I was able to spend a few hours last weekend at the 2008 USA Racquetball NW Regional Championships at Cascade Athletic Club in Gresham, OR. This was a huge event, featuring over 250 participants from around the Pacific Northwest. The only regional qualifier larger in size was the 2008 IRT Pro Nationals with 305 entrants, which was also a regional qualifier for the Chicago area. There were well over 50 people in just the men’s pro division, and MANY people who flew in from around the US to participate – which, in my opinion, really goes to show just how big the event in Oregon was.
Rocky Carson made a guest appearance on Saturday of the event, to do a pro clinic followed by a few “play the pro” matches. The crowd seemed to be very impressed that the current #1 pro in the world was there to share some racquetball insight.
Be sure to check the galleries for shots of the following players: Jimmy Lowe, Chad Westwood, Taylor Knoth, Dan Darling, Dave Azuma, Grant Stalley, David Laforest, Joey Lakowske, Jeremy White
April 27th, 2008
by Geoff Thomsen
As luck would have it, I had a few free hours to spare the weekend of 2007 regional qualifiers for USA Racquetball. On Saturday evening of the 2007 Northwest Regional Racquetball Championships, I was able to catch one of the Men’s Open semis, as well as both of the semis for the Men’s Open Doubles.
Doubledonut Gallery – http://www.doubledonut.com/v/2007_nw_regional/
MS1 – Stark def. Pratt (6, (4), 
– This was a GREAT match between veteran Jeff Stark, and up-and-comer Charlie Pratt. Stark finished second at National Doubles in 2006, and is a member of the USA Racquetball National Team. Pratt is veteran of the Junior tour, and is a long time USA Racquetball Junior Team member. He has started to make his presence felt on the pro tour, where he had a nice win over top ranked IRT player, Jason Thoerner.
MDS1 – Westwood Rutledge def. Baida Solomon (14, 9) – These guys are all long time players in Oregon; Westwood known for winning the Men’s Open singles division in Oregon for the past three years running.
MDS2 – Pratt Knoth def. Darling Rasmussen ((7), 12, 10) – Charlie Pratt teams up with junior champion Taylor Knoth against long time veterans Dan Darling (3rd 2006 National Doubles Men’s Open), and Kelley Rasmussen. Rasmussen would injure his knee part way through game two, which forced Darling to cover the entire court for the rest of the match. While this sounded like an instant victory for Knoth and Pratt, they had to fight hard to *barely* take the tie-breaker.
June 14th, 2007
by Geoff Thomsen
I’ve finally processed and posted the shots I took during the 2006 NW Regional Racquetball Championships.
PHOTO GALLERY
FINAL DRAWS
Matches covered:
Men’s A – Steve Mitchner vs. Jeff Clark
Men’s Open – Jason Samora vs. John Martin
Men’s Open – Jeff Stark vs. Dan Darling
Men’s Open Doubles – Westwood / Rutledge vs. Baida / Rudd
Men’s Open Doubles – Samora / Poppino vs. Hardy / Wilson
Jeff Stark clears the forehand lane over a kill shot by Dan Darling May 2nd, 2006
by Geoff Thomsen
Found a few free hours to head to Griffith Park YMCA in Beaverton, OR to check out the action at the 2005 Holiday Open. Number 5 seed (#5?!) Jeff Stark settled all seeding disputes after first taking out number 1 seed Jimmy Lowe in the semi’s, and then number 2 seed Dan Darling in the finals.
Just to add a little flair to the tie-breaker, Jeff hit this pretty “jumping-behind-the-back-pinch-rollout” at 10-6 to win the match.
Also included are misc. shots from some other matches going on around the time of the Men’s Open Finals.
Complete Tournament Results / Draws
Oregon Racquetball Home
Double Donut 2005 Holiday Open Gallery
December 12th, 2005
by Geoff Thomsen
UPDATE: Video streams and DVDs are now available at www.proracquetball.net for several of the matches from Ontario! In his second upset in a row, Jack Huczek beats Kane Waselenchuk in the first Tier 1 event of the season. This is actually the second event in a row Jack has claimed victory, as he also beat Kane in the final event of last season. Full write-up at www.irt-tour.com. In local news, Dan Darling follows up his first ORA (Oregon Racquetball Association) Tour stop Men’s Open title with a second title at the Courthouse Legends Event (results). More info: www.oregonracquetball.org. If anyone saw any of these matches, or anything of the Legends, post some comments!!
October 18th, 2005
by Geoff Thomsen
