NEW MEXICO INVITATIONAL PRO AM

RACQUETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

And IRT Pro Tour Stop

Serving the racquetball community since 1976

NMRacquetball.com

Dates: October 26-29, 2006

Location: Midtown Sports & Wellness 4100 Prospect NE Albquerque, NM USA 87110 (505)888-4811

Deadline: Registrations and fees must be received no later than Friday, October 20^th

Send to: NMRA PO Box 36179 Albq., NM 87176

Fax to: (505)256-1380 fax entries must have credit card information affixed

Call for times: First match times will be posted by Wednesday, 10/25 on the NMRA website

or call Midtown on Wednesday after 6PM

Divisions: Mens Pro Amateur singles Amateur Doubles Juniors

Directors: Gary Mazaroff (505)321-1110, Paula Sperling (club), & David Negrete (630)430-1478

Lodging: Hampton Inn University (a short walk to club) at I-40 & Carlisle

(505)837-9300; reserve early to assure a room; $64/$74 includes breakfast

Fees: First event (exceptions: Pro and Open Singles)…$30 Second event…$20*

Juniors pay one-half total fee Add $5 for credit card

Pro…$80 (includes IRT dues) Open singles men/women…$40

Limit of two events per player

Sanction: USAR membership required: $35 adult $20 Junior $15 one time fee available

Hospitality: Food and thirst quencher (XELR8), player packets, tourney shirt, verbal auction

Awards: 1^st & 2^nd in Amateur events

Mens Pro…$15,000 IRT Purse

Womens Open Singles…1^st place $300 2^nd place $175 semis $50 (based on 16)

Mens Open singles…1^st $300 2^nd $175 semis $50 (based on 16)

Open Doubles…1^st $150/team 2^nd $80/team

Rules: IRT Mens Pro USAR Amateur

Open and Elite divisions; one serve

Multi bounce divisions play games to 11 points

Losers and qualified volunteers officiate matches

Mens Pro Qualifying matches begin Thursday at Noon

Drop down in some divisions when applicable

Official Ball: Penn HD for Pro and Amateur events

Other: Special Thursday night Pro-Am Doubles @ 7PM** & other special events

Auction proceeds go to Dr. Damian Jelso NM Collegiate Scholarship Fund

First come first served on seating for Pro Matches; some seats will be blocked

for press and staff

* Only those in Pro Qualifying may play 3^rd event ($20)

** Limited to eight individuals

CLICK HERE FOR EVENT ENTRY

Thanks to all the support from the sponsors below:

CONTRIBUTORS TO NM PRO AM…..2006

A1 Self Storage—Monica Scarborough

Abba Technologies

Auto Glass Services, Inc.—Joe Kirkpatrick

Anderson, Bob & Sandy Schauer

B & B Chiropractic—Jim Barber

C & C Enterprises (Cyd Evans)

Carpet Company—Flint McCullough

Casa Dealerships—Mark Wiggins

Cheshire, Ken

Comcast

CRM—Rudy Burrola

Computech—Robert Quintela

Cornerstone Roofing—Rome Mazza

Everett Law—Peter Everett

Fournier, Larry

Gray, Jay & Martha Allen

IRF (International Racquetball Federation)

IRT (International Racquetball Tour)

IPRO (International Professional Racquetball Organization)

Lee Michael Homes—Mike Knight

Lee, Robert

Lexus of Albuquerque—Tom Bohlman

Los Barrios de Amarillo—Charles Mestas

Losada, Juan

Louis Hubbard Chiropractic

Lucero, Dr. Robert

Matotan, Guillermo

Mazaroff Real Estate

Mesa Radio—Mike Robinson

Montessori of the Rio Grande School

Neds on the Rio Grande—Ken Gattas

NM Department of Tourism

NM Quick Care—Dean Schear

Park & Shuttle-John Lorentzen

Payne, Ken

Pueblo of Pojoaque—Cities of Gold Casino, Towa Golf Club

Rich Ford—Jim Roberts

Riverpoint Juniors—Joe Wittenbrink & Mike Duran

Sanderson Employment Service, Inc.—Bill Sanderson

Screen Images

Sheepskin Seatcovers—Brad Finkenauer

Skinner Enterprises—Jake Skinner

Sombra Cosmetics --Alfredo Cortazar

Sperling, Paula c/o Midtown Sports & Wellness

The Pain Clinic—Bambi Brown

UNM Racquetball Club—Coach Gary Rasmussen

Qualifying draw click here




Main Draw click here

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All Times are Mountain Time.

The 2006 New Mexico Pro Am

October 26-29 Albuquerque New Mexico

Albuquerque - The IRT was back in Albuquerque for the first time in seven years as a full ranking event. Event Director Gary Mazaroff has worked very hard on bringing the IRT back to New Mexico and the players are very happy to be here. High winds and cool temperatures greeted the players here at the Midtown Sports and Wellness Club. The facility has six courts, three squash courts and a beautiful fitness center. Midtown is one of five clubs in the New Mexico Sports and Wellness chain of clubs and all have great racquetball activity at them.

The pro am doubles event was a huge success with Jack Huczek and his partner Ken Goldstein taking the title over Jason Mannino and Bill Sanderson. The house was full to watch the top players battle it out with the major sponsors of the event.

Qualifying rounds began at 5:00pm with local Ray Maestas taking out Miguel Wiggins 2 2 (1) 1. Ken Cheshire over Andrew Clarke 8 3 (7) 2 and Mark Branson defeating Robert Lee 4 (6) 10 5. The 6:00pm matches witnessed Jordan Walters over Marco Hidalgo 5 7 6 and Jorge Trevino ousting Matt Melster 4 (8) 5 1. In the second round there were no upsets as the top eight seeds all advanced to the main draw. Canada’s national 18 under junior champion defeated local University of New Mexico player Evan Ussery in three and the most competitive match of the evening featured former top four IRT professionals taking out one of Mexico’s best Javier Moreno in a five game battle (8) 11 8 (8) 8 to move on to meet Rocky Carson .It was great to see John back out on tour playing well.

The round of sixteen will have some great match ups today.John Ellis took a while to get loose but never loose enough as Rocky ended “Elli’s” run today 2 4 1. Jack Huczek took down Ryan Smith in three games 5 1 5. These 11:30 and 12:30 matches were completed before Andy Hawthorne upset Jason Thoerner in a five game battle lasting two hours. Andy played some great ball and came back from an 8-3 deficit in the third to win the match 1 (2) 8 (7) 9. This will be Hawthorne’s first quarter final of the season. Chris Crowther would win the battle of who could hit it harder defeating Mitch Williams in a surprising three straight games. Shane Vanderson would lose the first game to Ben Croft only regroup and find his form and win the match (8) 5 3 2. The rematch from Kentucky would have the same intensity as Sudsy Monchik looked to take out Alvaro Beltran again. Beltran would come out on top this time winning the five game match 5 (4) (8) 8 7. Alejandro Herrera would surprise Cliff Swain in the first twp games with some great shots but in the end Swain’s serve would take over with the help of the altitude and prevail 9 (7) 3 3. Jason Mannino would round out the last match of the afternoon taking out Woody Clouse in three games 7 5 7

11:30 Rocky Carson over John Ellis 2 4 1

Andy Hawthorne over Jason Thoerner 1 (2) 8 (7) 9

12:30 Jack Huczek over Ryan Smith 5 1 5

Chris Crowther over Mitch Williams 4 7 4

1:30 Alvaro Beltran over Sudsy Monchik 5 (4) (8) 8 7

Shane Vanderson over Ben Croft (8) 5 3 2.

2:30 Cliff Swain over Alejandro Herrera 9 (7) 3 3

Jason Mannino over Woody Clouse7 5 7

Quarterfinals

The first match in front of a full house would feature the new number two-ranked player in the world Rocky Carson and Andy Hawthorne. Rocky was the fan favorite here due to the fact that he has won this event the last few years when it was a satellite. Rocky wasted no time in this one killing the ball from all over the court. Andy hung in with some great diving gets and his relentless attack on every ball. Rocky would come out on top in this match 7 5 4 and will move on to the 4:00pm Saturday semi final and await the Beltran/Vanderson winner.

Match up number two would be a rematch of a battle in Toronto, where Chris Crowther gave Jack Huczek all he could handle. This time Jack would turn it up to another level and take out the hard hitting Crowther in three straight 1 2 4. Jack played extremely well and kept the pressure on Crowther the whole match. Jack will move on to the 6:00pm Saturday semifinal and await the Swain/Mannino winner.

The 7:30 quarterfinal looked to be a great one between Alvaro Beltran and Shane Vanderson. Alvaro played very well using the corners and hitting a great wallpaper lob serve to Shane’s forehand. Shane would have a tough time with this serve and Alvaro would capitalize on it. Beltran would advance to the semi’s winning in four games 7 5 (8) 7 to advance on meet Rocky Carson Saturday at 4:00pm.

The last match of the evening would be what most would call “the classic match up” between two veterans of the tour. Cliff Swain playing his last year on tour against the entertaining Jason Mannino. This match would get to it right away with both players letting each other know that they would not give an inch to each other. Although there would be some friendly chatter between these two it would be all business in the end. Mannino would come out the winner in this match 6 10 2 and meet Jack Huczek in Saturday’s 6pm semifinal.

Quarterfinal match ups

( Mountain Time)
5:30 Rocky Carson over Andy Hawthorne 7 5 4

6:30 Jack Huczek over Chris Crowther 1 2 4

7:30 Alvaro Beltran over Shane Vanderson 7 5 (8) 7

8:30 Jason Mannino over Cliff Swain 6 10 2





It was sunny and seventy degrees here in beautiful Albuquerque New Mexico as the first semi-final began. Rocky Carson appearing in his fourth straight semifinal and in the number two seed position would be ready to go as he met a familiar foe in Alvaro Beltran. The crowd packed into the bleachers at Midtown Sports and Wellness for this exciting match. It would be a seesaw battle in this one as Rocky hit the backhand corner on a consistent basis winning game one 7. Alvaro would get the lob to the right side going and frustrate Rocky and not miss a shot taking the second 7. The third would be a little sloppy but Rocky would find a way to take the third and eventually go on and win the match 7,6. moving Rocky into his first final of the year.

Jack Huczek would take on Jason Mannino in the second match of the evening and the third meeting in a row for these two warriors. The last two meetings would be in the finals with Huczek coming out on top. In the words of both players this match was high quality with very few unforced errors. Jack would come out on top once again in this match winning in four hard fought games 7 6 (8) 5. Both players would spend a lot of time wiping up the floor, as it did become a dive fest. Jason made a statement after the match mentioning that he had watched game film from the last two matches and tweaked his game plan a little from the last two meetings but just got beat today. Jack will go on to meet his third different opponent in his fourth final on Sunday at noon against Rocky Carson.

Saturday Semi-finals

4:00pm  Rocky Carson over Alvaro Beltran 7 (7) 7 6

6:00pm Jack Huczek over Jason Mannino 7 6 (8) 5



The final today would feature doubles partners Jack Huczek and Rocky Carson. The club was packed once again for this match and the players showed their appreciation by playing a very intense match. Jack controlled the first game with some great serves and holding center court 11-7. Rocky would come back full throttle and take a 7-0 lead only to see Jack come back and tie it up at seven. Rocky would come back and take game two on a great forehand splat 12-10. The third game would mirror the first with Jack back in control of center court and Rocky having a few unforced errors 11-8 Jack. The fourth would be all Huczek and he would go on to win his fourth straight event in a row 11-5.


Jack Huczek over Rocky Carson 6 (10) 6 10

Side notes:

Special thanks to Paula Sperling for her support of the event and opening and closing the club everyday.

To the New Mexico Sports and Wellness Club- Midtown for hosting the event and treating the players like members. What a great staff and facility and we look forward to coming back next year.

Hats off to Gary Mazaroff for running a great event. Gary is a true ambassador to the sport and we are lucky to have him. Thanks Gary and all the volunteers that made the event run smoothly.

Thanks to all the sponsors and there were many. We appreciate your support and look forward to coming back next year.

Special thanks to the Clarke and Fuller families for the rides and attention all weekend

Also thank you to Ken Goldstein for stringing all weekend and you help with the event.

Sudsy and Elli after John's match

 
Rocky Carson and JAck Huczek with event Director Gary Mazaroff


Wall of Sponsors in New Mexico


Fan support st the event for the semi finals


Staff at the Midtown Sports and Wellness


Ken Goldstein/Jack Huczek and Bill Sanderson/Jason Mannino Pro Am finalists