Mark Barry and Brian Heil Win Battle at the Mudhole

July 27, 2016
Columbus, Ohio

Third Annual Event Draws New Talent

The 3rd Annual Battle at the Mudhole summer platform tennis tournament was held Saturday July 9, 2016, at Elysium Tennis in Plain City (Columbus), Ohio. With notable names in the past like Reed, Jones, Watt, Koneicko, and English, the tourney did not disappoint in its third running. There was a full 16-team draw for the event with many three setters throughout the day. The Viking Low Bounce ball was in play. So was no ad scoring in the third set, due to time and the heat.

The Battle at the Mudhole featured many up-and-coming paddle players. Ex-collegiate athletes from Belmont, Dayton, Indiana, Iowa, Jacksonville, Methodist, Michigan, Michigan St., Ohio Northern, Ohio State, Penn State, UPenn, and Xavier were scattered throughout the draw, displaying some impressive talent. No doubt Columbus will be relevant in Region IV in the near future.

The tournament got interesting in the quarterfinals when Stu Little, a senior at UPenn, and Rob Schmidt took out the second seeds Doug Jones and Jake Wilson, at 7-6 in the third set. The other semifinalists were Craig Bennington and Matt Wooster, Klint McEnery and Dan Morneau, and the top seeds Mark Barry and Brian Heil. McEnery/Morneau dispatched of Little/Schmidt in the first semi, while Barry/Heil took down Bennington/Wooster, setting up an all-Elysium pro final. It featured many exciting exchanges as seen in warm weather paddle, but in the end Barry/Heil held off McEnery/Morneau to take the title in straight sets.

Thank you to all competitors and our sponsors Rich Ihlendorf, Costco, Total Platform Tennis, and Shadetree for making the event such a success. Looking forward to making our fourth year bigger and better than ever.

Main Draw: Barry/Heil def. McEnery/Morneau, 6-2,6-4

Quarter Reprieve: Gera/Gossain def. Jones/Wilson

Consolation: Allison/Bauer def. Stratton/English

Last Chance: Gerber/Roberts def. Ox/DC