The story at the Turning Stone Classic for the past couple events has been whether (and when) Jayson Shaw will match Johnny Archer’s record six wins. After the Turning Stone Classic XXX, the story can shift to whether Shane Van Boening will catch up with Shaw’s five wins.

Day four dawned with just eight players left with hopes of winning the title. Van Boening was one of the four unbeaten players and he started Sunday with a 9-5 win over Canada’s Erik Hjorleifson. At the same time, Archer was squeaking by Turning Stone regular Hunter Lombardo 9-8.

On the one loss side, Finland’s Olli Turkulainen eliminated Zion Zvi and Jayson Shaw eliminated another Turning Stone regular, Bucky Souvanthong.

Both players coming over from the winner’s side then eliminated Turkulainen (lost to Lombardo) and Shaw (lost to Hjorleifson). Hjorleifson and Lombardo had both been playing great all week, but one of them would have to settle for 4th place. That player would be Hjorleifson after a 9-3 loss to Lombardo.

The semifinal gave Lombardo a chance to avenge his earlier loss to Archer, but Archer took an early lead and Lombardo would be unable to catch up in a 9-7 match.

Between them, the finalists had almost 1/3 of the Turning Stone Classic titles in existence (9 of 30). Even though Archer had the larger number of titles (six), Van Boening appears to be in his usual late year form, and that was more than Archer could handle. Archer struggled with his break for most of the match, while Van Boening was controlling the break (and the table) like only he can. Archer made a couple short runs, but they were always stopped by a dry break. The final score was 13-7 Van Boening, in a match that wasn’t even really that close.

For Van Boening, it was his fourth Turning Stone title and his third straight tournament win, following his US Open 8-Ball and US Open 10-Ball wins last month.

33/48 - Mike Yednak, Thomas Wan, Yesid Garibello, Dave Fernandez, Jean Therriault (Can), Joey Cicero (Can), Mark Creamer, Ryan Urso, Gene Hunt,
Petri Makkonen (Fin), Earl Herring, Rich Kravetz, Raphael Dabreo, William Reuben, Mika, Immonen, Billy Thorpe

49/64 - Rich Connors, Jonathan Smith, Dwight Dixon, Jesse Docalavich, LoreeJon Hasson, Ray Lee, Rob Hart, Ranulf Tamba, Marco Kam, Randy Labonte, Brad Guthrie, Steve Fleming, Shaun Wilkie, Ed Culhane, Jerry Crowe, Holden Chin

65/96 - Mike Toohig, Greg Antonakos, Tom Zippler, James McManus, Brent Boemmels, Jim Paley, Tom Peterson, Devin Buttle (Can), Chris Braiman,
Jason Michas, Mike Liberman, John Kovacs, Jed Jecen, Luc Salvas (Can), Tony Antone, Jim Kearney, Jerome Rockwell, Alvin Thomas, Nick Coppola, Larry Phlegar, Nelson Weimer, Bob Cunningham, Steve Lillis, Paul Pensgen, Ray Buthe, Dave Mills, Steven Winter (Can), John Moody, Mike Pettit,
Josh Friedberg, Nick Brucato, Doug Rhee

97/128 - Charley Lamarche (Can), Don Steele, Samoth Sam, James Chemaly, Vince Prinzivalli, John Francisco, Ryan Smith, Sean Santoro, Bruce Gordon,
Wayne Faherty, Samantha Barrett, Steven W. Smith, Jim Prather, Alan Gordon, Dan Sharlow, Rich Howard, Bill Cote, Dave Callaghan, Fred Gokey,
Jay Chiu, Markus, Noe (Can), Phil Harju, Tom Gildea, Brian Wheel, Kerry McAuliffe, Lida Mullendore, Erin Bechner, Nick Antonakos
Ben werblow, Norm Pomainville, Mike Verducci, Gregg McAndrews

Our Second Chance event had a full field of 32 players with a total prize fund of $1,600.

1st $500 Brent Boemmels
2nd $300 Rich Kravetz
3/4th $200 each - Kerry McAuliffe, Steve Fleming
5/8th $100 each - Jesse Docalavich, John Kovacs, Dave Mills, Steven Winter

$1,200 Joss Cue raffle winners - Markus Noe & Jean Therriault. The winner of the autographed Aramith Pro Cup cue ball used in the final match was John Ross.

Road partners Josh Friedberg and Holden Chin teamed up for first place finishes in the open and second chance event at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s final regular season stop June 2nd - 3rd at Snookers Billiards in Providence, RI.

Friedberg survived hill-hill matches against Ben Savoie and Kerry McAuliffe in his first two matches and didn’t really have any non-stressful wins as his 9-5 win over Alex Morin on Sunday morning was his largest margin of victory. It was another close one for the hot-seat, where he defeated Bill Cote 9-7.

On the one loss side, Bucky Souvanthong was making up for his early loss to Joe Darigis. Souvanthong won nine straight matches, including a 7-2 victory over Darigis in the final four. Souvanthong then went on to defeat Cote 7-3 in the semi-final match.

The finals would go one set with Friedberg scoring a 9-6 win over Souvanthong for his first Joss Tour win.

After back to back hill-hill losses for Holden Chin in the main event, he was one of the fourteen players who came back on Sunday to compete in the second chance tournament. After an opening round win over Andrew Griffin, Chin dropped a hill-hill match to Jared Demalia. That would be the last time Chin would taste defeat in this event though, as he won five straight on the left side and then double dipped Francisco Cabral in the finals.

While it was Friedberg with the win in the main event, he gave all the credit to Chin. “When it comes to this game, Holden is the absolute greatest teacher. I would never ever have even come close to winning without his help.” he said. “ I think there were players there that were better than me. That had more skill and more experience than I did. (…) I just kept my head down and tried to remember all the things that Holden had taught me along the way.”

This event was the final regular season stop on the 2017 - 2018 season. Next up for the tour is the Turning Stone Classic XXX on August 23th - 26th at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY.

Sometimes, getting that first match win is the key to tournament success. That looked to be the case on April 7th - 8th at Union Station Billiards in Portland Maine where Dany Normandin earned his first career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.

Normandin’s first match was against the always dangerous Kyle Pepin. Pepin approaches the table with a confidence that can affect many opponent’s games and this match was a close one with Normandin pulling out a 9-7 win. After that win though, no opponent would put up much of a challenge to keep Normandin from the winner’s circle. Xavier Libby, Jim Hayden and Samoth Sam all fell to Normandin on Saturday, by a total score of 27-11.

Normandin picked up where he left off when Sunday play got underway, as he took the hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Ivaylo Petrov.

On the one loss side, Pepin had made it through five straight matches on Saturday and opened Sunday play with a 9-2 win over Josh Rupard. Pepin’s run would finally be brought to a close by Michael Yednak in the next round as Yednak scored a 9-7 win to earn his spot in the semi-final match against Petrov. Yednak’s only loss in the event up to this point had been a loss to Petrov mid-day on Saturday, but he would avenge that loss with a 9-5 win over Petrov to send Petrov to the seats in 3rd place.

The finals would go only one set and would continue Normandin’s dominant play as he beat Yednak 9-3 for first place and $1000 in prize money.

Sundays second chance tournament saw Ross Webster drop his second match to Xavier Libby, but come back with five match wins for first place. After the win over Webster, Libby then dropped the hot-seat match to Gary Bryant 3-0. After eliminating Libby 3-0, Webster came out of the one loss side to defeat Bryant 3-0 and 3-1 in the finals for first place and $300 in prize money.

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on April 28th - 29th at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar and Grill in West Hempstead, NY.

Joey Cicero went undefeated and beat Bruce Nagle twice to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s “Kevin Ketz Memorial Open” over the March 10th-11th weekend at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY.

Cicero’s path to the final four on the winner’s side included wins over Bruce Carroll, Nick Coppola and Dave Grau. Cicero was joined on the winner’s side Sunday morning by Jorge Teixeira, Matt Tetreault and Bruce Nagle. Cicero then defeated Teixeira while Nagle sent Tetreault to the one loss side.

On the one loss side, both Teixeira and Tetreault kept their tournament hopes alive with wins over Yesid Garibello and Bucky Souvanthong respectively. They then met up to determine 4th place, with Teixeira scoring the hill-hill win. Teixeira quickly joined Tetreault in the seats after a 7-4 loss to Nagle in the semi-final match.

The finals only went one set, and although Nagle gave Cicero his toughest test of the weekend, he still lost 9-7 to finish in second place.

The 19 player second chance tournament on Sunday saw Tom Acciavatti recover from his hot-seat loss to Mark Creamer, only to come back and defeat Creamer twice in the finals.

Tour players are reminded that the March 17th - 18th event that was originally scheduled at King Smiley Billiards is now being held at Hippo’s House of Billiards in Utica, NY.

Players are also reminded that the Turning Stone Classic XXX on August 23rd - 26th is over halfway full. This event always fills up, with a waiting list of players who missed out on signing up. Contact Mike Zuglan to assure your spot in the event.

Dave Driedel has competed on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour as far back as our records go (2000) and has a 5th place finish in 2014 as his best finish. He outdid himself by a large margin over the February 24th - 25th weekend with his first tour stop win at East Ridge Billiards in Rochester NY.

Dreidel was looking good on Saturday with three straight wins to stay on the right side of the board. He defeated Nabil Lazouzi 9-6 to get his tourney started, and then scored lopsided wins over Tony Antone and Dave Ricci (9-3 and 9-1).

Sunday play kicked off for Dreidel with a close 9-7 win over tour newcomer Joe Mayo, while Ron Casanzio was sending Spencer Auigbelle to the one loss side on the other half of the board. That left Casanzio and Dreidel to fight it out for the hot-seat, where Dreidel scored another 9-7 win.

Waiting on the one loss side for Casanzio was Bucky Souvanthong. Bucky had lost a hill-hill match to Casanzio early Saturday but then forged a six-match winning streak to meet up with Casanzio again in the semi-final match. That rematch didn’t go Souvanthong’s way though, as Casanzio scored a quick 7-1 win to earn the right to play Dreidel in the finals.

Dreidel was ready for Casanzio though and scored a 9-5 win in the first set of the finals for his first ever Joss Tour Stop win.

Sunday’s second chance tournament saw eleven players come back to play, with room owner Chris Braiman going undefeated with a 3-2 win over Sourith Thammavong for the hot-seat and then a 3-0 win over Thammavong in the finals.

The Joss NE 9-Ball tour will be back in action March 3th - 4th at Snookers Billiards in Providence RI for the 9th Annual North East Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open. That event will include a $2500 added main event and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday.

Tour players are reminded that the March 17th - 18th event that was scheduled at King Smiley Billiards has been moved to Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY.

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour kicked off the second half of their 2017-2018 season on January 13th - 14th with a field of 30 players at Brick House Billiards in Syracuse, NY, where Dwight Dixon earned his first tour win.

Although Dixon went undefeated to win the event, he didn’t have it easy. His first four matches (Nick Coppola, Dave Sunday, Bucky Souvanthong and Bruce Carroll) were won by progressively smaller margins each match, starting with a 9-5 win over Coppola and ending with a 9-8 win over Carroll. Dixon had a little more breathing room in the hot-seat match, where he defeated Bruce Nagle 9-7.

Nagle had defeated Matt Tetreault 9-7 in the final eight on the winner’s side, but Tetreault rode the left side of the board through four match wins and then made it five with a hill-hill win over Nagle.

With Nagle’s winning streak through the left side of the board, and the narrow margins of Dixon’s wins, fans in attendance were expecting a close match in the finals. Dixon would have none of that though, and trounced Tetreault 9-3 in the first and only set of the finals.

Sunday’s second chance tournament was James Chemaly run through a field of 12 players undefeated for first place. Chemaly beat Willie Oney 3-0 for the hot-seat and then beat Oney again 3-2 in the first set of the finals.

The next stop on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be February 17th - 18th at the NE 9-Ball Open XXX at Sharpshooters in Amsterdam, NY. That event will be another $1500 added main event with a $500 added second chance tournament on Sunday.

Tour director Mike Zuglan is already taking signup for the Turning Stone Classic XXX, to be held August 23rd - 26th at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY. Players are urged to get their entry fees to Zuglan as soon as possible, to avoid being shut-out.

33/48
Mike Verducci, Jerry Crowe, Clyde Matta, Ben Werblow, Nick Antonakos, Kerry McAuliffe, Matt Krah, Mike Yednak, Dan Basavich, Earl Herring, Steve Mack, Qais Kolee (Iraq), Mike Giurleo, Jesse Docalavich, Nick Coppola, Joe Dupuis

49/64
Lance Lisciotti, Mike Nicoloro, Steve Lillis, Tom Gildea, John Vitale, James Chemaly, Sylvain Desrosiers (Can), Mike Toohig, John McConnell, Rob Hart,
Chris Braiman, Tom Acciavatti, Rich Connors, Marco Kam, Roger Miller (Can), Vince Chrysler (Can)

65/96
Dawn Fox, Hendrik Drost, Jorge Rodriguez, Robert Ragusa, Greg Johnson (Can), Ryan Urso, Mark Haynes, Willie Oney, Joe Sinicropi, Alvin Thomas,
Dave Giner, Doug Rhee, Chris Wilburn, Jordan Turner, Jonathan Smith, Dale Kimmett (Can), Eric Croteau (Can), Fred Gokey, Brent Boemmels,
Bob Cunningham, John Francisco, George Sokolowski (Can), Jay Goyer (Can), Kevin West, Greg Bombard, Paul Pensgen, Devin Buttle (Can), Steve Fleming Connor Phares, Josh Harding, James Kearney, Steven Winter (Can)

97/128
Rich Howard, Dave Shlemperis, Dwight Dixon, Phil Harju, Noah Wells, Jeremiah Pucci, Frank Gaetani, Ed Culhane, Mark Creamer, Samantha Barrett,
Lida Mullendore, Bill Cote, Jerome Rockwell, Vince Frustaci, Steve Sutton, Mike Andrews, Steven W. Smith, Tony Antone, Larry Phlegar, Redgie Cutler,
Rich Kravetz, Rob Staskowski, Gene Hunt, Meredith Lynch, Ron Casanzio, Jed Jecen, Vince Prinzivalli, Erin Bechner, Holden Chin, Jesse Palone,
Brock Watson, Alex Osipov

Our Second Chance event had a full field of 32 players with a total prize fund of $1,600.

1st $500 Redgie Cutler
2nd $300 Nick Coppola
3/4th $200 each - Vince Chrysler, John Kovacs,
5/8th $100 each - Joe Sinicropi, Jerome Rockwell, James Kearney, Jay Goyer

$1,200 Joss Cue raffle winners - Wayne Crayton & Bill Brahney & winner of the autographed Aramith Pro Cup cue ball used in the final match - Anthony Ciampi

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour wrapped up the first half of their season over the weekend of November 18th and 19th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine where the field of 37 players came down to two local players fighting it out for their first Joss Tour wins.

Sunday matches on the winner’s side saw Bruce Nagle score a hill-hill win over Ivaylo Petrov and Cody Francis with a 9-7 win over Josh Rupard. Francis then went on to take the hot-seat with a 9-7 win over Nagle.

On the one loss side, Dave Hall was on a roll after a lopsided 9-2 loss to Mark Desjardin in his first match on Saturday. Hall bounced back with Saturday wins over Sam Hebert, Mike Dube and Xavier Libby to make it into the money on Sunday.

Sunday matches saw Hall pick up where he left off on Saturday, as he defeated Jim Hayden, Rupard, Jeremy Sossei and Nagle to earn his spot in the finals.

For two players playing for their first tour wins, Francis and Hall made the most of it. Hall, from nearby Portland Maine, handed hometown favorite Francis his first loss in the first set of the finals 9-6. Francis returned the favor in the second set of the finals and eliminated Hall 9-7 to take first place and $1,050 in prize money.

Sunday’s second chance tournament came down to Mark Stewart facing Chad Bazinet three times before a winner was crowned. Stewart won the first meeting in the hot-seat match 3-0, but Bazinet defeated Dan Couture in the semi-final match and was back for another shot at Stewart in the finals. Bazinet scored a 3-2 win in the first set of the finals, but Stewart came back to score a 3-2 win of his own for first place.

The tour now takes a break for the rest of 2017 and will be back in action on January 4th - 7th for the Turning Stone Classic XXIX at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, Ny. That event has a handful of spots left open and players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 to lock down their place in the event.

Ron Casanzio has had several shots at the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s Al Conte Memorial over the years. He’s cashed in seven of the nine, to date. He was runner-up to Dennis Hatch in the first one (2009) and Shaun Wilkie in the fifth (2013). On the weekend of November 4-5, he became the event’s seventh winner, following in the footsteps of (in order) Hatch, Shane Winters, Mike Davis, Jeremy Sossei (three-time winner; ’12, ’14 and ‘15), Wilkie and Nelson Oliveira. The $1,500-added, 9th Annual Al Conte Memorial, the fourth stop on the 2017-2018 Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, drew 33 entrants to Hippo’s House of Billiards in Yorkville, NY.

Casanzio was one of three competitors at this event, along with Bucky Souvanthong and Angelo Hilton, who cashed in the first Al Conte Memorial. He became the only one of the three to do so in this one. Match by match, until the finals, Casanzio’s opponents steadily closed the margin of victory against him. He got by Bruce Nagle in the opening round 9-1, then Aaron Greenwood 9-3, and Marko Clarke 9-4 to join Matt Tetreault in one of the winners’ side semifinals. John McConnell, in the meantime, who’d sent Frank Cartani (9-4), Jerry Crowe (9-3), and Dwight Dixon (9-4) to the loss side, squared off against Mike Donnelly in the other winners’ side semifinal.

Casanzio got into the hot seat match with a continuation of the ‘reduced margin of victory’ phenomenon, downing Tetreault 9-5. McConnell joined him with a 9-5 victory over Donnelly. Casanzio claimed the hot seat 9-7 over McConnell and waited on his return.

On the loss side, Tetreault picked up Joe Darigis, who’d been sent over by Donnelly in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Nick Brucato 9-4 and Dwight Dixon 9-6. Donnelly drew Jose Mendez, who was on a modest four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had included recent wins over Norm Vernon 9-3 and Marko Clarke 9-5.

Tetreault advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-6 win over Darigis, and was joined by Mendez, who’d handed Donnelly his second straight loss 9-7. Tetreault eliminated Mendez in that quarterfinal 9-3, but had his hopes for a re-match against Casanzio eliminated when McConnell defeated him 9-5 in the semifinals.

In their second of two, Casanzio broke the ‘margin of victory’ chain. He defeated McConnell 9-5 to claim his first Al Conte Memorial title.

A $500-added Second Chance tournament saw Willie Oney finish in the top spot, downing Mark Creamer in the finals. Aaron Greenwood finished third and Bruce Carroll took the fourth spot. Pete Khudc took home a $1,200 Joss Cue in the event’s raffle.

The fifth stop on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be the 29th Ocean State 9-Ball Championship. Scheduled for the weekend of November 11-12, the $5,000-added event will be hosted by Snooker’s Billiards, Bar and Grill in Providence, RI.

Danny Hewitt was the man to beat at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's John Babravich Memorial, held at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY on October 14th and 15th.

After an opening round bye and a 9-4 win over Ron Casanzio, Hewitt faced his toughest oppoent all weekend, Jeremy Sossei. Hewitt won that match 9-6, and cruised through the event from there. Hewitt remained undefeated Saturday, and started Sunday with a 9-4 win over Jose Mendez. Meanwhile, Bruce Nagle was sending Mark Creamer to the one loss side by a 9-6 scoreline. Hewitt then sent Nagle to join Creamer on the one loss side, 9-3.

While it was Nagle that Hewitt sent to the left side of the board, it was Tom Acciavatti who came back from the left side of the board to face Hewitt in the finals. Acciavatti defeated Nagle 9-7 on the left side of the board to earn that match with Hewitt. The final would go one set, and would be quick as Hewitt scored a one sided 9-2 win over Acciavatti.

Sunday saw twenty five players come back to Sharpshooters to compete in the second chance tournament. That event saw Billy Arquette cruise through the bracket undefeated for first place. Arquette defeated Joe Ziegler 3-1 for the hot-seat, and then Spencer Auigbelle 3-1 in the first set of the finals.

In addition to all of the players who cashed in one of the events, Joey Berlin was also a winner as he won the raffle for the $1200 custom Joss Cue.

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back at Sharpshooters next weekend (Oct 21-22) for the 2nd "Joss Junior 9-Ball Championship". After that event, the tour will be at Hippo's House of Billiards in Yorkville, NY on November 4th - 5th.

Mike Zuglan kicked off the 21st season of the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour on September 23rd and 24th, with a field of 38 players competing in The Maine Event XI at TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville Maine. The tournament would come down to Nelson Oliveira winning by the narrowest of margins over Canadian Tom Theriault.

Oliveira and Theriault were two of the players to emerge from Saturday matches undefeated, joined by Samoth Sam and Cody Francis. Sunday morning winner’s side matches saw Francis sneak by Sam 9-8, and Oliveira send Theriault to the one loss side by a 9-7 margin. Oliveira would then go on to defeat Francis 9-8 for the hot-seat.

On the one loss side, both Sam and Theriault would bounce back from their earlier losses, with Sam eliminating Xavier Libby 9-2 and Theriault eliminating Matt Tetreault 9-7. Theriault would then go on to defeat Sam 9-1 and then Cody Francis 9-3, to earn a rematch with Oliveira in the finals.

With the 9-7 scoreline in their earlier match, the finals were expected to be close, and they definitely were. Theriault ended Oliveira’s unbeaten streak 9-8 in the first set of the finals, and then Oliveira came back to defeat Theriault 9-8 in the second set for first place.

The end of Sunday's 16 player second chance tournament looked very similar to the end of the main event with Ross Webster defeating Joe Darigis 3-2 for the hot-seat and then Darigis coming back to force a second set of the finals 3-1 before Webster scored a 3-2 win in the second set of the finals.

Although he finished one out of the money in 9th place, Jordan Labbe was the winner of the $1200 custom Joss Cue at this event.

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on Sept 30th and October 1st at The Hudson Valley Fall Classic, held at The Spot Billiards Cafe in Nanuet, NY.