Welcome to the United States Handball Association

Anchorage, Alaska - Mt. McKinley stands at 20,320 feet in the Alaska Range and is North America’s highest peak. One must possess the physical endurance and mental toughness to reach the top. Vince Munoz had an equally menacing task as he faced handball’s highest ranked player in the final of the USHA/Simple Green “Fur Rondy” Pro Stop #3. In order to win in the final of the Pro Tour, one must usually beat David Chapman. Chapman missed the final of the last Pro Stop due to a combination of a hot shooting Anton Wilson and food poisoning. Both were absent from the Anchorage Pro Stop.

Munoz took the first game 21-10 with the same blistering fly kills that made him a National 3-Wall Champion. With Munoz leading 14-7, Chapman called his final time-out. The rest gave Chapman new life, and he was able to pull within five points to 15-10. As quickly as Chapman’s points came, Munoz turned up the level in his game, and closed out the first game without yielding another point. Chapman started the second game determined to regain his dominance of the Pro Tour, taking the second game, 21-9. Going into the tiebreaker with the serve, Chapman utilized his reliable lob serve to gain the defensive advantage and take the match 11-4.

In the consolation final, Sal Santa Ana smothered Walter O’Connor in two straight games, 4, 2. Players enjoyed the hosts’ hospitality and the beautiful Alaska blue skies over the weekend. A special thanks goes to Rich Curtner, the Alaska handball players and Anchorage Chrysler Dodge for helping the Pro Tour come to Anchorage, Alaska. Support Simple Green, the Pro Handball Tour sponsor, and be sure to visit www.simplegreen.com

See complete results below as well as an updated Pro Stop draw sheet.

USHA/Simple Green "Fur Rondy" Pro Stop #3

Final Results

First Round

David Chapman (St. Louis, MO) d. Pete Crouser (Minneapolis, MN), 9, 7.
Marcos Chavez (Buena Park, CA) d. Sean Lenning (Shoreline, WA), (19), 20, 0.
Tony Healy (Co. Cork, Ireland) d. Dessie Keegan (Roscommon, Ireland), (12), 8, 5.
Paul Brady (Co. Cavan, Ireland) d. Walter O’Connor (Dublin, Ireland), 16, 10.
John Bike Jr. (Hesperia, CA) d. Sal Santa Ana (El Paso, TX), 9, 12.
Norm Dunne (San Jose, CA) d. Chris Tico (San Francisco, CA), 17, 12.
Danny Bell (Quebec City, Canada) d. Dan Armijo (Albuquerque, NM), 11, 5.
Vince Munoz (Whittier, CA) d. Emmett Peixoto (Watsonville, CA), 5, 8.

Quaterfinals

Chapman d. Chavez, 13, 17; Brady d. Healy, 19, 14; Bike d. Dunne, (7), 13, 7; Munoz d. Bell, 7, 12.

Semifinals

Chapman d. Brady, 8, 10; Munoz d. Bike, 12, 7.

Final

David Chapman d. Vince Munoz, (10), 9, 4.

Pro Consolation

First Round

Santa Ana d. Armijo, 13, (14), 7; Tico d. Peixoto, 10, (9), 6; Crouser d. Keegan, (14), 3, 2; O’Connor d. Lenning, 8, 6.

Consolation Semifinals

Santa Ana d. Tico, (6), 5, 10; O’Connor d. Crouser, 11, 10.

Consolation Final

Sal Santa Ana d. Walter O’Connor, 4, 2.

Friday’s Results:

Thursday, Feb. 13th

Anchorage, Alaska - Players gathered Thursday evening at Alaska Club East to draw for the USHA/Simple Green “Fur Rondy” Pro Stop #3. A mild winter in Anchorage has postponed some of the usual “Fur Rendezvous” activities—such as dogsled racing; fortunately, the weather inside a 20X40 handball court usually remains the same, and no dogs are required! Hall of Famer Carl Obert conducted a clinic prior to the Draw for those hoping to improve their skills.

This is the second consecutive Pro Stop that Naty Alvarado Jr. will miss. Anton Wilson and Eoin Kennedy were also unable to attend the event. Their absence gave the Pete Crouser, Chris Tico, and Emmett Peixoto the opportunity to play. Sal Santa Ana and Walter O’Connor are back on the USHA/Simple Green Pro Tour, and Dessie Keegan qualified for the first time in Boston. See the Draw below:

David Chapman (St. Louis, MO) v. Pete Crouser (Minneapolis, MN)
Marcos Chavez (Buena Park, CA) v. Sean Lenning (Shoreline, WA)
Tony Healy (Co. Cork, Ireland) v. Dessie Keegan (Roscommon, Ireland)
Paul Brady (Co. Cavan, Ireland) v. Walter O’Connor (Dublin, Ireland)
John Bike Jr. (Hesperia, CA) v. Sal Santa Ana (El Paso, TX)
Norm Dunne (San Jose, CA) v. Chris Tico (San Francisco, CA)
Dan Armijo (Albuquerque, NM) v. Danny Bell (Quebec City, Canada)
Vince Munoz (Whittier, CA) v. Emmett Peixoto (Watsonville, CA)

Friday, Feb. 14th

A twist of “dumb luck” matched four Irish players against each other in the first round. Others also drew familiar faces in the first round. Bay Area players Norm Dunne and Chris Tico played in the first round as well as a match-up of veterans Danny Bell and Dan Armijo.

Dessie Keegan's play was on fire in the first round against Tony Healy. Healy had no answer for Keegan’s booming pass shoots and blistering fly kills, and Keegan easily took the first game, 21-12. Not wanting to take an early exit at the hands of his fellow countryman and first-time qualifier, Healy quickly doused any chance of an upset with a 21-8 second game win. In the tiebreaker, Healy snuffed his opponent's scoring opportunities with consistant kills, winning by an 11-5 margin.

In the other Irish match, Walter O’Connor kept up with Brady in the first game until falling 21-16. After crashing into the right wall late in the first, O'Connor never quite regained his form, and Brady took the second game and the match 21-10.

The Marcos Chavez and Sean Lenning match was their first meeting since the 2002 USHA National 3-Wall Championship in the semifinals. That match saw Lenning come back from a 21-0 loss to easily win the tiebreaker. This time, the two played almost the evenly for the first two games. Lenning narrowly took the first game 21-19. In the second, Chavez jumped out to a 19-6 lead, until Lenning changed his serve and started the comeback. Fans watched Lenning chip away at the lead until he was serving at match point with the score tied 20-20. Chavez gained the serve with a right front corner kill, and forced the tiebreaker with a 21-20 victory. In the tiebreaker, Chavez dominated and finished the match 11-0.

Despite the close matches, play finished on Friday seeing only one upset with Danny Bell routing Dan Armijo, 21-11 and 21-5.

Saturday, Feb. 15th

The final of the USHA/Simple Green "Fur Rondy" Pro Stop #3 will feature No. 1 David Chapman against No. 2 Vince Munoz. In order to return to the final, David Chapman had to go through the last Pro Stop winner, Paul Brady. In a match that included some dazzling play, Chapman took control early and never relented, winning in two games 21-8 and 21-10. One rally between the players was described by one longtime handball fan as, “The best rally I have ever watched!” (Don’t worry, it was caught on tape).

Brady had earlier made the semifinals by defeating Tony Healy, 21-19 and 21-14. Chapman held off a second game comeback from Marcos Chavez to win 21-13 and 21-17.

In the other semifinal, Vince Munoz handed John Bike a two game loss to earn a trip to the final, 21-12 and 21-7. Munoz had earlier defeated Danny Bell, 21-7 and 21-12. Bike pulled out a tiebreaker win against Norm Dunne, 7-21, 21-13, and 11-7.

Four out of six matches went to tiebreakers in the Pro Consolation. Sal Santa Ana secured a spot in the final with wins over Dan Armijo and Chris Tico. Walter O’Connor continued a great streak by defeating Sean Lenning and Pete Crouser to make the final against Santa Ana.

Between games, Handball Hall of Famer Carl Obert conducted another clinic and offered commentary of the pro matches. After play had finished, players and fans were treated to a banquet at Alaska Club East. A special thanks goes to host, Rich Curtner, Anchorage Chrysler & Dodge and the Alaska players for getting the Pro Tour back to Alaska.