha, Neb., defeated William Gallagher Jr. of Atco, N.J.
Each of the three Champions received a cash and prize package worth $10,000. Runners-Up in each tier took home a prize package worth $5,000.
Jerry Brown of St. Petersburg, Fla., received the Sportsmanship Award in the 9-Ball Shootout.
More than 4,000 poolplayers made it to the Regional Level of the 9-Ball Shootout before the field was whittled down to the 483 who advanced to Las Vegas.
Nearly 6,000 players throughout North America qualified for Regional competition in the 8-Ball Classic, with 692 of them advancing to the championships.
In the finals of the 8-Ball Classic, five champions each took home a cash and prize package worth $15,000 for their performances.
In the Blue Tier, Karla Garcia of Miami, Fla., defeated Noemi Rodriguez of Chicago, Ill. In the Yellow Tier, Jesse Garcia of Joliet, Ill., defeated Christian Delgado of Winter Springs, Fla. In the Red Tier, Lawrence Samuel of Ocala, Fla., defeated Garrett Hogue of Forney, Texas. In the Orange Tier, Nazario Aguilar of Chicago, Ill., defeated James Sevion of Montgomery, Ala. In the Purple Tier, Abrin Schaad of Pekin, Ill., defeated David Barnes of Denton, Md.
First Place winners received cash and prizes worth $15,000. Each Runner-Up received cash and prizes worth $9,000.
Shannon Peek of Sealy, Texas, won the Sportsmanship Award in the 8-Ball Classic.
In the 8-Ball Doubles Championship, Swamp Donkeys – Ralph Serode and Jeff Waterman– of Taunton, Mass., defeated Drunk Tank – Scott Esposito and Vince Boettger– of Chicago, Ill. The victory earned them a $5,000 payday. As Runners-Up, Drunk Tank took home $3,000.
In the 9-Ball Doubles Championship, PFLS – David Griffin and Henry Sevcik– of Fayetteville, N.C., defeated Kidless in Vegas – Brittany Blomlie and Wes Mancil– of Ocala, Fla. The victory earned them a $3,500 payday. As Runners-Up, Kidless in Vegas took home $2,300.
In the finals of the Wheelchair Championship, Charlie Hans of Harrison, Ohio, defeated Earl Hessbrook of Spring Branch, Texas, to take home $2,000 in prize money. Hessbrook received $1,200 as the Runner-Up.
The final of each championship round was live-streamed (courtesy of PoolDawg) and can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/apaleagues.
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States, and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 250,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9‑Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.
The APA produces four major tournaments each year—the APA World Pool Championships, the APA Poolplayer Championships, the APA Junior Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship—that, together, pay out nearly $2 Million in cash and prizes annually!
The APA and its championships are sponsored by Aramith, Action Cues, PoolDawg and Valley-Dynamo.
For more information on the APA Poolplayer Championships, visit https://poolplayers.com/poolplayer-championships/.
