Bowman Sweeps Events at Midwest 9-Ball Memorial By Tori Hilty, InsidePOOL staff

The Midwest 9-Ball Tour dedicated its stop at Side Pockets in Wichita, KS, as the Bobby Wells Memorial to honor o­ne of area's largest allies of the sport.  Many people-players, spectators, and friends-came out June 10-13, 2004, to be part of the event, but it was Jesse Bowman that dominated the playing field and took home both the 9-ball and the o­ne-pocket championships.

With two different tournaments going o­n and over 66 players coming out to win, owners Tyler Gordon and Matthew Robinson were pleased with the turnout and thought it was "a great weekend and look forward to doing it again next year."

The o­ne-pocket event started o­n Thursday night at 8 and was winding down the following afternoon as the finals began at 3.  The final match was a race to 3.  David Matlock came from the o­ne-loss side so would have to defeat Bowman twice in order to take home first place.  Matlock didn't have a chance as Bowman defeated him in the first set 2-1.

The 9-Ball event started bright and early o­n Saturday at 11 a.m.  Bowman would not have the luxury of going through the winner's side in this tournament as Jr. Brown knocked him to the o­ne-loss side early in the day. 

Bowman worked his way through the west side of the chart to arrive o­n Sunday in the quarterfinals with Chad Vilmont.  Bowman must have found the zone as he defeated player after player to get to this point because he quickly claimed a 9-4 win over Vilmont.

A rematch between Bowman and Jr. Brown was inevitable now.  o­ne o­nly had to wait to see the outcome of the hot seat match between Jr. Brown and Steve Rector to know if the rematch would happen in the semis or in the finals.  It looked like Rector was a shoe-in for the hot seat when he shot out to a 3-0 lead over Jr. Brown, but a series of scratches by Rector o­n his breaks allowed Jr. Brown to close the gap.  The players traded games until they reached the hill, and it was Jr. Brown that took the win with a final 9-8 decision.

Rector still had a chance at the finals, but he would have to make his way past Bowman to get it.  The two engaged in a tight match, with no extravagant shots or any upsets to define it.  It was just skill versus skill, but Bowman finally pulled ahead enough to clinch the win 9-6.

The final was a true double-elimination, race-to-9 match, meaning Bowman would have to defeat Jr. Brown twice in order to take the win.  Bowman defeated Jr. Brown in the first set, claiming a 9-3 decision over his opponent.  The second set was full of tension as the two players battled back and forth until they reached hill-hill.  Bowman secured his second championship of the weekend when he defeated Jr. Brown o­ne more time to take the final score to 9-8.

One-Pocket Results:

1st Jesse Bowman2nd David Matlock3rd Gabe Owen4th Chuck Raulston

9-Ball Results:1st Jesse Bowman2nd Jr. Brown3rd Steve Rector4th Chad Vilmont5th James Baraks, Gabe Owne7th Donnie Brown, Terry Young9th David Matlock, Justin Bergman, Tony Klima, Gail Metzger