Skyler Woodward
In many ways, athletes are defined by their opponents. Quality opponents bring out the best in a given player's skills. Skyler Woodward came back from a defeat at the hands of Dennis Orcollo to win three loss-side matches against Shaun Wilkie, Mike Dechaine, and in a re-match, Orcollo. He then double dipped hot seat occupant Taylor Anderson to win the $12,000-added Men's Chinook Winds Open, part of the Western BCA 8-Ball Championships, on the weekend of March 11-13. The event drew 128 entrants to the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, Oregon.
In the $5,000-added Women's event (separate story), Nicole Keeney successfully thwarted a strong challenge by Mary Coffman to win that title. The women's tournament drew 37 entrants.
In the Open event, Skyler Woodward worked his way through a preliminary bracket, defeating his first four opponents by an aggregate score of 28-8. This advanced him to the winners' side of a final, 16-player bracket. Joining him from the winners' side of the two preliminary brackets were Steve Knoll, Hunter Lombardo, Orcollo, Dechaine, Chris Byers, Anderson and Wilkie. Advancing to the final bracket from the loss side, were Rodney Morris, Rene Rendon, Richard Geiler, John Schmidt, Eddie Carrido, Billy Thorpe, Ernesto Dominguez and last year's champion, Corey Deuel.
In the event's winners' side quarterfinals, Woodward downed Steve Knoll 7-3 and faced Orcollo in a winners' side semifinal. Dechaine and Anderson met in the other semifinal. Orcollo sent Woodward to the loss side 7-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Anderson, who'd defeated Dechaine 7-3. Anderson, who was playing his best against quality opponents, and like Woodward, had defeated Wilkie and Dechaine, went on to defeat Orcollo, as well, 7-5 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Woodward picked up Wilkie, who'd defeated Schmidt 7-2 and Rendon 7-3. Dechaine drew Billy Thorpe, who'd eliminated Knoll 7-2 and survived a double hill match that ousted the defending champ, Deuel. Thorpe came out on the losing side of his second straight double hill match, sending Dechaine to the quarterfinals. Woodward joined him after a 7-5 win over Wilkie.
Woodward took the quarterfinal match over Dechaine 7-5 to earn a semifinal rematch against Orcollo. He defeated Orcollo 7-2 and turned to a double elimination final against Anderson. Woodward forced a case game in the opening set against Anderson, and won it. He took the second set 7-4 to claim the title.
