10/04/2026
To start the day, we announced that we would play to 125 points!
Here is the summary of the fun day of pool!
🎱 Young Guns vs. Old Dawgs — Tournament Recap
The scheduled portion ultimately finished:
Young Guns — 111
Old Dawgs — 119
That eight-point difference is especially interesting because one 9-Ball Triples match was worth exactly eight points. In other words, after dozens of matches, the separation between the teams was essentially the value of a single final-round match.
8-Ball Singles — Old Dawgs strike first
The Old Dawgs had the better of the opening 8-Ball Singles session. The Young Guns picked up individual wins from players including Nick Scott, Brittney Staples, Arne Smith, Lauren Patrie, Randy Larochele, Nick Griffeth, Tyler Hallowell and Jon Ketchen, while the Old Dawgs countered with a much deeper run of victories.
Among the Old Dawgs' winners were Ken Audet, Steve Simkins, Steve Reynolds, Don Nuttall, Rich Studholm, Terry Harris, Kevin Emerson, Justin Emery, Mike Berube, Mark Lawler, Chris Whitman, Amy Simkins, Deb Grant, Rick Mannion, Dave Vigue and Tony Richard.
Analysis: This was the Old Dawgs' best possible way to start. Singles were only worth one point each, so the damage wasn't fatal to the Young Guns, but Old Dawgs established control and forced the younger side to chase.
9-Ball Singles — Young Guns answer back
The Young Guns responded very well in 9-Ball.
Their marked winners were:
Dakota Collins, Ray Searles, Nate Breton, Paige Reynolds, Chris Staples, Dylan Allard, Veto Irving, Chris Penney, Katie Murphy, Randy Larochele, Nick Scott, Hunter Cyr and Arne Smith.
Old Dawgs wins came from:
Rich Studholm, Rick Lawler, Terry Harris, Mike Chiott, Mike Berube, Mark Lawler, Jason Brann, Tony Richard, Kim McLellan, Steve Reynolds and Wright Wallace.
That gives the Young Guns a 13–11 edge in 9-Ball Singles.
Analysis: This was an important response. Instead of allowing the Old Dawgs to run away with the Singles portion, the Young Guns stabilized the tournament. Several players who hadn't produced a point in the opening 8-Ball round came through in 9-Ball.
🤝 8-Ball Scotch Doubles — 2 Points Each
Now the value doubled, and teamwork became part of the equation.
The matchups were:
Ally/Dylan vs. Deb/Terry — Old Dawgs
Randy/Lauren vs. Chris/Deb — Old Dawgs
Rusha/Shane vs. Kim/Rick — Young Guns
Hunter/Katie vs. Steve S/Amy — Young Guns
Paige/Dakota vs. Rick/Mark — Old Dawgs
Erika/Clayton vs. Kevin/Dave — Old Dawgs
Nick G/Arne vs. Mike/Mike — Young Guns
Nate/Brittney vs. Rich/Don — Old Dawgs
Chris P/Tyler vs. Justin/Jason — Old Dawgs
Ray/Jon vs. Jake/Tony — Young Guns
Nick S/Veto vs. Tom S/Wright — Old Dawgs
Chris S/Terri vs. Steve/Ken — Old Dawgs
So the Old Dawgs won 8 of the 12 Scotch matches, compared with four for the Young Guns.
At two points apiece, that's:
Young Guns 8 — Old Dawgs 16
Analysis: This was a significant Old Dawgs round. It wasn't just that they won more matches—they won twice as many. Because the point value had now doubled, the Old Dawgs were beginning to turn match wins into meaningful scoreboard separation.
🔥 9-Ball Scotch Doubles — 4 Points Each
This is where the tournament swung dramatically back toward the Young Guns.
Ally/Nate vs. Deb/Jason B — Young Guns
Katie/Chris P vs. Deb G/Rick M — Young Guns
Rusha/Veto vs. Steve S/Justin E — Old Dawgs
Lauren/Paige vs. Amy S/Chris W — Young Guns
Nick G/Nick S vs. Ken A/Terry H — Old Dawgs
Dakota/Randy vs. Tony R/Kim M — Young Guns
Arne/Dylan vs. Mark L/Rich S — Young Guns
Brittney/Jon K vs. Jake S/Steve R — Old Dawgs
Clayton/Terri S vs. Mike B/Tom S — Old Dawgs
Shane/Chris vs. Kevin E/Don N — Young Guns
Erika/Ray vs. Mike C/Wright — Young Guns
Hunter/Tyler vs. Dave/Rick L — Young Guns
Young Guns won 8 of 12, Old Dawgs won four.
Because these were worth four points:
Young Guns 32 — Old Dawgs 16
Analysis: This was arguably the Young Guns' strongest round of the tournament. They flipped the exact 8–4 match count from the previous Scotch round, but did it when the matches were worth twice as much. That's a huge momentum swing.
It also shows why the escalating scoring format worked: Old Dawgs' excellent 8-Ball Scotch performance couldn't put the tournament away because Young Guns immediately answered in the more valuable 9-Ball version.
👥 8-Ball Triples — 6 Points Each
The stakes jumped again.
Ally/Lauren/Nick S vs. Deb/Mark/Ken — Young Guns
Dylan/Paige/Chris P vs. Terry/Mike B/Amy S — Old Dawgs
Katie/Veto/Rusha vs. Deb G/Rich S/Kevin E — Old Dawgs
Nate B/Randy/Nick G vs. Kim M/Jason B/Tony R — Young Guns
Erika/Terri/Clayton vs. Jake S/Steve S/Wright — Old Dawgs
Brittney/Chris S/Dakota vs. Mike C/Tom S/Dave V — Old Dawgs
Shane/Arne/Ray vs. Steve R/Don N/Justin E — Old Dawgs
Hunter/Tyler/Jon vs. Rick/Chris/Rick — Young Guns
That produces 3 Young Guns wins and 5 Old Dawgs wins.
At six points each:
Young Guns 18 — Old Dawgs 30
Analysis: Another major Old Dawgs response. Young Guns had just dominated 9-Ball Scotch, but the Dawgs didn't let that momentum continue. Winning five of eight matches at six points each created a 12-point advantage in one round.
And with only eight matches, every individual result mattered enormously.
💥 9-Ball Triples — 8 Points Each
This was the highest-pressure scheduled round of the tournament. Every match was worth eight points.
The pairings shown were:
Ally/Dakota/Paige vs. Deb H/Ken/Tony
Katie/Nick G/Shane vs. Amy/Mike B/Kevin E
Chris P/Randy/Rusha vs. Deb G/Rich S/Wright
Chris S/Hunter/Lauren vs. Kim/Terry H/Steve R
Brittney/Veto/Erika vs. Jake S/Rick M/Dave V
Arne S/Dylan A/Jon K vs. Mike C/Tom S/Chris W
Tyler H/Nate B/Ray vs. Jason B/Steve S/Don N
Nick S/Clayton/Terri vs. Justin E/Rick L/Mark L
This is where the scoring format becomes especially dramatic: one win was now worth eight times what a Singles win had been worth at the beginning of the tournament.
So a player could win an early Singles match and earn one point for the team, while a three-person group taking one of these final matches earned eight.
Analysis: That put enormous pressure on the Triples lineups. At this stage, chemistry and the ability to handle pressure mattered just as much as individual skill.
📊 Scheduled Matches Complete
When all of those events were finished, the running totals shown on your master sheet were:
Young Guns — 111
Old Dawgs — 119
Difference: just 8 points.
That's remarkably close considering the tournament contained Singles, Scotch Doubles and Triples across both 8-Ball and 9-Ball.
And there's a neat symmetry to it:
The entire scheduled tournament was separated by exactly ONE 9-Ball Triples match.
But the tournament wasn't over.
⚡ SUDDEN DEATH
After all the team competition, it came down to two players:
Young Guns — Jon Ketchen
Old Dawgs — Steve Reynolds
And Jon immediately put the Old Dawgs in trouble.
Jon Ketchen 1 – Steve Reynolds 0
Then Jon won again.
Jon Ketchen 2 – Steve Reynolds 0
Jon was now one game away from winning it.
Steve Reynolds had no margin for error.
Steve took the next game:
Jon 2 – Steve 1
Then Steve did it again:
2–2.
After an entire tournament—Singles, Scotch Doubles, Triples, 8-Ball, 9-Ball and hundreds of points at stake—it came down to one final game.
Steve Reynolds completed the comeback.
🏆 STEVE REYNOLDS 3
JON KETCHEN 2
🏆 OLD DAWGS WIN 🏆
The most impressive part of the finish isn't simply that Steve won. He had to win three consecutive games with no room for another loss after Jon had put him in a 2–0 hole.
Jon Ketchen deserves a lot of credit as well. Getting out to a 2–0 lead in the deciding heads-up match put the Young Guns on the doorstep of taking the tournament.
But Steve's three straight wins under elimination pressure became the defining performance of the tournament.
The story of the tournament
This really wasn't a tournament where one side dominated. The advantage kept changing depending on the discipline. Old Dawgs were particularly effective in 8-Ball and the team formats, while the Young Guns produced some of their biggest responses in 9-Ball—including an excellent 8–4 performance in 9-Ball Scotch.
The escalating points also made the format work beautifully. Singles established the foundation, Scotch Doubles increased the pressure, and Triples made every rack potentially tournament-changing.
After all of it, the official scheduled-match scoreboard read 119–111 Old Dawgs.
And somehow even that wasn't the end of the story.
Jon Ketchen went up 2–0. Steve Reynolds came all the way back. Three straight wins. 3–2. Old Dawgs take the championship.
That's about as dramatic a finish as you can get in a team pool tournament.
Here is a copy of the player list from today!
🎱 Young Guns — 24 Players
Captain: Ally Rodrigue
1. Ally Rodrigue — Captain
2. Hunter Cyr
3. Nick Griffeth
4. Paige Reynolds
5. Lauren Patrie
6. Nick Scott
7. Dakota Collins
8. Dylan Allard
9. Brittney Staples
10. Veto Irving
11. Katie Murphy
12. Nate Breton
13. Tyler Hallowell
14. Clayton Bragdon
15. Chris Staples
16. Chris Penney
17. Jon Ketchen
18. Randy Larochele
19. Arne Smith
20. Ray Searles
21. Rusha Cassiani
22. Shane Cassiani
23. Terri Sinclair
24. Erika Grenier
🐾 Old Dawgs — 24 Players
Captain: Deb Harris
1. Deb Harris — Captain
2. Jason Brann
3. Jake Staple
4. Amy Simkins
5. Rick Lawler
6. Steve Reynolds
7. Mike Chiott
8. Justin Emery
9. Mark Lawler
10. Don Nuttall
11. Rich Studholm
12. Ken Audet
13. Tom Skehan
14. Steve Simkins
15. Wright Wallace
16. Tony Richard
17. Chris Whitman
18. Kim McLellan
19. Dave Vigue
20. Rick Mannion
21. Terry Harris
22. Kevin Emerson
23. Deb Grant
24. Mike Berube
Our youngest competitor was 19 and our oldest was 69!
Thank you to all!
