Pacific Northwest Handball

2002 Canadian National Tournament

Pacific Northwest handball was well represented at this year's Canadian National handball tournament in Vancouver. The annual event saw several Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia champions and finalists emerge. The open singles was won by Seattleite Joe Hagen. Hagen's final match was against Rob Pearse of Tennes-see, a multiple-time pro qualifier who had defeated Hagen at least twice in past meetings. The first game could have gone either way, but Hagen was fortunate to make the shots he needed for a 21-15 win. The momentum carried through to the second game, as Hagen looked to close the match while serving at 19-0. However, Pearse refused to die, denying Hagen the final two points for several innings, and forcing him to take a timeout to think about a way to end the match. Just as Pearse had recorded nine points and was clearly on a roll, Hagen's ace down the left gave him the championship. Everett, WA player Bruce Ellis took home the championship in the Seniors/Masters division. Ellis had little trouble advancing to the finals and earning the right to face Keith Gracey, one of BC's elite players. Ellis recalled losing to Gracey the last time the two had met . . . over 20 years ago! Planning on having his hands full for the final, Ellis was focused. The chance at redemption inspired him to the surprisingly quick 21-10, 21-5 win. "He's in incredible shape-a great athlete. My shots were just a little better today," said Ellis after the match. In the Senior/Masters Doubles, the Spokane team of Jim Slavin and Matt Murphy charged to the champion-ship match without losing a game. There they faced the Vancouver team of Brad Kenning and Dan Thibert, who had had an even easier run to the finals. Something had to give, and it turned out to be the Canadian team. Slavin and Murphy prevailed by identical 21-10 scores. United States teams crashed the party in the Golden Masters Doubles, as Joe Cox and Walt Kastner, of Seattle and Tillamook, OR, were matched in the final against Carl Mattson and Ron Ewing of Bellingham and Auburn, WA. Mattson and Ewing had a little more left in the tank, as they prevailed 21-14, 21-9. In the Veteran Golden Masters Doubles, Vancouver player Dave Ross teamed with Chris Ripplinger of Calgary. In the small but competitive division, they advanced to the finals after just one two-game win. The championship match proved much more difficult, as they traded blowout games with Jon Arem of New York and Brian Goto of Ontario. Ross and Ripplinger outlasted their counterparts in the tiebreaker, taking the title by an 11-8 score. In the C Doubles, Tom Laverty and Ted Lawson, from Surrey and Vancouver, faced off in the final against fellow British Columbian Mike Miller, who had teamed with Ireland's Michael McGee. After losing the first game, McGee and Miller stormed back to take the second, 21-6. The international team continued their strong play through the tiebreaker, winning 11-6. Top Vancouver player Roberto Menesses sought redemption in the Open Doubles after Pearse ended his hopes of a singles crown in the semifinals of that event. Menesses teamed with Kevin Kopchuk of Toronto, ON, and he and Kopchuk advanced to the finals with an impressive win over 11-time Canadian champion Merv Deckert of Winnipeg and the red-hot David Steinberg of Portland. In the final, Menesses and Kop-chuk faced two native Canadians now living in Tennessee, Jeff Cottam and Rob Pearse. Menesses and Kopchuck battled their way into a tiebreaker, but fell 8-21, 21-16, 11-3. Ed Grossenbacher of Portland spoiled long trips for an Ontario player and a Texas player as he beat them en route to the Super Singles final. There he faced Ron Mruss of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Grossenbacher was unable to continue his winning ways, and settled for the second place trophy. The Super Doubles final featured a Tacoma team, Dave Kerrone and Leo McMillan, against Portland's Ed Grossenbacher and partner Ed Boone from Edmonton. No team had scored double digits against Grossen-bacher and Boone en route to the finals, and the trend continued as they won the first game, 21-9. Kerrone and McMillan put up a bit more of a fight in the second, but fell 21-13. In the Golden Singles, Walt Kastner of Tillamook, OR took home the second place trophy. Kastner faced Roberto Chavez of Santa Clara in the final. The first game could have gone either way, but Chavez pulled out the win, 21-18. Things snowballed for Kastner, as he lost the second game by a 21-1 mark. The Veteran Super Singles division saw Dinty Moore of Surrey, BC advance to the finals. After trading two 21-20 games and surviving an 11-6 tiebreaker with fellow British Columbian Fred Usselman, Moore fell to Ed Boone of Edmonton in the final, 21-9, 21-13. In the A Doubles, Bill Lealess and Andy Sojka of Port Coquitlam did not give up a game on their tear into the finals. There they met Kris Johns and Pat Shear of Saskatchewan, who had fought through a pair of tough tiebreakers on their path to the championship. Lealess and Sojka were unable to continue their domi-nation, settling for second place honors after a 21-19, 11-21, 11-2 loss. After losing in the first round of the A Doubles to the eventual champions, the first-time team of Port Co-quitlam's Bill Gray and Brian Henson of Seattle tried their luck in the drop-down B division. They fared much better, advancing to the final over Henson's fellow Washington Athletic Club players Bruce Prout and Al Vinson in an 11-8 semifinal tiebreaker. In the finals, however, they lost to Canadians Randy Jones and Mike Willis by scores of 21-15, 20-21, 11-3. Brad Young of Port Coquitlam, BC advanced to the finals of the Men's C Singles. En route to the finals, Young's matches were successively tougher, as he survived a tiebreaker with Mike Gibson of New West, BC in the semifinals. In the championship match, Young fell to Michael McGee, who made the trip from Dublin, Ireland, in a pair of 21-2 games.

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Posted on 16 Feb 2006 by Glenn