Rivera and Nortwick Take Down the Tri-State Tour

Rivera and Nortwick Take Down the Tri-State TourTri-State Tour / Parsippany, NJ, and Sunnyside, NY by Rick DavisJanuary 13-14 brought the first full weekend of play on the Tri-State Tour’s 2007 calendar. In the first event, Ariel Rivera swept up the B/C/D Saturday action at Comet Billiards followed by Clayton Van Nortwick, who went undefeated at Master’s Billiards during Sunday’s C/D event.
Saturday’s 30-player field was dominated by a few of the tour’s stars. Rivera took four quick victories to reach the hot seat match, where he faced Bogie Uzdejczyk, who had sent the other half of the board to the one-loss side. After some bad rolls by Rivera, Uzdejczyk was able to grab the match 7-3 for his fifth consecutive win on the day. Keeping control on the one-loss side was Sean Boland, who lost his second match only to return to the semifinals by the virtue of a seven-match winning streak. Rivera did not seem impressed as he blazed past Boland 7-3, eliminating him from play while advancing to the finals. Once in the finals Rivera was eager to make his rematch against Uzdejczyk count, and while both players played well, Rivera pulled ahead for the 9-6 win.With this win Rivera has planted himself second on the B+ points list as he slowly tries to inch his way towards first.As the second half of the Tri-State double feature dawned 22-players emerged, although points leader Clayton Van Nortwick didn’t give an inch throughout the event. Nortwick fought his way through four matches, of which all except one went double-hill, to reach the hot seat match and face Joe Hodge. Another double-hill thriller unfolded, and once again Nortwick came out on top. Over on the one-loss side, Hodge was eager to face Nortwick again in the finals; however, Kenny Kim, who Hodge had defeated 7-6 earlier in the day, was just as interested in a rematch. Initially the match tipped each way until Hodge was able to steer the match in his favor for the 7-5 win. In the finals, a day of close matches concluded with a double-hill showdown between Nortwick and Hodge, but Nortwick’s streak could not be stopped as he took the match 6-5 for another strong win.Nortwick is in full control of the tour’s C division points list, and considering he has played fewer events than those below him, it’s easy to see his strength.According to the official Tri-State Tour’s website, their January 20 event has been postponed so now their next event will be January 27 at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. Results B/C/D:1st Ariel Rivera2nd Bogie Uzdejczyk 3rd Sean Boland4th Brian Lau5th Teddy Lubis Arthur Settembrino7th John Pannucci Rich EmilianoResults C/D: 1st Clayton Van Nortwick2nd Joe Hodge3rd Kenny Kim4th Jimmy Martinez, Jr.5th Mark Mallari Pablo Sanz7th Sal Lanuto Greg Hecht

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