Hot Shots holds its final big pool event
From left, Denny Ungs, Joe Hull and Kaleb Graham hold their respective third-, first- and second-place trophies their teams earned from Charles City 8-Ball League play.
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com
CHARLES CITY — It’s called running the table.
That’s when a skillful poolplayer recognizes a pattern after the break and proceeds to sink a string of balls — preferably with straight-in shots — to win the game while not giving the opponent a reason to chalk-up his or her stick.
On good days, Joe Hull can be rather efficient when running the table. Even so on bad days. In Charles City 8-Ball League play this past season, Hull was the top scoring shooter amid a field of 127 players.
His team, Hot Shots — also consisting of Ky Knapp, Ryan Miller, Justin Stewart and Chris Freiburg — won the 20-team league, finishing ahead of runner-up Pool Hall Drunkies (Cody Chambers, Dustin Clark, Kaleb Graham, Cody Marzen, Luke Washington and Derek Lines) and third-place finisher The Excuse (Bryan Brandau, Jasper Krueger, Jesse Steward, Denny Ungs, Jodee Ungs and Ron Ungs).
On April 15, the league held its awards pay-out ceremony at Hot Shots Billiards, which Hull owns. In addition to awarding players and teams who were represented and/or sponsored by establishments in Charles City, Rockford, Marble Rock and Osage, the ceremony also acknowledged the league’s top placers from the State Pool I.O.M.A. Championships held in Waterloo on March 8-12 and the Iowa State Pool Players Association Tournament in Des Moines on April 5-9.
As part of the ceremony, Hot Shots hosted a pool tournament — its final major one as Hull is lining up his next shot.
“You can say this is a little bittersweet,” Hull said while playing host to what will likely be his final all-day full house at the place he established in 2014.
“This was my first business, and I put in a lot of work to keep it going,” Hull said. “But I feel it’s time to move onto bigger things.”
After having recently sold Hot Shots, Hull purchased the former Tori’s Bar and Grille, located about 250 yards from Hot Shots overlooking the Cedar River.
“We’re going to have pool there, too, but so much more,” Hull said. “We’re going to have a menu … a dance floor. I’m excited.”
Hots Shots will remain open into May during the weekends, and may squeeze in a few tournaments before closing.
At Waterloo, the aforementioned Hot Shots squad placed third in the Men’s Intermediate Team division; Studly Strokers, representing City Tap, placed fourth in the Men’s Open Team division; and P’s and Cues, representing DeRailed, placed 7th/8th in the Women’s Open Team division.
Top CC league individuals at Waterloo included Miller, who placed third in the Intermediate Singles 8-Ball division; Kaleb Nauman, who placed third in the Open Singles 8-Ball division; and Suzzee Meusel, who placed 7th/8th in the Women’s Masters Singles division.
At Des Moines, Les Graeser placed first in Super Senior 9-Ball and fourth in Super Senior 8-Ball; Tristen Ingham placed second in Women’s Intermediate 8-Ball; Nauman placed second in 10 Ball Singles; and Knapp placed 7th/8th in Intermediate 9-Ball.
Top local teams in Des Moines included Hot Shots, which placed 7th/8th in Men’s Masters; P’s and Cues, which placed 7th/8th in Women’s Open; Hot Shots Too, which placed first in the Intermediate Second-Chance bracket; and FMOB, which placed 3rd/4th in the Open Second-Chance bracket.
Hull has indicated his new establishment will not be called “Hot Shots”, but will likely be one of the host establishments for the league — Hot Shots had five representative teams this past season.
Hull will also remain active in the league as he was recently appointed as its new president.
Charles City 8-Ball League Final Standings
Team Rounds Won
- Hot Shots 79
- Pool Hall Drunkies 63
- The Excuse 62
- 10 Balls 5 Sticks 60
- Odd Balls 59
- FMOB 56
- Studly Strokers 54
- Osage No.1 50
- Colwell Tap 48
- DeRailers 42
- Baltes Repair 35
- DeRailed 34
- Rack Em 31
- The New Comers 30
- P’s and Cues 30
- Smoking Guns 29
- Osage No. 2 29
- Blind Ambition/Evolution 19
- Big Guys 17
- Becky’s Bank Shots 13
Top 3 Men
- Joe Hull
- Jason Aikey
- Denny Ungs
Top 3 Women
- Trista Ingham
- Suzzee Meusel
- Terri Kock
Most Eightball Run Outs
Joe Hull and Ryan Miller — tied at 11
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