Stewart Warnock capitalized on a continued series of winning matches on the loss-side to meet and defeat an idle-for-a-long-time hot seat occupant, Joe Palone, and capture the top prize in the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, February 11. The $500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 38 entrants to Castle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
After winning his first three matches, Warnock met up with Scott Simonetti, who sent him west with a 7-4 victory and moved on to face Palone among the winners' side final four. Keith Diaz, in the meantime, squared off against Eddie Perez. Palone sent Simonetti over 7-5, as Diaz did likewise to Perez 6-4. A subsequent 7-5 win left Palone in the hot seat, and Diaz off to the semifinals for an eventual matchup against Warnock.
Warnock, now operating on the loss-side, survived two straight double hill battles, against Raphael DaBreo and William Horne to earn a rematch versus Simonetti. Perez picked up Dennis Kennedy, who'd eliminated Charles Bensen 6-5 and Chris DiCaprio 6-1. Perez dropped Kennedy into the tie for fifth place 6-4, as Warnock was busy exacting his revenge against Simonetti, by the same score, 7-4, Simonetti had chalked up in their earlier match.
Warnock moved on to the quarterfinals against Perez, and after defeating him 8-3, got locked up in a double hill struggle versus Diaz; his third of five loss-side matches. He prevailed to take on Palone in the finals. Warnock's continuous loss-side activity squared off against Palone's two-hour wait for the final match. Warnock took an early lead, and though Palone showed signs of warming up to the task, it was too little, too late. Warnock hung on to win 9-5 to earn top honors.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
