Lanuto Logs Tri-State Billiards Win
Tri-State Tour / Edison, NJ
by Skip Maloney
Sal Lanuto fended off the field to capture the Tri-State billiards tour stop title at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Sal Lanuto went undefeated to take first place in the Tri-State Tour stop September 27. The $500-added, B,D-handicapped event drew 30 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Positioned among the winners’ side final four, Lanuto first sent Gary Murgia to the one-loss side with a 7-2 victory before taking on Amy Triolo in the hot seat match. Triolo, who’d defeated Jason Egeln 7-5, followed him over on the heels of a 7-3 Lanuto victory.
On the one-loss side, Phil Carr, positioned among the final eight there, defeated Angelo Fiorino 7-2 and Ted Lubis 7-5 before facing Egeln. Carr dropped Egeln 7-5 into a tie for fifth place with George Osipovich, who’d fallen 7-2 to Murgia. In the early going of the quarterfinal match that followed, Carr was building on his momentum and took a 4-0 lead against Murgia. Murgia rallied to tie it and then surged ahead by two games to reach the hill first. Carr responded to go double-hill before Murgia finished it 7-6 and turned to face Triolo in the semifinals.
In the handicapped format, Triolo entered the semifinals with a 4-0 lead. Murgia allowed her to win only two actual games, closing it out at 9-6 and preparing for his second match-up against Lanuto.
Like Triolo in the semifinals, Lanuto started the final match with two games in hand against the higher handicapped Murgia. Murgia erased that lead to tie it at 2-2 right away but missed opportunities to open and widen a gap as the match progressed. The two battled to a 5-5 tie, before Lanuto took advantage of successive opportunities and finished it 7-5.
Results:
1st Sal Lanuto
2nd Gary Murgia
3rd Amy Triolo
4th Phil Carr
5/6th George Osipovich
5/6th Jason Egeln
7/8th Teddy Lubis
7/8th Ben Sadowski
9/12th Randy Mackin
9/12th Angelo Fiorino
9/12th James DeGiosafatto
9/12th Michael Seas