Author: Joshua Ho

The 2007 Maryland State Singles was held at the Severna Park Racquet and Fitness Club on March 10th, after taking a year off due to hosting the National Masters Singles in 2006.  Players rallied to the cause when they were emailed and informed that the event was in danger of being cancelled due to lack of attendance.  Thankfully, 40 players filled 4 divisions, and Maryland players were shut out by the combined presence of Virginia and New York.

Andy Shad proved too strong for a tough Open division, defeating 21 year-old Victor LoPierre in two lopsided games.  LoPierre came back after losing the first game and trailing 7-5 in a tie-breaker to Dan Zimet in one semi-final, while Shad won a close first game and then an easier second against Raul Retain in the other semi-final.  In the quarter finals Zimet and Retian were significantly tested by two quickly rising players, as Dave Bardwell and Logan Foley both won their first games before losing close tie-breakers.  Shad’s conditioning and error-free play make every rally a challenge for his
opponent, and New Yorker LoPierre seemed to have few answers after a long day of travel and handball.

With a full Open Draw, Jay Miller agreed to age-bracket play in order to help fill out a Masters division.  Miller made the most of it, defeating Rick Anderson in two games.  Anderson, who cruised to the finals, seemed frustrated with his game as Miller’s tenacity and intensity pressured Anderson and frequently moved him out of his comfortable position in the front court.  Robert Landy struggled to match the improved shot-making and serve of Miller in one semi-final, while Steve Bossung was forced to retire on an injury default prior to starting the second game of his semi-final with Anderson.

The Golden Masters has become one of the most challenging division to win, as this bracket requires skilled play as well as an iron-man’s endurance.  16-players fought through 3 rounds on Saturday, with the final left to be determined by a future match organized by the finalists.  On the top half of the draw, Bob Dyke’s fierce play and hard-hitting shots were a deciding
factor against Dave Hinkleman, who qualifies for the 60+ but wanted the challenge of a younger group.  Hinkleman, always respected as one of the best doubles front-court players in the area, has returned to top form after a brief hiatus from the game.  On the bottom half of the draw, Bob Bardwell won three hard matches including a tie-breaker in the first round to make the final; he defeated Bob Maguire in the semi-finals.  Bardwell’s ability to keep the ball in play and remarkable conditioning seem to be a recurring theme, and challengers always know their legs have to be ready when he’s in
the draw.

The Super Golden Masters started strong with a great match between Bill Bohr and Joe Plezkoch.  Bohr expressed frustration after seeing a late first game lead dwindle into defeat.  Plezkoch pressed his advantage in the second game to win that quarter-final match, but was unable to repeat the performance in the semi-final as Steve Metzger held him in the low teens for both games.  Dennis Uffer won his semi-final with similar scores against Dick Swope.  In the final, Uffer was able to hold off game point to scratch out victory in the first game, and pressed the point in the second game to earn champion
status.  When asked about the match, Uffer expressed praise for Metger’s game, further indicating that it was worth the trip from upstate New York.

Drop down brackets were created for each division, and without exception each was won by a player who significantly challenged his opponent in the main bracket.  Logan Foley defeated Josh Ho and John Caughlin to win the Open drop-down.  Rick Compton, whose head seemed to clear after making a bleary-eyed entrance to the tournament, won the 40+ drop down against Bo Sites.  Keith Neihart, who took finalist Bob Bardwell to a tie-breaker in the first round of the 50+ division, won the 50+ drop down over Joe Callier.   Bill Bohr continued his solid play by defeating Charlie Parsons in the 60+ drop down.

While all recent tournaments have evidenced an increase in participation when it comes to coordinating the event, this year the support was outstanding.  Danielle Zimet coordinated the tournament giveaways (sweatshirts), trophies, and the catered BBQ lunch despite being pregnant.  Charlie Parsons brought out his incredible magnetic bracket-board previously
featured in a USHA magazine photo and perfected for this event.  He also produced a chart that allowed players advance notice of court assignments.  Alan and Nathanial Frank took care of tournament entries, creating the brackets, and running the tournament desk while Howard Kolodney handled tournament registration.  In short, state commissioner Daniel Zimet was left without excuses for his loss to LoPierre and simply has to face the fact that a 21-year old got the best of him!  A very heart-felt thanks to these and all the other players who came forward to referee and offer help with the little things that have to happen in order for a tournament to run (e.g., John Caughlin carrying supplies to my car).  Once again, Val and the
SPRFC proved a great location for this event and provided great support for Maryland Handball prior to and during the tournament.

Open: LoPierre d Zimet (12), 6, 8;  Shad d Retian 16,7.  Final:  Shad d LoPierre 9, 6
40+: Anderson d Bossung 1, inj.  Miller d Landy 9,6.  Final: Miller d Anderson 13, 14
50+: Dyke d Hinkleman 16, 6; Bardwell d Maguire 18, 11.  Final: TBD
60+: Metzger d Plezkoch 14, 12; Uffer d Swope 12, 10.  Final:  Uffer d Metzger 20, 8.

The 2006 4-Wall Maryland State Doubles, held on November 11th at the Severna Park R&FC included 46 entries divided into 4 divisions.  Several drop-downs were also available, so every team played at least two full matches.  

This year, the premier final was in the 60+ as Bill Bohr and Mike Raszkiewicz traveled in from Pennsylvania to take the title with a close victory over the standout Rockville team of King Stablein and Roy Weinstock.  After two close first games, the tie-breaker was back-and-forth and points were hard to come by.  With the score knotted at 9, Raszkiewicz came up with two
clutch shots in the form of an ace serve and a kill to seal the victory.

The combined 40/50 division included the most heroic performance of the day.  Chuck Holmes, playing with Dan Ho, came up limp in the very first game of the tournament.  Taking position in the front court, Holmes exhibited great shots while Ho raced around retrieving everything that came through.  They survived two close games against the younger team of Landy
and Reed, then surprised the top seeded team in the division by beating Bardwell and Hinkelman in a tie-breaker to make it to the finals.  On the other side of the draw, the second seeded team of Alexander and Dyke had problems of their own in the form of Compton and Humphries.  After falling in the first game, Dyke/Alexander steadied the ship with a decisive second game win.  But the team of Humphries/Compton was not to be denied.  The unpredictable spin and kills shots of the left-handed Humphries along with the retrieving and steadiness of Compton proved the difference as Dyke/Alexander fell 11-4 in the tie-breaker.  After putting so much heart into the previous two matches, Holmes/Ho seemed to run short on magic in the final as Humphries/Compton seemed to control of the match.  Congratulations to Bob Humphies and Rick Compton on their 21-14; 21-12 victory in the 40/50 division!

The Open division always features fiery competition and dramatic points.  This year the absence of three-peat defending champion Roger Berry was felt when he was called away to Michigan.  While the points were fierce and there was plenty of action, the matches failed to live up to the drama of previous years as every game throughout the draw was won decisively. 
Zimet/Frank won one of the semi-finals over Lee Anderson and Jay Miller by using the classic ‘freeze a player out’ strategy.  Meanwhile, Biggers and Foley had trouble coming up with answers to the remarkable shot-making of Shane and Rick Anderson.  In the final, the Andersons seemed to struggle to sustain their intensity, resulting in an atypical number of errors.  Zimet/Frank prevailed 21-8; 21-8.  The ‘Most Improved’ award goes to Lee Anderson, whose low spinning serves, powerful kills, and dramatic retrieving have vaulted him into the highest tier of respected Maryland players.

The B division featured old friends and a new team.  Bo Sites and Robert Woodward, teamed up the Friday before the match, and came out ready to play and cruised into the final.  Peart and Cohen, the top seeded team, were able to handle Healy and Killian in two games.  In the final, Sites and Woodward held it close in the first game before succumbing 21-19.  This seemed to spur on Cohen/Peart, who won the second game and the B title.

Winners of the drop-down divisions included Foley/Biggers in the A division, and Landy/Reed in the 40/50.

The beautiful glass trophies, tagless t-shirt giveaways, and delicious BBQ catered lunch from Red, Hot and Blue for this year’s tournament were all created and ordered by Danielle Zimet.  Once again Charlie Parsons created something spectacular in his role as creativity director.  Players marveled at a 6” high magnetic draw display on a reflective blue background, as well as a projected match schedule.  Sharon Parsons was on hand to assist Danielle in running the tournament desk along side Dan Zimet and Alan Frank.

It was a very interesting tournament this year in Toledo, as temperatures never made it over 80 degrees and Saturday was a rainy and cold 55-degree high.  The Toledo group did an amazing job getting all the matches outdoors this year!  As usual, a great turnout from the Mid-Atlantic and also great results.

Alan Frank was given another opportunity to get his Grand Master status against the foe that narrowly beat him at the National Masters Singles event in March.  Frank proved his mettle by winning his tenth National Title against Peter Service.  Alan teamed with Dan Zimet and defeated Peter and Kevin Hill 21-8; 21-12.  Alans family was on hand as he reached this rare milestone, and he was given a family handball picture signed by many of the players he has competed against over the years.

Bob Bardwell thrilled everyone by winning the 60+ Singles Championship.  Playing a brilliant semi-final, he cruised past the higher seeded Gack 21-9; 21-1.  In the final, Bob showed true grit and mental toughness, overcoming a first game loss and poor sportsmanship on the part of his opponent to win the second 21-10 and tie-breaker 11-1.  This was Bobs first National title, and it was well earned!  New to the Super Golden Masters, Bobs endurance and footwork proved his greatest weapon in the final.

Team Anderson has broken through with a great win in the B Doubles.  Lee and Kyle Anderson, both of whom have shown quick development in their games over the past two years, defeated another local player in Will Bardwell and his partner Louis-Ferdinand.  Will started the tournament with Eric Anderson, but a bad break in Erics opening doubles match put a scary end to Erics tournament.  Eric was drilled in the eye by powerhouse Sean Lenning and was quickly taken off for medical attention.  Thankfully, Eric reports no permanent damage and he promises to be back on the courts quickly.  Meanwhile, Lee and Kyle rolled through the competition on their way to the finals.  A close first game went the Way of the Anderson, and a strong second game brought two more National title plates home to Maryland/Virginia.

Dan Zimet repeated last years slam in the 35+ Senior division, defeating Kevin Hill in the singles final and Service/Hill in the final.  A much smaller division than last year resulted in a round-robin, with Dan cruising through the field.

The two best matches of the tournament involved Josh Ho in singles and Frank/Anderson in doubles.  Josh Ho battled a very talented up and coming player in Nikolai Nahorniak.  After splitting the first two games, Nikolai seemed to have the match in the bag when he opened a 10-5 lead in the tie-breaker.  But Josh can dig deep when he has to, and he fought off several match points to climb to 10-10.  With the serve switching several times the outcome seemed completely up for grabs, until Nikolai was able to close out the match.  Josh also gave Dave Munson all he could handle in the first round of the Open.  Josh took the match to a tie-breaker after two 21-19 games, but was closed out 11-6.

Alan Frank and Rick Anderson knew they had a tough run to the final when they saw Carkeek/ Nicholas in the draw.  Carkeek is a constant threat, and Nicholas exhibits steady power and a keen kill-shot.  After winning the first 21-17, Frank/Anderson clawed out each point en-route to a 20-20 tie.  With the TV cameras rolling, both teams fought off several match points and changed innings repeatedly.  Anderson came up with two brilliant kill shots, one off a serve, to get his team in for what turned into the final inning as a skipped shot by the opposition ended this remarkable match.

Dave Hinkelman and Joe Pleszkoch had a nice run in the 60+ doubles, winning a tie-breaker under the lights on Saturday to set up a semi-final match against Uffer/Kraft.  Unfortunately, they were unable to keep the run alive.   After winning handily in the first they fell to the New Yorkers (9), 14, and 7.  Dan Ho made an excellent run through the 50B, playing his way into the semi-final where he faced a powerful Ohio local Steve Kehoe.  Kehoe had beaten Pat Lowery earlier in the tournament, but revenge was not to be had as Kehoe moved the ball well with excellent pace.  Another player who made a fine run through the 50B was Wes Humphries, whose son made the trip to watch.  Wes put up good numbers against eventual champion Eli Seaman before also falling in the semi-final.

Other players who made runs late in the tournament include Roger Berry, who had a nice tie-breaker win over Penick before losing in the final to Dave Dohman.  Will Bardwell and Murzy Jhabvala made it to the semi-finals of the B Singles and 55 Singles, respectively.  The team of Mort Frank and Lou Buckingham, newly eligible for the 70 Doubles, also made it to the semi-finals before falling to the eventual champions in Wicker and Harris.  Unfortunately, Jay Millers back seized up after his win in the first round of the 40 Singles he was unable to challenge eventual Champion Nicholas.  The team of Ray Estevez and Jarvis, last years champions of the 50+ doubles, had perhaps the toughest draw of the tournament and fell to Corrigan and Kirk in the semi-finals.

MD Handball archived results…

3-Wall Eastern Regional

2006

Open Singles Zimet d Frank 10, 13

Open Doubles Frank/Anderson d Ozgar/Ozgar 5, 2

40+ singles Stevenson d Miller (19), 15, 4

50+ singles List d Jhabvala 9, 7

50+ doubles Dyke Egnor d Humphreys/Compton 15, 20

60+ Singles Pleszkoch d Kraft 10, 20

60+ doubles 1st Solomon/Hinkelman; 2nd Pleszkoch/Simon

B singles Marin d Healy 16, 11

B doubles Cohen/Woodward d Estrada/Nebbit 11, (11), 10

Consolation Singles Alexander d Blizzard 31-27

Consolation Doubles Healey Fambro d Blizzard/Parsons

 

2005

Open: Zimet d Frank;  Zimet/Meisner d Smith/Retian

40+ Berry d Miller;   40/50: Berry/Winter d Jhabvala/Anderson

50+:Dyke d Ho

60+: Solomon d Uffer;   Uffer/Kraft d Solomon/Zimet

B :Nebbitt d Coughlin; Coughlin/Greenwald d Coughlin/Nebbitt

 

2004

Open:   K Lewis d D Zimet    Meisner/D Zimet d Lewis/Kaplan

B:  Wilkerson d M Ozgar       S Smith/Pleszkocz d Skeeter/G Brown

40+: R Berry d P Lowery       Berry/Dyke d R. Anderson/Brown

50+: M Jhabvala d B Bardwell  Alicandro/Estevez d Humphreys/Compton

60+: D Uffer d Kraft                   Uffer/E. Zimet d M Frank/Kraft

70+: Buckingham d Marguglio      40B: D Ho d E O'Donnell

Juniors: Iglesias d Barquero

2003

Open:   K Lewis d D Zimet          Lewis/Kaplan d Frank/Winter

B:     Greco d M Ozgar               Brown/Houseman d Ozgar/Ozgar

40+: R Berry d Gunderson           Frank/Winter d Berry/Anderson

50+: Greco d Dyke                    Dyke/Ho d Ozgar/Reynolds

60+: Solomon d Cassidy             Solomon/E Zimet d Green/McNulty

2002

Open:   K Lewis d A Frank         Lewis/Kaplan d Frank/Santiago

B:     J Ho d Ryan                    Bardwell/Bardwell d Wolfe/Gill

40+: R Berry d Estevez             Berry/Anderson d White/Martin

50+: Bardwell d Mike Frank        Solomon/Bardwell d Dyke/Ho

60+: Kemble d Bohr                  Morris/Zimet d McNulty/Green

Women: S Smith d McCourt       Smith/McCourt d Grelle/Ruiz

 

3-Wall Doubles/No Frills

 

2006   OPEN – D Zimet/Corrigan d J Bardwell/W Bardwell 21-5, 21-12

          40/50 – B Bardwell/Estevez d Egnor/Dyke 21-5, 21-18

          60/B – Hake/Little d M Frank/Truman 21-11, 21-20

          A – Ozgar/Ozgar d A Zimet/L Anderson

          Consolation – D Ho/Estrada

2005   Open – Zimet/Meisner d Bardwell/Winter

          B – Blizzard/Tusten d Faden/Caughlin

          50+ – Compton/Alexander d Alicandro/Ho

          60+ – Zimet/Solomon d Frank/Norris

2004    Open: Meisner/D Zimet d Frank/Winter

          40+ Estevez/Alicandro d Anderson/Skeeter

           B/40B: E Anderson/K Anderson d Cohen/Peart

          55+: Solomon/Zimet d M Frank/Marguglio

          55+ Cons. Greenwald/Truman d Brandt/Fitelson

2003    Open: Meisner/D Zimet d Frank/Winter

          B: Brown/Houseman d Anderson/Anderson

          40+ Humphreys/Bardwell d Alicandro/Lowery

          50+ Solomon/Bardwell d Dyke/Ho

          60+ Bohr/Norris d Truman/Morris

 

4-Wall Singles

2005    Open:     D.Zimet d. R. Berry (6), 19, 2

           50+:       Dyke d. Sherman 8, 11

           60+:       Swope d. Lady 19, 17

           B:          Caughlin d. R. Fisher 11, (19), 3

           A/Cons:   Landy d Raymond

 

2004    Open: J. Meisner d. R. Berry               B: M. Ozgar d. T. Reed

          40+: R. Anderson d. K. Berkey            C: CJ. Raymond d. C. Parsons

          50+: B. Dyke d. M. Edwards               70+: E. Jones d. T. Merlene

          60+: S. Bell d. J. Herman

 

2003     Open: K. Sheppeck d. R. Berry                 B: R. Landy d. R. fisher

                    40+: R. Humphreys d. M. Tomczak           50+:  B. Barwell d. M. Razz

                    60+: B. Bohr d. D. Dunn                         cons. J. Ho d T. Biggers

 

4-Wall Doubles

 

2005        Open:  Berry/Frank d Andersons

               A  Ozgars d Zimet/Coughlin

               50+ Humphries/Bardwell d Alicandro/Ho

               60+/70+/B Bohr/Raz d Stablein/Weinstock

               50+ Consolation:  Blizzard/Parsons

 

2004     Open: Frank/Estevez d Berry/Anderson

                   A: Miller/Rescinti d Ozgar/Ozgar

                    50+ compton/Dyke d Bardwell/Alicandro

                    60+/B: Stablein/Weinstock d Fisher/Fischer

                    50+ Cons. Alexander/Swope; 60/B Cons Hill/Parsons

2003      Open: Anderson/Berry d Frank/D Zimet

             A: A Zimet/Bigger d Nelson/Tomczak

             50+ Humphreys/Compton d Dyke/Ho

             60+ Solomon/Bohr d Woerner/Buckingham

             B: Anderson/Skeeter d Landy/Landy