USHA/Simple Green Pro Stop and Masters Doubles in Conjunction with the Houston Invitational, Downtown Houston YMCA, April 3-6

David Chapman became the first player in memory to advance through an 11-point game format event without the loss of a single game when he defeated John Bike in Sunday’s final in Houston, 6, 3, 8. It was the first time John Bike had appeared in a pro final since ’98 even though he’s been at the top of his game through most of this year.
Though sore from two rounds of play, Garner agreed to play Crouser in the consolation final on Saturday night as Pete couldn’t change his 6 a.m. flight plans for Sunday. Garner continued his surprising weekend with a two-game win, 13, 5.
Host Chuck Reeve rallied from an 18-20 deficit in the second game to win the 45-plus final with Landon Curry over Bill Layton and Manuel Raymond.
Richard and Michael Dunne overcame Texans Tracy Eubanks and Brett Cooper as well as the wet walls on their court to win in two games in the 35-plus final.
Chris and Vern Roberts held off the pace of Mark Zamora and Tom Kopp to win the 40-plus.
Mike Bock and Kelly Russell were the class of the 50-plus, defeating Greg Sizemore and Mark Shelgren in the final. Fellow Southern Californians Skip McDowell and Rod Gaspar were just as overpowering in the 55-plus, defeating Jack Hulick and Terry Nett.
In the 60s, Gary Rohrer and Paul Schulz had their serves working in the final against Jon Andresen and Jim Cosentino. Ed Grossenbacher added the doubles to his recent 65-plus singles, teaming with Mike Driscoll to defeat Joe McDonald and Mike Dunne in the final.
“Stop putting the ages on these trophies,” Kevan DelGrande said after winning the 70-plus with Jerry Cronin over Ron Emberg and Bill Strawn. In the 75s, Bob Nedd and Paul Wallach defeated Bill Heaston and Bob Maletich for the title. Wallach, 76, was in his first USHA nationals.


Final Results:
First Round:
David Chapman (St. Louis) d. Allan Garner (San Antonio), 7, 4, 3; Tommy Little (Mound City, KS) d. Chris Tico (San Francisco) 1, (2), 5, 6; Danny Bell (Quebec) d. James Komshtoeft (Chicago), (8), 6, 10, 4; Marcos Chavez (Buena Park, CA) d. Pete Crouser (Minneapolis) 2, 5, 8; Norm Dunne (San Jose) d. Andy Schad (Vandenberg AFB), (3), 6, 8, 6; Sal SantaAna (El Paso) d. Dan Armijo (Albuquerque), (5), 6, 5, 1; Tyler Hamel (Houston) d. Emmett Peixoto (Watsonville, CA), (6), (10), 3, 2, 0; John Bike (Hesperia, CA) d. James Bardwell (Tucson), 6, 8, (6), 10.

Quarterfinals: Chapman d. Little, 4, 2, 3; Bell d. Chavez, 10, (1), 6, 6; Santa Ana d. Dunne, (3), 4, 4, (4), 8; Bike d. Hamel, 4, (10), 9, (9), 8.

Semifinals: Chapman d. Bell, 0, 4, 3; Bike d. Santa Ana, 5, (0), 7, 3.

Final: Chapman d. Bike, 6, 3, 8.

Pro Consolation:


Quarterfinals: Garner d. Armijo, 1, 5; Schad d. Peixoto, (5), 10, 4; Crouser d. Komsthoeft, 9, 8; Bardwell d. Tico, (14), 12, 9.

Semifinals: Garner d. Schad, 9, 4, 8; Crouser d. Bardwell, 9, 13.

Final: Garner d. Crouser, 13, 5.

35-Plus:

Round robin:

First Place: Rich Dunne / Mike Dunne Jr. (CA) d. Brett Cooper / Tracy Eubanks (TX), 13, 17; Jon Flynt/Jeff Wall (TX), 6, 9; Dave Bero/Steve Bell (TC), 4, 3.
Second Place: Cooper/Eubanks d. Flynt/Wall, 1, 18; Bero/Bell, 1, 4.
Third: Flynt/Wall, default.

40-Plus:

Quarterfinals: Jerry Garcia / Danny Schmitt (TX/AZ) d. Todd Worrell / Mark Gilmer (TX), 10, 19; Jim Ward / Scott Kelley (SC/GA) d. Dave Parsons / Gayle Fletcher (TX) 1, 1.

Semifinals: Vern Roberts / Chris Roberts (AZ/IL) d. Garcia / Schmitt, 1, 10; Mark Zamora / Tom Kopp (CA/IA) d. Ward / Kelley, 15, (18), 5
Final: Roberts/Roberts d. Zamora/Kopp, 5, 17.

Cons.: Parsons/Fletcher.

45-Plus:

Quarterfinals: Bob Sherman / Dick McGirk (TX) d. Pete Davis / Steve Lurvey (CA/FL), 9, 16

Semifinals: Chuck Reeve / Landon Curry (TX) d. Sherman / McGirk, 7, 7; Bill Layton / Manuel Raymond (TX) d. Joe Thomas (NJ) / Dale Littwin (TX), 14, 20.

Final: Reeve/Curry d. Layton/Raymond, 5, 20.

Cons.: Davis/Lurvey.

50-Plus:

First Round: Sam Lucas/David Patterson (TX) d. Ozzie Burke/Charlie Bokelman (TX), 20, 20.
Quarterfinals: Mike Bock / Kelly Russell (CA) d. Jim Garner / S.D. Wall (TX), 3, 3; Mike Woods / Brian Nelson (CA) d. Rex Melton / Tom Martinez (CA) 20, (11), 8; Rick Christian / Larry Morefield (CA) d. Stan Melnick / Jose Cevallos (TX), 5, 8; Mark Shelgren / Greg Sizemore (CA) d. Lucas / Patterson, 3, 6.

Semifinals: Bock / Russell d. Woods / Nelson, 10, 7; Shelgren / Sizemore d. Christian / Morefield, 16, (12), 10.

Final: Bock/Russell d. Shelgren/Sizmore, 1, 8.

Cons.: Melnick/Cevallos d. Garner/Wall.


55- Plus:

Quarterfinals: Skip McDowell / Rod Gaspar (CA) d. Al Robinson / Rich Bowman (TX/AZ), 7, 9; Jay Latona / Wayne Neumann (TX) d. Lewie Lambert/Steve Oliphant (CO), (19), 17, 2; Jim Leboeuf / James Mazuca (TX) d. George Eynon / Bob Jones (TX), 5, 15; Jack Hukick / Terry Nett (CA/CO) d. Sandy Gaitz / Dan Bazan (TX), 14, 5.

Semifinals: McDowell / Gaspar d. Latona / Neumann, 7, 7; Hulick / Nett d. Leboeuf / Mazuca 16, 18.

Final: McDowell/Gaspar d. Hulick/Nett, 9, 12.

Cons.: Oliphant/Lambert d. Eynon/Jones.


60-Plus:

First Round: Harry Scott/Frank Price (TX) d. Joel Kirschenstein/Noel Olshan (CA), (15), 19, 5; Keith Blackburn/Don Civerolo (AZ) d. Burt McLain/Malcolm Duke (TX/AR), 4, 16.

Quarterfinals: Dennis Moser / Travis Poindexter (CA) d. Price / Scott, 2, 9; Jon Andresen (MN) / Jim Cosentino (KS) d. Jim Smith (CA) / Mike Hulbert (CO) 14, (7), 10; Gary Rohrer / Paul Schultz (MN) d. Bill Flowers (OR) / Norm Young (MI), 6, (17), 6; John Bailey / Ron Cole (KS/TX) d. Blackburn / Civerolo, 12, 9.

Semifinals: Andresen / Cosentino d. Moser / Poindexter, 18, 18; Rohrer / Schulz d. Cole / Bailey, 16, 12.

Final: Rohrer/Schultz d. Andresen/Cosentino, 13, 11.

Cons. McLain/Duke d. Hulbert/Smith, default.

65-Plus:

Quarterfinals: Bob Marshall / Curt Creed (KS) d. Mike Baggetta / Bob Harris (CA/NV), 14, 13.

Semifinals: Joe McDonald / Mike Dunne Sr. d. Marshall / Creed, 16, 20; Ed Grossenbacher (OR) / Mike Driscoll (TX) d. Jim Economides (NM) / Mike Miller (CA), 8, 15.

Final: Grossenbacher/Driscoll d. McDonald/Dunne, 18, 9.


70-Plus:

Round Robin:
First Place: Jerry Cronin / Kevin Del Grande (AZ/CA) d. Ron Emberg / Bill Strawn (TX/KS), 16, 13; John Bike Sr. / Lew Buckingham (AZ/PA), 13, 8.

Second Place: Emberg / Strawn d. Bike Sr./Buckingham, (20), 9, 5.


75-Plus:

Round Round:
First Place: Bob Nedd / Paul Wallach (CA) d. Bill Heaston / Bob Maletich (CA/IL), 18, (10), 6; Joe Joiner/Alvis Grant (TX), 5, 6.
Second: Heaston / Maletich d. Joiner/Grant, 14, 4.


Houston Invitational Results:

Open Singles: Steve Dobrash d. Adam Berliner, 9, (12), 3.
Cons.: Jason Moreland d. Aaron Garner, (17), 9, 9.

B Singles: Jeff Jeffers d. Jesse Cevallos, 18, 16.
Cons.: Chris Kubinski d. Joe Muck.

C Singles: Tommy Marks d. Austin Meyers, 9, 14.
Cons.: John Sarno d. Colin Marks, (8), 8, 10.

Women’s: Lynn Alesi d. Rachel Kos, 12, 15.
Cons.: K.C. Layton d. Angie King, (8), 3, 10.

Juniors: Michael Cevallos d. Wes Meyers, 13, 20.
Cons.: Dustin Van Brunt d. Desarae Cevallos.

Saturday

David Chapman and John Bike will meet in the pro final on Sunday while Allan Garner will face off against Pete Crouser in the consolation final. “What is this, 1988?” Rick Christian asked John Bike after his semifinal win over Sal SantaAna. Bike gave him a happy smile as his answer.

“That was a big psychological hurdle,” Sal SantaAna said after making his first-ever semifinal. “That was the first time I ever got out of the first round,” Sal said. After his recent consolation showings and the semis here, Sal will have a very good chance of breaking into the top 12.

Christian and Larry Morefield lost an 11-10 thriller to Mark Shelgren and Greg Sizemore in the semis of the 50-plus. However, it was at a high cost as Shelgren’s tore a bicep at the beginning of the second game. “It didn’t hurt but my hand wasn’t where I thought it would be the rest of the match,” Shelgren said in his tough-guy response.

The 75-plus round robin was decided on Saturday as Bob Nedd and Paul Wallach of Northern California ended their play undefeated.

One of the highlights of the delicious banquet at Massa’s Restaurant on Saturday night was the awarding of the Maher Scholarships. The $1,000 scholarships are named after Charlie Maher, a Houston Handball supporter and given to three Texas students each year. Winners were Lynn Alesi of A&M, Joe Muck of the Univ. of Texas and Jeron Powell of A&M.

Friday

Play was fast and furious in the humid confines of the Houston YMCA’s very fast courts on Friday. With several of the top names missing the matchups were especially interesting. Local Tyler Hamel rebounded from two games to none to win his first round of Emmett Peixoto with a convincing fifth game win, 11-0. While the elder Hamel look fatigued early, he came back for the win.
John Bike rallied from a 4-10 deficit to defeat James Bardwell in the fourth and final game of their opening round match. Junior standout Allan Garner didn’t win a game against David Chapman but impressed everyone with his two-handed power and poise.

With all events down to the quarterfinal round in Masters play, the competition was heated. Several tiebreakers kept the fans in the stands around the YMCA’s great viewing facilities.

Thursday

Play got underway on Thursday and the pro draw was finalized for play starting on Friday. Allan Garner of San Antonio, the current regional Open champion and national 17-under Junior champion who was invited to participate when there were no more ranked players to fill in as substitutes drew David Chapman in his pro debut.
In masters play, “There were upsets already,” host Chuck Reeve said of the few matches played on Thursday.