Final Twelve at Great Southern Billiard Tour Championship

Final Twelve at Great Southern Billiard Tour Championship
By Michael Basha

Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening is looking to snare another title on the Great Southern Billiard Tour.

Shane Van Boening was meticulously counting the bracket spaces on the tournament board, counting aloud to add up how many matches he would have to win to snap off the tournament. Van Boening defeated a tough string of opponents Saturday, including an 11-4 win over Steve Moore, an 11-2 victory over Louis “The Wolf” Ulrich, and an 11-9 grudge match over Cliff Joyner. Van Boening will meet up with Danny Smith tomorrow in the afternoon.

On the winners’ side of the bracket, Jesse Middlebrook has continued to amaze, defeating Larry “The Truth” Nevel 11-5 and then Josh Roberts 11-7 to earn a spot Sunday against Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, who survived a hill-hill bout with Bill Bailey and then defeated up-and-comer Danny Smith 11-5 to continue his winners’ side campaign. Rafael Martinez and Sparky Ferrell will play on Sunday as well, with Martinez advancing over Cliff Joyner 11-7 earlier in the day and Ferrell defeating Johnathan Teder 11-6 to earn his return for Sunday.

On the one-loss side, Jonathan Pinegar bested Gabe Owen 11-6 and will play Josh Roberts Sunday, while Teder will face Nevel and Vilmont will play Billy Young.

The $1,000 entry 10-ball ring game is set to go off tonight and will start at $50 a game per player and will rise in price all the way to $800 a game toward the end of the match. The high-caliber field includes Larry Nevel, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Steve Moore, Alex Pagulayan, Billy Young, Bobby Pickle, and Cliff Joyner. Stay tuned for breaking news about this challenging match.

Fargo Surpasses Ring Game Competition

Fargo Surpasses Ring Game Competition
By Michael Basha
Late-breaking news on the Great Southern Billiard Tour’s finale saw Shane Van Boening best Johnny Archer 11-5 on the one-loss side just after midnight in the fourth round. Van Boening’s offensive power was helped along by a few 9 balls on the snap, and while Archer began a comeback at 7-3 down, it was short-lived and ineffective as Van Boening closed Archer out. Van Boening will now face Steve Moore tomorrow for the right to continue.
Runner-up at the Music City Open Tommy D’Alfonso has been eliminated by Jonathan Pinegar in a one-sided match, 11-4. Pinegar managed to get his break working early and used it to dismantle D’Alfonso before he could build any momentum.
Tony Fargo won the 9-ball banks ring game Friday night over Shannon Daulton, pocketing $5,000 in the winner-takes-all format. Daulton held on until the end, but Fargo nailed a handful of tough banks to put Daulton all in and then banked two and out to finish the match and steal the cash.

Great Southern Billiard Tour Delivers Excitement

Great Southern Billiard Tour Delivers Excitement

By Michael Basha
If Shane Van Boening plans on winning the Great Southern Billiard Tour event this weekend, he will have to do it from the B-side. Jesse Middlebrook managed to defeat Van Boening in the second round 11-10 after building a 9-4 lead. A dry break from Middlebrook invited Van Boening to fire off some rounds as he broke and ran seven consecutive racks to reach the hill. A miss from Van Boening on the hill allowed Middlebrook to clear the table and then break and run to close out the match.
WPBA touring pro Helena Thornfeldt accomplished a similar feat, advancing past Johnny Archer 11-5 after running an eight-pack and keeping Archer in his chair, but was defeated by Sparky Ferrell 11-6 soon after. Archer’s and Van Boening’s losses put them on a collision course, and they will match up at 11 p.m. tonight in round four of the one-loss side.
Steve Moore dismissed Music City Open runner-up Tommy D’Alfonso 11-7 in his first-round match u-, but Larry Nevel posted a six-pack en route to an 11-1 win over Moore in the second round and will play Jesse Middlebrook tomorrow.
Alex Pagulayan is in fine form and has a collective score of 33-7 after three rounds. “The Lion” hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than four games so far on his way to the fourth round tomorrow.
Also in the fourth round so far are South Carolina’s Josh Roberts, tour director Shannon Daulton, Louis Ulrich, and youngster Danny Smith, who defeated Jonathan Pinegar 11-9 and will face Chad Vilmont tomorrow. Also scheduled to play Saturday are Rafael Martinez vs. Cliff Joyner, and Ulrich vs. Billy Young.
The 9-ball banks ring game is set to go off Friday, with Pagulayan, Daulton, Joyner, Fargo, and Young all paid up to compete in the $1,000 entry event.
Shannon Daulton has announced “Cash on the Light,” a song by Larry Gibson, as a theme song for the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Larry Gibson has attended the tournament to perform live for the event, and the song can be heard on cowboyentertainer.com.
Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the sport of billiards and pool.

Daulton Dominates Great Southern Billiards Tour

Daulton Dominates Great Southern Billiards Tour
Great Southern Billiard Tour / Macon, GA
by InsidePOOL Staff

"The Cannon" dominated the Great Southern Billiard Tour event.

Tournament director Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton took out a top field of 42 other players to take first place on the August 18-19 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Hosted by The Hole Thang in Macon, GA, this was a $1,500-added event.

With players such as Larry Nevel, Scotty Townsend, and Cliff Joyner, anything was possible. The field whittled down to 16 returning Sunday, which saw a hill-hill nail-biter between Townsend and Nevel, which saw Townsend advance after dropping the 9 ball on the break.

Daulton moved steadily through the winners’ side of the chart, defeating four strong players in Horace Godwin, Sammy Odom, Paul Turner, and finally George Rothrock to earn the hot seat. Now on the west side, Rothrock tried to fight his way back to the finals but was ousted by Towery, who went on to meet Daulton. On fire, Daulton gave Towery no shot, and he ran seven racks in a row to win the match 9-1.

Results:

1st
Shannon Daulton

2nd
Adam Towery

3rd
George Rothrock

4th
Scotty Townsend

5th
Cliff Joyner

Paul Turner

7th
Horace Godwin

JR Rossman

Aces for Abernathy

Aces for Abernathy

Great Southern Billiard Tour / Greenville, SC
by Rick Davis
Jeff Abernethy came out on top of a strong 40-player field at the latest stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Taking place at Sportys in Greenville, SC, this event over the June 2-3 weekend offered some great 9-ball action.

Galloping to the hot seat match were Abernathy and Earl Strickland, but Abernathy was “the surprise of the tournament,” according to the tournament director Shannon Daulton, who commented on his outstanding play. Abernathy bested Strickland to rest as king of the hill.

On the one-loss side Marcus Penly eliminated Danny Turner, while tour regular Larry “The Truth” Nevel ousted Sparky Ferrell. This put Nevel and Penly in the quarterfinals where Nevel came out on top, earning the right to face Strickland in the semifinals. Strickland chipped his way though Nevel to head back towards Abernathy, who was waiting in the finals.

With the last match of the event in action, Abernathy took the championship to cap off a weekend of great play.

Next, the Great Southern Billiard Tour will visit the Shady Lady Lounge in Goose Creek, SC, for the Hurricane Open on June 9-10.

Results:
1st Jeff Abernathy
2nd Earl Strickland
3rd Larry Nevel
4th Marcus Penly
5th Sparky Ferrell
Danny Turner
7th Jeff Pruit
Dan Phillips

Aces for Abernathy

Aces for Abernathy

Great Southern Billiard Tour / Greenville, SC
by Rick Davis
Jeff Abernethy came out on top of a strong 40-player field at the latest stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Taking place at Sportys in Greenville, SC, this event over the June 2-3 weekend offered some great 9-ball action.

Galloping to the hot seat match were Abernathy and Earl Strickland, but Abernathy was “the surprise of the tournament,” according to the tournament director Shannon Daulton, who commented on his outstanding play. Abernathy bested Strickland to rest as king of the hill.

On the one-loss side Marcus Penly eliminated Danny Turner, while tour regular Larry “The Truth” Nevel ousted Sparky Ferrell. This put Nevel and Penly in the quarterfinals where Nevel came out on top, earning the right to face Strickland in the semifinals. Strickland chipped his way though Nevel to head back towards Abernathy, who was waiting in the finals.

With the last match of the event in action, Abernathy took the championship to cap off a weekend of great play.

Next, the Great Southern Billiard Tour will visit the Shady Lady Lounge in Goose Creek, SC, for the Hurricane Open on June 9-10.

Results:
1st Jeff Abernathy
2nd Earl Strickland
3rd Larry Nevel
4th Marcus Penly
5th Sparky Ferrell
Danny Turner
7th Jeff Pruit
Dan Phillips

Daulton Captures the Mid-Carolina Classic

Daulton Captures the Mid-Carolina Classic

Mid-Carolina Classic / Rock Hill, SC
by Rick Davis

Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton snapped off his own event at Breakers Billiards in Rock Hill, SC.

Taking place at Breakers Billiards in Rock Hill, SC, the Mid-Carolina Classic drew in a talented 45-player field to compete over the April 14-15 weekend, and it was tournament director Shannon Daulton who kept control to win the event undefeated.

After the bulk of the field had been eliminated, the winners’ side top eight chipped through a pair of rounds to reach the hot seat match and populate the one-loss side. The spotlight match early on was Daulton and Gabe “The Babe” Owen, where Daulton edged out Owen. In that same round, Tony Watson defeated JR Farias, Josh Roberts bested Ed Marriott, and Brian Capps sent Ian Hull west. Then, in the next round, Daulton kept in gear, defeating Watson, while Roberts did the same by besting Capps. Daulton and Roberts were now set to meet in the hot seat match.

Once the first round on the winners’ side completed, action resumed on the one-loss side as well. Marriott faced Brian White, while Farias faced Larry “The Truth” Nevel, but the players on the one-loss side held their ground. In the other two matches, the incoming Hull and Owen eliminated their opponents, Brady and Cooper, respectively. From there half the one-loss side board continued to change ownership as Hull knocked out White, then the incoming Watson eliminated Hull. On the other half, Nevel was unrelenting as he eliminated Owen, Capps, and then Watson in the quarterfinal round.

This brought the event to the top three, and after Daulton claimed the hot seat match, Roberts faced Nevel to see who would return to the finals. After taking four one-loss side wins Sunday, Nevel proved too strong and eliminated Roberts in the semifinals. With his momentum continuing, Nevel took the first set from Daulton in the true double-elimination finals to set up one final set for all the chips. Things started close, but Daulton was apparently ready to finish up and quickly sprinted to the 7-4 win to snatch the title away from Nevel, completing the event undefeated.

Results:
1st Shannon Daulton
2nd Larry Nevel
3rd Josh Roberts
4th Tony Watson
5th Ian Hull
Brian Capps
7th Gabe Owen
Brian White

Moore Takes Great Southern 9-Ball Tour

Moore Takes Great Southern 9-Ball TourGreat Southern 9-Ball Tour / Greenville, SC

by Rick Davis

Moore took down the Great Southern Billiards Tour event.

A full 64-player field assembled at Sporty’s in Greenville, SC, for the February 17-18 stop of the Great Southern 9-Ball Tour, where Atlanta’s Steve Moore powered his way back from the one-loss side to take another title in his usual dramatic fashion.

The event included a great cross-section of top male pros, as well as WPBA stars and Hall of Famers. Early action saw Monica Webb defeat Earl “The Pearl” Strickland 9-5, and after Strickland lost his next match he was done for the weekend. His two-and-out showed just how deadly this tour could be.

On the winners’ side everyone was scrambling through the gauntlet. Landon Shuffett, everyone’s favorite young gun, made his way through three rounds until a 9-0 drilling by Varner sent him west. Nearby was Gabe “The Babe” Owen, who found his way to the hot seat match to meet “The Kentucky Colonel.” Once Varner powered his way past Owen 9-3, all eyes looked to Varner as the favorite.

No one on the one-loss side was ready to be counted out yet; however, the sheer level of talent on the board made every win incredible. Leading the board was Moore, recent winner of the Derby City Classic 9-ball banks division, and while he is always a threat anywhere he goes, a long road awaited on the west side. Moore faced and eliminated Jason Klatt, an adversary from the Florida Pro Tour, 7-5. Another pair of wins, including a 7-1 slap to Scott Rabon, and Moore found his way to the quarterfinals.

Josh Roberts chipped away a pair of opponents before falling to Larry “The Truth” Nevel, who had eliminated Shuffett 7-3 in the previous round, along with top WPBA pro Helena Thornfeldt, the round before that. Nevel handed out a doughnut to B. White by virtue of a crushing 7-0 match to face Moore.

Things moved into high gear from there as Moore glided past Nevel 7-4 and then, to the shock of those in attendance, shut out former U.S. Open champion Owen 7-0 to reach the finals. With the true double-elimination format, everyone seemed to think Varner the favorite because of the odds alone, but once Moore took the first set 9-3, it was anyone’s game. With a final race to 7, Moore cocked his game up yet another notch, giving up only two racks as he torched Varner again—this time 7-2—to capture the event.

The Great Southern 9-Ball Tour will visit Randolph’s Billiards next on March 3-4 in Hickory, NC.

Results:
1st Steve Moore
2nd Nick Varner
3rd Gabe Owen
4th Larry Nevel
5th B. White
Scott Rabon
7th Brian Capps
Josh Roberts