Geoff Bauer, Jonathan Woo and Teddy LaPadula
Jonathan Woo picked up a Tri-State win last November at House of Billiards on Staten Island, coming back from a double hill semifinal to down hot seat occupant, Michael Aro. On Saturday, September 7, he chalked up his first Tri-State win of 2013 with an undefeated run through a field of 37, on-hand for a $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. In the hot seat for this one, Woo and his finals opponent, Geoff Bauer, who'd won eight on the loss side for the right to face him, opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes.
Woo got by Ricardo Mejia, Marco Dy, and Charles Vegara to advance among the winners' side final four and a match against room owner, John Trobiano. In the other winners' side semifinal, Mike Strassberg squared off again Teddy Lapadula, last seen in the Tri-State winners' circle in February of 2010 (also at Castle Billiards). Woo sent Trobiano west 7-4, as LaPadula guaranteed himself a minimum third place finish with a double hill win over Strassburg. Woo then defeated LaPadula 8-6 and waited in the hot seat for Bauer.
Bauer's eight-match, loss-side streak went through Scott Simonetti, Luis Jimenez, Mejia, Vegara, and Guy Iannuzzi before running into Trobiano. Strassberg picked up Jaydev Zaveri, who'd defeated Dennis Kennedy 6-5 and James "Doc" Pasciolla 6-1 to reach him. Bauer handed Trobiano his second straight 7-4 loss and in the quarterfinals, faced Strassberg, who'd eliminated Zaveri 6-2.
Six down and two to go. Bauer took the quarterfinal match over Strassberg 9-7, and then gave LaPadula his guaranteed third place finish with an 8-4 win. At that point, Woo and Bauer chose not to play a final match, splitting the prize money and declaring the undefeated Woo as the event's official winner.
Tour representatives thanked Trobiano and his staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State stop will be a Double Point event, scheduled for Saturday, September 14, at Gotham Billiards Club in Brooklyn, NY.
