Most of the few dozen people who took the day off work to sneak a peek at round of sixteen matches of the Second Annual Michael Lanning Pro-Am, looked on in awe when 17-year-old Jack Huczek took the court on Friday, February 16. It was like watching a moment in history, perhaps a passing of the torch. Die-hard fans at the first match of the day wanted to see the tour’s youngest gun against arguably the greatest player in the history of the game.

On paper, the noon match between Huczek and Cliff Swain looked to be a shot-makers delight – the athletic and controlled Huczek against the, well, athletic and controlled Swain. But instead, it may have marked a changing of the guard as Huczek broke through with a three-game upset victory over the No.2 seed. To those in attendance, it was like an omen that Huczek would own the weekend.

Huczek, seeded 15th, controlled the match from the outset, never allowing Swain to get into a comfortable rhythm. The high school senior made every shot he tried — splats, reverse pinches, flat rolls — taking the match 11-2, 11-5, 11-5. Before most of the spectators had even arrived for the afternoon matches, the biggest upset had already taken place. 

New Faces
Earlier in the round of sixteen, local hero Mike Locker had fallen to Javier Moreno, beginning the series of upsets at the Northwest Athletic Club in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Qualifier Alvaro Beltran kept the streak going when he took out No.6 Mike Guidry in four games. This brought some new faces into the quarterfinals, against players who make a living by advancing to the final eight and beyond.

As it turned out, the weekend didn’t belong to Huczek after all (at least not in the pro division — Huczek later took the Open title). In the quarters, he faced No.7 Rocky Carson (shown left), who was seeking to avoid the upset bug. Carson, who beat Dan Fowler in four to reach the quarters, took advantage of a slow start by Huczek to forge a 2-0 lead. But then Huczek caught his stride, ripping winners and pinch shots to climb back into the match 11-1, 11-8. Carson admitted later that he was tired in those games, and he wanted to conserve his energy once he knew the match was going the distance.

In the fifth, Carson built an early lead, only to watch Huczek seemingly seal the match when he went on a five point run to go up 8-5. But Carson, at his glacial pace, slowed the game even more and climbed back into a 9-8 lead. Huczek eventually tied the score at nine, but Carson kept his composure and ripped three clean winners to take the match 11-9. 

In the other quarterfinals, No.1 ranked Sudsy Monchik wore out eighth seed Derek Robinson in five games of 9-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 11-2. Jason Mannino also needed five to take out Tim Doyle, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 11-1, and in the only match that didn’t go the distance, John Ellis played nearly flawless racquetball for a straight game advance, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4, over Beltran.

A Carson First
The first semifinal pitted Carson against Ellis, whose ankle had swollen overnight from an earlier round injury, leaving him at well below 100 percent. Ellis, who usually relies on his power and quickness, could not push off side-to-side, leaving Carson with a huge opening for easy down the line shots to take big leads. Ellis gamely held on in the first two, threatening to steal a win, but the combination of his opponent’s strategy and the sore ankle were too much. Ellis fell in three, 11-8, 11-8, 11-1, and the win marked a debut pro final for Carson.

In a rematch of last year’s semifinal, Mannino flew around the court against Monchik. Mannino’s ability to dive even before a shot is taken gave the crowd the thrills they were looking for, and it forced the world’s best player to hit perfect shots to score points. Mannino’s strategy worked in the first game to earn an 11-4 win, but Monchik slowly wore his acrobatic challenger down over the next three games.

After losing the second 11-6, Mannino had a chance to regain momentum, but couldn’t get past a seventh point in the third. In what would become the final game, the two players exchanged points back and forth, until they tied at 10. Every time it looked like Mannino had a chance to pull out a win, Monchik rolled a shot and kept him at bay. Finally, Monchik took control and pulled away to win the fourth, 13-11. 

“I played well. I don’t mind losing like that,” Mannino told the crowd after the game.

Short and Sweet
In the final, Carson gave it everything he had in the first game, but once again it was Monchik’s ability to make the key shots when he needed them that made the difference. Down 10-6, Monchik rolled one after another for three rallies, forcing Carson to attempt perfect shots to get the needed final point. But he never did, as Monchik slowly crept back, with a scoring run that took him to a 12-10 turnaround win. Despite its early excitement, the match was over after the first game.

Carson struggled with his serve in the remaining two games, and despite fighting back from a 7-3 deficit in the second, Monchik took an 11-7 win and closed out the match, 11-5, in the third.

“I knew it was his first final, so he was going to be nervous,” Monchik said. “When he got that lead (in the first game) I knew if I could come back it would ruin his mental frame of mind. I knew it would affect him the rest of the match.” The win marked Monchik’s fifth straight tour win, further tightening his grip on the top ranking.

For his part, Carson said he didn’t feel nervous in his first final. “You have to give him credit. He rolled out some great shots. It is a hard road (getting to your first final),” he continued “It’s always a good learning experience.”

Monchik is now the only player to have ever won the Michael Lanning Benefit Pro-Am, now in its second year. Proceeds from the tournament benefit Michael Lanning, a former Minnesota player who suffered a spinal cord injury in 1997.