The hot seat match was all Putnam.  Strickland took a 2-0 lead right off the bat, and pretty soon it was 6-3 Strickland.  But the Viking Tour Player of the Year fought back slowly and turned the tides.  From there, he took the lead for the first time at 7-6 and then went all the way to the hill 10-6.  He allowed Strickland o­ne more game before the last rack, where he played an excellent safety o­n the 2 to cause his opponent to foul, giving him ball in hand to notch an 11-7 win.

After Marquez defeated Szuter in the match for fourth place by 11-5, he went o­n to face Strickland in the third-place match.  This time, Strickland wasn’t taking no for an answer, and with the help of several 9 balls o­n the break, crushed Marquez 11-3, going o­n to a rematch with Putnam in the finals.

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