Wheeler Reels in Fury Finale

By J.A. Barnes

The Fury Florida Amateur 9-Ball Tour concluded its 2004 season o­n December 11-12 at Strokers Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL.  Forty-seven players entered the field in hopes of taking home large cash prizes, and it was Adam Wheeler who came back to win the final stop of the year.

Before the opening break, tournament director Kay Higgins passed out the awards for the top eight points leaders.  Larry Walthall and Bobby Moore came in first and second, respectively, with both taking home cash and Fury cues.  Jim Sandaler, Julio Delpozo, Rick Rogers, Wayne Hutter, John Hutter, and Dave Ruppe rounded out the top eight, and each took home some money and some merchandise.

When the balls were finally racked, the players were eager to get underway.  Wheeler opened up with wins over Walthall, Louis Altes, Jason Richko, and Julio Aquino.  Sandaler, too, fought his way all the way to the hot seat match with a comeback win over Aquino and a hill-hill victory over Bob Otto.

The hot seat match between Wheeler and Sandaler was like watching a clinic.  Neither player missed more than two balls, and they took advantage of the alternate break format to reach 5-all.  In Game 11, Wheeler came up dry o­n the break, allowing Sandaler to run out the rest of the match to win 7-5. 

Wheeler met Aquino in the semifinals, and he played determined not to fall out of the tournament.  He raced to a 6-3 lead and capitalized o­n a missed 9 by Aquino to win the match 7-3, earning his rematch with Sandaler in the finals.

In the race-to-9 finals, Sandaler and Wheeler had another close match, this time knotting things up at 6 apiece.  The players were going game for game until Wheeler pulled ahead by two, but he miscued, leaving Sandaler a long shot o­n the 4.  He nailed the shot and ran out to get within o­ne at 8-7, followed by a break and run to put the match at hill-hill.  Sandaler had the advantage in the decisive rack, but a foul gave Wheeler ball in hand.  He lined up the 2-9 combo and nailed it to win the tournament 9-8.  Wheeler earned another win, while Sandaler finished second for the third straight event.

Results:

1st Adam Wheeler $900

2nd Jim Sandaler $530

3rd Julio Aquino $300

4th Tony Vicari $200

5th Jason Richko, Bob Otto $100

7th Larry Walthall, Rick Rogers $75

9th Rodel Morades, Bill Dunsmore, Louis Altes, Randy Smith $40

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