The 2007 Dennis Rosenberg Pro Am
Allentown PA- The IRT was back in the state of Pennsylvania thanks to the title sponsorship of racquetball enthusiast, Dennis Rosenberg. Dennis has been a longtime supporter of the sport contributing very generously at various events around the country and supporting the charities at those events very handsomely. With the help of event director and state president John Barrett and the fine Allentown Racquetball Club the event was a big hit for all that participated and came to watch the stars of the game battle it out. The event started with a charity pro am on Thursday evening raising money for Kids Peace. The following players donated to the charity and had the opportunity to play with the top eight players in the world Dennis Rosenberg, Dan Schafer, Neil Eichelberger, Brian Roberts, Jake Gangeware and Steve Patton. It was a fun evening for a great cause.
Although the draw was not the largest of the season it certainly was one of the toughest. Local stars Jason Sylvester and Travis Aldinger came to play and made an impressive showing in the main draw losing to Jack Huczek and Jason Mannino respectively.
Travis is also a host of an IRT satellite event in York PA in March. Sudsy Monchik would take Chris Crowther to four games before bowing out in the 16’s. University of Memphis standout Travis Woodbury would give Alvaro Beltran all he could handle eventually losing in four. Canadian National Champion Mike Green would bring his top game to this event but it was not enough to take out Rocky Carson as Green’s luck ran out in four hard fought games. Colombia’s Alejandro Herrera looking for that first quarter of the season pushed Shane Vanderson to four games. The living legend Ruben Gonzalez lost in three straight to a tough Jason Thoerner in the 16’s. Andy Hawthorne and Mitch Williams would be the battle of the 16’s as this one went five games and Hawthorne winning and advancing to his first quarterfinal of the year 4 10 (6) (5) 9.
The quarterfinals would start off with a great match as #5 Shane Vanderson upset #2 Jason Mannino in four tough games (3) 12 9 7. This would be Shane’s second visit to the semis this season. He would go on the meet #3 Rocky Carson in the semi’s who won the war against #8 Chris Crowther 9 0 4. Jack Huczek took out Andy Hawthorne 4 9 2 and was a great one to watch as Hawthorne left it all on the court diving and retrieving everything Huczek hit at him. Hawthorne is an exciting player to watch and his sportsmanship makes him a crowd favorite. Jack move on to meet his archrival Alvaro Beltran in the semis.
In the first semifinal Shane Vanderson would face off against Rocky Carson and would eventually fall in four games 4 (9) 7 6. This was a great match for the fans in Pennsylvania as each player hit some monster backhands and lit up their serves. The pro game has gone to primarily lob serves but these two did not follow that trend in this match. Rocky’s hard z-serves would prevail in this one. The second semi started out to be the usual Beltran Huczek battle with Jack taking the first 11-6. At 6-6 Beltran dove for a ball in the backcourt and hyper-extended his right arm. He would not be able to return to finish the match and Huczek would advance to the finals.
The crowd packed in for the Sunday final as doubles partners #1 Jack Huczek would meet #2 Rocky Carson. These two always seem to bring the best out in each other and have become somewhat of a rivalry this season. Rocky had beaten Jack in the final at the Seattle Pro Am earlier in the year and plays with confidence against Huczek. Jack always seems to rebound after losing a match against anyone and this Sunday he would be ready to play and take the Dennis Rosenberg Pro Am title in four games 7 0 (3) 7. Winning this match pretty much solidified the number one ranking for Huczek making him the fifth player to achieve the year one number one ranking in the past fifteen years following in the footsteps of Cliff Swain, Sudsy Monchik, Jason Mannino and Kane Waselenchuk.
Side Notes:
Thanks to the Allentown Racquetball Club for hosting the event. It is great to play in an “old school” racquetball club and the players enjoyed the atmosphere immensely.
Special thanks to Dennis Rosenberg for all his support of the event and the sport itself. Dennis we had a great time and thanks for your hospitality!!!
It was great to work with John Barrett and his staff. John has been around for many years and played the tour in the eighties. It is nice to see former players giving back to the IRT. Thanks John!!!
Thanks to Jodi Eslinger, racquetball director for the Allentown Club. We appreciate all the effort that you put into the event and look forward to coming back next year.