The Mankato Handball Experience
October 26-27, 2012
Mankato YMCA, Mankato, MN
The Mankato Handball Experience had the best, deepest tournament yet. A special thanks to all the out of town players that make this event an annual must attend tournament. With 60+ entrants in the 2012 Mankato Handball Experience and only four courts in one location, the time has finally come. Next year the entries will need to be capped, or some games moved offsite. The tournament committee would like to thank all of the corporate sponsors, those who sponsored collegiate players into the tournament, and the Mankato YMCA. There was great camaraderie at Jake’s Stadium Pizza on Friday night.
In the Open Singles bracket, last year it was an all-Dakota final, but this year the finalists were both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was Mankato native, Tony Krocak, who dominated the open division. The much anticipated matchup of pro-qualifier, Anthony Selestow, and Tony was anti-climactic. Tony lived in center court and sent Anthony on tour after tour. Although Anthony made many fantastic returns, it wasn’t enough to overcome Tony’s two handed power. The new handball players get excited when they see this top level handball. Keep coming back, we love having a full open bracket. Iowa’s Ryan Pesch outlasted Jim Grota in the consolation final.
Mike Gustafson and George Langhorst repeated as 90+ doubles champions. This is the first repeat doubles champions in tournament history, and they did it while BOTH playing singles and doubles. Mankato Millennium champion and 1976 Prettiest Handball Player, Jerry Pietz, teamed with Mike Wells to make the finals. Jerry played flawlessly, but it wasn’t enough to carry Wells to his fifth title. Mike Gustafson dominated the front court and George was more than steady from the back. Rumor has it; at least Wells beat Gustafson in fantasy football last week.
Through the error of the tournament committee, John Laliberti had to “prove it” in the A singles division again this year. It wasn’t easy though, as Joe Nordahl didn’t miss a right handed setup in the final. Rest assured, John will be moving to the Open division next year. All matches ended by 7:40pm, which is a miracle since the courts were scheduled fully from 8am through 7pm on Saturday. Some matches on a 45 minute schedule. For those that didn’t stick around, they missed one of the best matches of the tournament. Minnesota State player, Mat Job, snuck out a victory over Mankato West High School junior, Adrian Anderson. Both players were exhausted by the end. No wonder for Adrian who participated his football team’s section playoff game between matches on Saturday. Adrian, Devin Ries, and Tyler Stoffel are some of Minnesota State’s top recruits for 2014.
Kristina Rude played great when winning the B division. Playing five days a week at the University of Minnesota has helped her rapidly improve her game. Kristina’s offhand has significantly improved since winning the Division I women’s B title at last year’s USHA collegiate nationals. She was a one person wrecking crew, defeating three opponents from Minnesota State. They can take a lesson from her. Courts time boys, more court time. Tony Shanks, who has been playing in the Minnesota State Introduction to Handball course only since August, defeated a veteran opponent, Trent Edwards, in the consolation final.
The C Singles division contained only first semester players from Minnesota State. Tyler Edwards won the title and is the only player I know of who can say he is undefeated in tournament play. Many of these players will travel to the Milwaukee Classic in December to gain more tournament experience for the collegiate nationals at Arizona State in February. Sara Schoborg showed that logging a lot of court time and practicing outside of class can really pay off by capturing the consolation title.
The Masters Singles division was very competitive. There were several players who went after the Iron Man title by playing singles and doubles. That means playing at least four matches in 24 hours!! John Nakasone returned to Mankato after a one year hiatus to regain his masters title in two games over Mike Kloos. Kloos was unhappy with the seeding in this division, but promised not to hold it against any of the tournament committee that might enter the Winter Carnival tournament in February or wear their hat backwards. First time participant Jim Howe, from Iowa, got the most points off of Nakasone and defeated last year’s champ, Ed Miller, for the consolation title. Better seeding will occur next year!! S special thanks to Russ Forbes and Ron Allen for coming all the way from Wausau, WI to support Minnesota State player, Cody Kutil. Cody spent the summer in Wausau learning the game from these two great sportsmen.
If you haven’t attended the Mankato Handball Experience, it has found a permanent home on the last weekend of October. Mark it down, get your entry in early, it is appointment handball.
Anthony Selestow, Tony Krocak
Open Singles
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation
Jerry Pietz, Mike Wells, Mike Gustafson, George Langhorst
90+ Doubles
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation
John Laliberte, Joe Nordahl
A Singles
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation
Brett Marschall, Kristina Rude
B Singles
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation
Megan Heibel, Tyler Edwards
C Singles
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation
John Nakasone, Mike Kloos
Masters Singles
Preliminary Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Consolation