For the past three years, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won at least one stop on the Tri-State or Predator Tours. He won two Tri-State stops in 2011, two more in 2012, and picked up a Predator win in 2013. One week after winning the first Tri-State Tour stop of 2014, he finished fifth in an Open/Pro Predator event behind Tony Robles, Mike Dechaine, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez. On Saturday, October 4, he claimed his fourth, undefeated Tri-State title of 2014. The $750-added event drew 23 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Uzdejczyk had to get by Chris Peralta twice to claim this most recent Tri-State title. Following wins against Duane Toney, Keith Adamik, and Hank Nguyen, Uzdejczyk faced Peralta for the first time in a winners' side semifinal, defeating him 7-4, as Robert Jew was busy defeating Teddy Lapadula 6-1. Uzdejczyk claimed the hot seat with a 9-6 win over Jew and waited on Peralta.
Peralta moved over and started his trek back to the finals against Nelson Tran, who'd defeated Dave Ascolese 7-1 and Harry Guevarez 7-4. LaPadula picked up Larry Chandler, who'd gotten by Ada Lio 7-3 and Roger Duronio 6-4. Peralta eliminated Tran 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced LaPadula, who'd finished Chandler's day 6-5.
Peralta, looking for his first Tri-State win, defeated LaPadula 7-5, and earned his first shot in a Tri-State final with a 7-3 win over Jew in the semifinals. He took the opening two racks in the finals, and after giving up one, re-established the two-rack lead at 3-1. Uzdejczyk took the next two to tie it up at 3-3, before Peralta regained the lead for the last time at 4-3. Over the next six, they traded racks, with Uzdejczyk maintaining the single-rack initiative. At 6-6, he did so for the last time, claiming the event title, as Peralta recorded his best finish on the Tri-State tour.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 11, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
