Cisek/Showalter Once Again on Top in Madison; Cougs Takes First in Women's Division

The Midwest Tour Series continued this past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. Fifty-five teams came out to Warner Park on the overcast Saturday to compete in the Advanced, Women's, and Intermediate Divisions.

The #1 open team Cisek/Showalter (Tyler Cisek and Peter Jon Showalter) was able to take first place in Madison, marking their third tour stop win of the season. In the Women's Division, Cougs (Ashley Gingerich and Michaela Hershberger), who placed second at 2017 Nationals, placed first in their first tournament of 2018. Delaney's Dusters (Jurie Victor and Ryan Delaney) took first place in the Intermediate Division.

Origin Vengeance (Dylan Fogarty and Chris Hornacek, second), Cisek/Showalter (Peter Jon Showalter and Tyler Cisek, first), and Tetelestai (Jesse Throw and Logan Cornelius, third) pose for a picture after the Madison Tour Stop.

Advanced Division

The 11 Premier teams in Madison played in two Power Pools for the top seeds. These were the top 16 seeds after pool play:

1. Tetelestai (Logan Cornelius and Jesse Throw)
2. Origin Vengeance (Chris Hornacek and Dylan Fogarty)
3. 4th Place (Sam Hynes and Kurt Dolson)
4. Cisek/Showalter (Tyler Cisek and Peter Jon Showalter)
5. Schweppes (Micah Zimmerman and Jesse Showalter)
6. Joey and Joey (Joey Pierron and Joey Hafertepe)
7. Origin Flow (Mike Priller and Nick Daub)
8. Total Strangers (Jack Bushart and Chris Wilkins)
9. Flight (Brad Hotovy and Hunter Greer)
10. MKE Infinite Entropy (Jonathan Schmitz and Dylan Meyer)
11. Origin Insanity (Wyatt Semke and David Aschenbrenner)
12. Origin Thunder (Chris Bradley and Ethan Datwyler)
13. Origin Legacy (Avery Frain and Jack Matthews)
14. Sola Fide Spike (Nick LoPrinzi and Kyle Ackermann)
15. Grand Rapids Elite (Kevin Bailey and Robin Wolschendorf)
16. Pocket Change (Matthew Kozak and Josh Schneider)

Tetelestai upset Cisek/Showalter in pool play to finish undefeated and earn the top seed. Origin Vengeance fell to 4th Place while 4th Place fell to Schweppes, leaving both teams with one loss. With one loss and a worse point differential than Origin Vengeance and 4th Place, Cisek/Showalter took the #4 seed.

The round of 32 went as seeded in all but one match.  The #17 seed Icy (Nic Dewey and Michael Rogers) defeated Pocket Change to advanced to the top 16.

With 11 teams in the Power Pools, a non-Power Pool team would have to upset one of the top 5 seeds in order to make it into the top 8. Sola Fide Spike made that happen.

Nick LoPrinzi and Kyle Ackermann of Ohio played the #3 seed and #15 ranked 4th Place tight in their first game, losing 26-24. Sola Fide continued this strong play to take game two and found a big lead in game three. At 19-16, Sola Fide earned another break on a 4th Place hitting error, putting the game out of reach. With this win and top 8 finish, LoPrinzi and Ackermann earned Premier qualifications.

There was a second upset in the round of 16 as well. After going winless in pool play, MKE Infinite Entropy defeated the #7 seed Origin Flow to move into top 8. 

The higher seeded teams won the other six matches, leading to these quarterfinal match-ups:

Tetelestai vs. Total Strangers

Origin Vengeance vs. MKE Infinite Entropy

Sola Fide Spike vs. Joey and Joey

Cisek/Showalter vs. Schweppes

The Madison Tour Stop group photo.

Joey and Joey and Origin Vengeance made quick work of Sola Fide Spike and MKE Infinite Entropy, respectively. Total Strangers challenged Tetelestai a bit, but Tetelestai took the series in three games. Schweppes played Cisek/Showalter well and limited Cisek and Showalter to few aces. Small mistakes by Schweppes are what put Cisek/Showalter ahead.

The semifinals matches were set with #11 Tetelestai facing #1 Cisek/Showalter and #3 Origin Vengeance facing #13 Joey and Joey. In the latter, Joey Pierron started the match with a strong arsenal of serves. These serves led to a combination of aces and mishits by Vengeance, giving Joey and Joey an early lead. It took time for Hornacek and Fogarty to shake off these early mistakes. Late in the first game, though, Pierron and Hafertepe made a few mistakes of their own that Vengeance capitalized on to steal game one, 26-24.

In game two, Joey and Joey again found an early lead. The pair held on to it this time, forcing a game three. In this game three, however, Hornacek and Fogarty buckled down. Pierron and Hafertepe made a decent amount hitting errors and could not compete in the third game.

The other semifinals also went into three games, partially due to Throw finding aces on both Showalter and Cisek. Like the other semifinals, though, the higher ranked team won the the third game decisively. 

Cisek/Showalter and Origin Vengeance met in the finals for second time this season. Origin Vengeance opened the match with a small lead thanks to an ace by Fogarty, but two tough touches in a row by Fogarty and Hornacek gave Cisek/Showalter back the lead.

Like in their semifinal match with Schweppes, Cisek and Showalter did not serve up many aces. Their serves still challenged Fogarty and Hornacek, though, and many near aces lead to defensive ups and put-aways.  Cisek/Showalter took game one with a score of 21-16.

In game two, Showalter earned breaks through serving (including a crafty drop and far fwango) but Vengeance also gave up some points due to setting mistakes. This led to Cisek/Showalter developing an early 10-6 lead. Later in the game, Vengeance found a couple breaks and then Fogarty aced Cisek to put them within one. A few points later, Showalter rolled up a hit. Unfortunately, Vengeance failed to convert and the chance to tie up the game was lost. Cisek/Showalter held for a few more points to take game two, 21-19.

Origin Vengeance was close to taking a game from Cisek/Showalter and forcing game three. Hornacek and Fogarty had the opportunities, but did not capitalize enough to outplay the consistent Cisek and Showalter. These teams will most likely meet again soon.

Tetelestai landed on the podium by defeating Joey and Joey in the third-place game.

Radical Reaction (Elizabeth Hearn and Rachel Luczak, second), Cougs (Michaela Hershberger and Ashley Gingerich, first), and CFR (Amy Douglas and Tina Douglas, third) pose for a picture after the Madison Tour Stop.

Women's Division

Six women's teams competed in the Women's Division in Madison. As expected, the #3 ranked Cougs went undefeated in pool play to take the top seed. In the winner's finals and grand finals, Cougs was able to hold off the eventual second place finisher Radical Reaction of Milwaukee, who also placed second in Chicago last month. Third place went to CFR of Illinois.

Visual Hinder (Jeremy Dicks and Zachary Welsh, second), Delaney's Dusters (Jurie Victor and Ryan Delaney, first), and Hawaii Duo (Jordan Burdi and Sam Herzog, third) pose for a picture after the Madison Tour Stop.

Intermediate Division

After placing second in the Chicago Tour Stop Intermediate Division, Delaney's Dusters found a victory in Madison! Delaney and Victor defeated Visual Hinder in the finals. Hawaii Duo was able to secure third place with a win over Abaums (Larry Appelbaum and Robbie Appelbaum) in the third place game.

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