Minnesota State Handball Association

Ice Box Invitational Handball Doubles
January 28-29, 2011
St. Anthony AC, Minneapolis

 

The 17th annual Ice Box Doubles Invitational was anything but an icebox. The first day above freezing in 2011 came with the tournament breaking an nearly unprecedented cold streak.  It was warm enough to pool water on the roof that required siphoning off to stop a leak in one court.  This year only five of the 30 matches went to a tie-breaker.  Usually we see over half the matches going down to the wire as repeating teams come back each year for revenge. Everyone enjoyed the closed circuit TV action, the usual non-stop great hospitality enhanced by the unique atmosphere of the St. Anthony AC.

Open Doubles Finalists

John Nett, Andy Nett,
Pete Crouser, Ryan Maloney

The Open division was not defended by last years champs Steve Johnson and Tim Labey.  They must have seen Andy Nett coming.  He was terrific pounding the ball past Crouser and Maloney in the finals.  Only Tom Bowman seemed to be able to handle the power and return some great shots from Andy with winners of his own in the semifinals.  But he couldn’t maintain the pace after losing a 16 in the first game, Tom and Jeff Ryan could only muster 3 points in the second.  Andy and father John defended their 2009 title defeating the 2008 champs of Pete Crouser and Ryan Maloney.  Great handball all around!!!  Silas Danielson and Tim Kappes defeated Phil Kleineschay and David Wolvington (that’s right – Wolvington hadn’t played for five years before stepping on the court for this tournament!) to take consolation honors and collected $20 for the effort.

A Doubles Finalists

Hank Ulrich, Brett Broxey,
John Miller, Emil Weiler

The dynasty was broken in the A division. Brett Broxey and Hank Ulrich closed out last years champs Emil Weiler and John Miller in two games to prevent a five-peat. Last year Brett and Hank came up one point short – not this year!  In a flip-flop from last year, Emil and John were tested a bit on their way to the finals while Brett and Hank seemed to have the all the right shots not letting anyone score more than 7 points. Forced up into the A division, Rich Ryan selected Curt Schlenner as his partner – a great choice as Curt played some great handball.  The Friday night match against Larry Larson and Steve Tamminga was wild as Curt controlled the first game but lost some gas in the second game.  It looked like an easy win as Larson and Tamminga jumped out to 8-0 lead in the tie breaker.  Then Curt got hot to tie the game at 8.  After calling a couple of double bounces on himself, Larson got in and served out.  (Tamminga never served in the tie-breaker!) Schlenner and Ryan ultimately claimed consolation honors in a tie-breaker against Mike Black and John Nakasone.  It might have been the coni semifinal against Brian Mahaffy and Clancy Mylan that took a little too much from Mike and John. 

B Doubles Finalists

Mark Mylan, Ed Brazman,
Joe Taylor, Mike Erdmanczyk

Last years consolation winners, Ed Brazman and Mark Mylan delivered the desired results winning the B division defeating Joe Taylor and Shaq (Mike Erdmanczyk) in an entertaining come-from-behind 9-21, 21-15, 11-8 final match. It was particularly tough to concentrate as the noisy gallery watching the A consolation final in the adjacent court had definitely found the beer.  Taylor and Erdmanczyk had a pretty good semifinal match against number one seeds Ed Simonet and Tom Bordenave.  Brazman and Mylan got a easy forfeit in the first round when Alan Laveille was unable to make it in from Duluth due to freezing rain and snow.  They paid for it in the semifinals against veterans John Peterson and Paul Nelson with a slim 21-20, 15-21, 11-5 win.  It turns out the champions never claimed total points in any of their matches!

Thanks to the St. Anthony AC and the tournament committee of Sheldon Silberman, Emil Weiler, Brian Mahaffy, Eric Johnson, Steve Tamminga and Larry Larson for making this one of the best tournaments in the Twin Cities.

 

Open Doubles

Quarterfinals

· Pete Crouser (St. Paul)/Ryan Maloney (Cottage Grove) def. Phil Kleineschay (Maple Grove)/David Wolvington (Winonna) 21-0, 21-5

· Mike Gustafson (Eagan)/Mike Wells (Good Thunder) 21-16, 3-21, 11-6 def. Ray Miller (St. Paul)/Ian Johnson (Minneapolis) 21-3, 21-14

· Tom Bowman (Chanhassen)/Jeff Ryan (St. Paul) def. Marc Tobin(Inver Grove Heights)/Brian Coonce (St. Paul) 21-3, 21-11

· Andy Nett (Winona)/John Nett (Winona) def. Silas Danielson (St. Clair)/Tim Kappes (Maplewood) 21-2, 21-9

Semifinals

· Crouser/Maloney def. Wells/Gustafson 19-21, 21-11, 11-4

· Nett/Nett def. Bowman/Ryan 21-16, 21-3

Finals

· Nett/Nett def. Crouser/Maloney 21-14, 21-8

Consolation

· Danielson/Kappes def. Kleineschay/Wolvington 21-9, 21-3

 

A Doubles

Quarterfinals

· John  Miller (Edina)/Emil Weiler III (St. Paul) def. Mike Black (Mendota Heights)/John  Nakasone (St. Paul) 21-10, 21-13

· Brandon Glaze (Eagan)/Mitch Van Eps (Eagan) def. Brian G. Mahaffy (Minneapolis)/Clancy Mylan (Minnetonka) 21-18, 21-13

· Steven Tamminga (Minneapolis)/Larry Larson (Plymouth) def. Curt Schlenner (St. Paul)/Rich Ryan (Woodbury) 15-21, 21-6, 11-8

· Brett Broxey (Brooklyn Park)/Hank Ulrich (Minneapolis) def. Bob McCartney (Robbinsdale)/Sheldon Silberman (Golden Valley) 21-3, 21-1

Semifinals

· Miller/Weiler def. Glaze/Van Eps 21-4, 21-10

· Broxey/Ulrich def. Tamminga/Larson 21-7, 21-7

Finals

· Broxey/Ulrich def. Miller/Weiler 21-17, 21-11

Consolation

· Sclenner/Ryan def. Nakasone/Black 21-15, 13-21, 11-5

 

B Doubles

Quarterfinals

· Ed Simonet, Jr. (Stillwater)/Tom Bordenave (Hudson, WI) def. Bill DeVahl (Woodbury)/Pete Rosene (Vadnais Heights) 21-9, 21-13

· Joe Taylor (Cottage Grove)/Mike Erdmanczyk (Vadnais Heights)/ def. Chris Drucker (Minneapolis)/Dane Swanson (St. Paul) 21-14, 21-11

· John Peterson (Shoreview)/Paul Nelson (Hager City, WI) def. Ben Olson/John Laliberte (Shoreview) 21-15, 21-10

· Ed Brazman (St. Paul)/Mark Mylan (Mound) def. Alan Leveille (Duluth)/Jack Leveille (Golden Valley) forfeit

Semifinals

· Taylor/Erdmanczyk def. Simonet/Bordenave 21-18, 21-8

· Brazman/Mylan def. Nelson/Peterson 21-20, 15-21, 11-5

Finals

· Brazman/Mylan def. Taylor/Erdmanczyk 9-21, 21-15, 11-8

Consolation

· Olson/Laliberte def. Drucker/Swanson 21-8, 18-21, 11-3