Minnesota State Handball Association

Minnesota State Handball Championships
Masters Doubles Handball
Mankato Family YMCA, Mankato, MN
March 21-22, 2014

For the first time in over 20 years the MSHA held a state tournament outside of the Twin Cities area.  Because of the Mankato area rising participation in handball and the great handball development work at Minnesota State Mankato, the Masters Doubles Tournament was held at the Mankato Family YMCA. The remodeled Y did a great job supporting the event. A small but dedicated group to gathered to contest the Masters (40+), Super Masters (60+) and Diamond Masters (70+) Minnesota State Handball Doubles titles.  In order to attract the newer players and those under 40, a Mankato Mixer division was added and provide some very entertaining matches.

The Masters (40+) division was organized into an A/B drop-down arrangement to accommodate the wide variety in capabilities of the players and still create competitive matches.  Everyone had a great time and we all saw some very good matches at the end of the tournament.  Mike Gustafson and Steve Johnson took top honors in a spirited match with Jay Spooner and Dan Passolt from North Dakota. Gustafson and Johnson had quite the semifinal match with perennial champ Paul Dorland and new partner Harry Musser.  It looked easy after the first game but the second was a barn-burner as Dorland tried to shoot (often successfully) everything.  Meanwhile Spooner and Passolt barely figured out local favorites John Stoffel and Mike Wells, going to a tie-breaker to get to the finals.

Jay Spooner. Dan Passolt,
Mike Gustafson, Steve Johnson

Losers in the first rounds of the Masters A division dropped into the Masters B division where Steve Tamminga and Joe Lacey-Gotz took the championship.  Don Reiter and Mike Kloos gave a valiant effort in the finals but the younger legs won.

Don Reiter, Mike Kloos, Joe Lacey-Gotz, Steve Tamminga

The 70+ players were added to the Super Master (60+) Division to provide sufficient teams to complete the draw.  The oft-time champions of John Miller and Clancy Mylan were not able to repeat as Hall of Famer John Nett teamed up with Brian Coonce and took the championship with a strong 21-11, 21-12 finish.  In the semis Nett and Coonce took down a team we hadn’t seen in some time in Jim Turk and Jerry Peitz while Miller and Mylan defeated Clancy’s usual partner Brian Mahaffy and his partner Greg Taylor.  Mahaffy and Taylor went on to win the third place trophy.  Sheldon Silberman and Mike McQuillan outlasted George Langhorst and Mike Burke in a sometimes fast-paced and sometimes ugly three game match with an 11-9 tie-breaker for the consolation honors.

John Miller, Clancy Mylan,
John Nett, Brian Coonce

The 70+ players that did not win in the first round of the Super Master division dropped down into their own division for the Diamond Master Championship.  Ted Bergstrom and Paul Nelson went to an 11-9 tie-breaker to claim the top prize over Don Krocak and Dan Sherwin.  Everyone had a great time see the truly lifelong adventure of handball.

Ted Bergstrom, Paul Nelson,
Dan Sherwin, Don Krocak

The Mankato Mixer ended with a bang as Ryan Pesch and rookie Alex Meyer defeated the veteran Ray Miller and youngster Tom Nett.  Miller and Nett took advantage with great patience after a slow start winning the first game at 10 and looking like this was all going as seeded.  The Pesch showed amazing talent as he literally defeated two very good players single-handedly in the second game.  When to the tie-breaker got to 9-7 in favor of Miller and Nett it looked like it was all over only to see Pesch score the next 4 points for the win – not without some critical gets from his silent partner, Meyer.  A great finish to the tournament!  Matt Job and Ricky Ness defeated Billy Craig and Joe Nordahl in an all Mankato third place match and Jerad Michels and Steve Gering defeated Ryan’s father Bruce Pesch and Jim Howe for the consolation trophy.

Alex Meyer, Ryan Pesch, Ray Miller, Tom Nett

Thanks to Mike Wells and John Stoffel and all the help from the Mankato Family YMCA.

Masters (40+) A Doubles
Quarter Finals

• Mike Gustafson (Otsego)/Steve Johnson (White Bear Lake) def. Brent Friedrichs (North Mankato)/Ben McAnnich (Mankato) 21-6, 21-8
• Paul Dorland (Mankato)/Harry Musser (Mankato) def. Joe Lacey-Gotz (St. Paul)/Steven Tamminga (Minneapolis) 21-7, 21-18
• Jay Spooner (Fargo)/Dan Passolt (Frago) def. Mike Kloos (Woodbury)/Don Reiter (Stillwater) 21-14, 21-15
• John Stoffel (North Mankato)/Mike Wells (Good Thunder) def. Dean Held (Chanhassen)/Mike Leiter (Eden Prairie) 21-6, 21-10

Semi Finals

• Gustafson/Johnson def. Dorland/Musser 21-5, 21-17
• Spooner/Passolt def. Stoffel/Wells 14-21, 21-18, 11-3

Finals

• Gustafson/Johnson def. Spooner/Passolt 21-12, 21-7

Third Place

• Stoffel/Wells by forfeit

Masters (40+) B Doubles (drop-down from A)
Semi Finals

• Lacey-Gotz/Tamminga def. Friedrichs/McAnnich 21-3, 21-9
• Kloos/Reiter def. Held/Leiter 21-6, 21-11

Finals

• Lacey-Gotz/Tamminga def. Kloos/Reiter 21-12, 21-17

Super Masters (60+) Doubles
Quarter Finals

• John Miller (Edina)/Clancy Mylan (Minnetonka) def. Ted  Bergstrom (St. Paul)/Paul Nelson (Hager City) 21-7, 21-2
• Brian G. Mahaffy (Minneapolis)/Greg Taylor (Woodbury) def. Michael Burke (St. Paul)/George Langhorst (Moose Lake) 21-14, 21-10
• Jerry Pietz (Mankato)/Jim Turk (No. Mankato) def. Mike McQuillan (St. Paul)/Sheldon Silberman (Golden Valley) 16-21, 21-11, 11-9
• Brian Coonce (Hastings)/John Nett (Winona) def. Don Krocak (Mankato)/Dan Sherwin (No Mankato) 21-6, 21-3

Semi Finals

• Miller/Mylan def. Mahaffy/Taylor 21-11, 21-17
• Coonce/Nett def. Pietz/Turk 21-3, 21-13

Finals

• Coonce/Nett def. Miller/Mylan 21-11, 21-12

Third Place

• Mahaffy/Taylor def. Pietz/Turk 9-21, 21-16, 11-4

Consolation

• McQuillan/Silberman def. Burke/Langhorst 21-18, 19-21, 11-9

Diamond Masters (70+) Doubles (drop-down from Supers)
Finals

• Ted  Bergstrom (St. Paul)/Paul Nelson (Hager City)  def. Don Krocak (Mankato)/Dan Sherwin (No Mankato) 10-21, 21-14, 11-9

Mankato Mixer Doubles
Quarter Finals

• Ray Miller (St. Paul)/Tom Nett (Winona) def. Missy (Melissa) Kohout (Mankato)/Brady Grimm (Mankato) 21-1, 21-4
• Billy Craig (Mankato)/Joe Nordahl (Mankato) def. Jim Howe Ames)/Bruce Pesch (Ames) 21-5, 21-3
• Matt Job (Mankato)/Ricky Ness (Mankato) def. Steve Gering (Mankato)/Jerad Michels (Mankato) 21-3, 21-7
• Alexander Meyer (Minneapolis)/Ryan Pesch (Minneapolis) def. Josh Hoflock (Mankato)/Shannon Strand (Mankato) 21-16, 21-9

Semi Finals

• Miller/Nett def. Craig/Nordahl 21-18, 21-8
• Meyer/Pesch def. Job/Ness 21-19, 21-20

Finals

• Meyer/Pesch def. Miller/Nett 10-21, 21-14, 11-9

Third Place

• Job/Ness def. Craig/Nordahl 21-9, 21-13

Consolation

• Michels/Gerin def. Howe/Pesch 21-20, 21-18
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