Bowman Comes Out o­n Top of Midwest Field

By Bill Rosenberger

A large field of 55 crammed into Whitey's in Burlington, IA, o­n October 23-24 to wrestle for the $1,000 top prize.  The old bowling area proved a great venue for fans and players, especially Jesse Bowman, who fed off the crowd's energy to win the Midwest 9-Ball Tour event.

Owner Whitey Walker bought and renovated the building, taking out the bowling lanes and replacing them with 16 bar tables.  The area above the old lanes is now the spectator area, which was filled over the weekend.

Walker wasn't o­nly happy to host the event, he also competed did pretty well.  Walker and Bowman both went undefeated to earn spots in the hot seat.  Both players were o­n fire, breaking and running their racks.  The match went to the hill, with Bowman sinking the final 9 ball for the 9-8 win.

Walker headed to the o­ne-loss side to face James Baraks, who had fought his own way back during the day.  In a back-and-forth match, neither player could gain more than a o­ne-game lead.  With the score at 8-all, Baraks sank the 9 o­n the break to earn a spot in the finals.

The final match was another mini billiards clinic, as both Baraks and Bowman broke and ran many of their racks.  With the score tied at 6-all, Baraks had an opportunity to jump ahead, but he missed and bank o­n the 3 ball.  Bowman ran that game as well as the next for an 8-6 lead.  Baraks had another chance in Game 15 but couldn't capitalize, and Bowman took the tournament 9-6.

Results:
1st Jesse Bowman $1,000
2nd James Baraks $650
3rd Whitey Walker $430
4th Tony Zierman $300
5th Joel Fleming, Chad Bilmont $200
7th Bobby Anders, James Varoegh $150