Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Houston Signature Open Division Recap

Well folks I must offer an apology for the delay in getting this recap completed. You see, after almost every Signature event, I seem to come down with a serious case of Cotardimus Delusiotisis. Well not really, I just kinda made that up but I did have a serious case of TCL Cornhole Coma! Being a older player, I just don't recover like I used to and it doesn't help allergy issues kicked in while I was in Houston. Nevertheless, here is the recap for the Houston Signature Series Open Division.

Starting off with the Open Singles, I must say that this was one of the most talented and decorated fields I have seen in recent years. Eddie Grinderslev, a multiple time TCL State Champ was in one of his zones as he went undefeated including a big win over Jamie Graham in the finals. Grinderslev, the soft spoken Austin resident rarely missed and seemed to have an answer for every challenge he faced. Graham, one of the nations top players and former King of Cornhole, put on quite a show himself making many clutch shots. Noah Wooten, the young gun from Georgia who wowed the crowd with some outstanding bags, finished third just ahead of A J Sims. Josh Groce and Brandon Gregor tied for 5th while Daniel Vinson and Mo Rhadbane tied for 7th. Placing 9th were the group of Ernest Herrera, Shawn Anderson, Chris Paul and Johnny Seymour.

In the Tier 1 drop down bracket, crowd favorite Dan Rogge outlasted Greg Kilmer for the win while Kenneth Wright placed third. James Sledge beat Chase Hunter to win the Tier 2 Division with Tyler Weaver finishing third.

The Open Doubles final matched Jamie Graham and Noah Wootan against Josh Groce and Eric Weathers in a battle of titans. Graham and Wooten are arguably two of the top players in the country while Groce and Weathers have been two of the best in Texas the past year and a half. Jamie and Noah came out blazing in winning the best of three match in two games to win the championship. Josh and Eric unfortunately were a little off this match and gave Jamie and Noah too many scoring opportunities. Possibly the weekends biggest surprise was Todd Bridgeman and Justin Bennett getting hot after a bag change to take third. Bennett who had been struggling, changed bags and found his stroke allowing he and Bridgeman to win 8 straight games in the losers bracket to narrowly miss playing in the finals. Eddie Grinderslev and Kenneth Johnston placed forth while Daniel Vinson and Johnny Seymour tied with Stuart Foster and Christina Espinosa for fifth. Another surprise in the Open Doubles was the disappointing finish for Chris Paul and Travis Welch. These two were expected to make a run at this event however a first round loss put them in the losers bracket and they never recovered.

In the Tier One Doubles, Mark Rubio and Eli Gonzales defeated Darren Bell and Celeste Ibanez to grab the win while Cory Gann and Taylor Wayne placed third. Tier Two Doubles was won by Casey Young and Kirk Martin as they defeated Tyler Weaver and Jonathon Perez. John Watson and Chuck Coia finished third.

It was a long and exhausting tournament but man it was fun! We saw some great games with a great display of talent from all divisions. I must thank and mention those who helped put this event on. Chad Jacobson, Jason Andrews and Justin Fowler spent many hours prior to this tourney to organize and plan everything out and they did a remarkable job. J D Thompson. This guy was awesome. Running a bracket for one tournament can be challenging especially with this many participants but he ran several, multitasking like a champ. Well done sir! Thanks to all of these guys and thanks to all who played and supported everyone and I looked forward to seeing everyone in Denton!

Let 'em fly y'all!

No comments:

Post a Comment