WPH Press, Salem, OR, 3/20/22
Salem’s Courthouse Athletic Club welcomed the Pacific Northwest’s best handballers for the 2022 Oregon State Singles, as the PNW’s top stars aimed for Oregon’s biggest prize. Dalton Beall headlined the Men’s Open field, seeking his ninth Oregon State singles title. Beall would have to contend with the gifted new Oregon resident Tyler Stevens, perennial Oregon State singles contender Cody Townsend, Utah’s Rob Bell, rising star Deavin Brownson, and a number of other hopefuls.
The 2022 Oregon States produced thrilling theatre, as Beall’s quest for number nine would not come without a struggle. Beall opened his defense with two-game sweeps against Ryan McKenzie and Andy Romanchock, then faced Oregon’s rising star Kyle English in the semifinals. After cruising in game one, Beall escaped a close second game to advance to the final in the upper bracket.
Cody Townsend entered the event as the number two seed and dispatched one of Oregon’s top young stars Deavin Brownson in his opening round and also swept Matt Steele in two games to advance to the final. After dropping game one to Tyler Stevens in the semifinals, Townsend evened the match to force a third. The third produced the most exciting action of the event, as both players stood just two points from the final. Townsend prevailed, setting up a showdown with Beall.
Townsend took game one of the final comfortably.” Dalton started slow in the final, skipping some shots, and Cody was making shots,” stated WPH reporter and OR Handball Chairman Nick Flores. “
Standing three points from elimination late in game two, Beall forced a tiebreaker. “Dalton found his form in game two and started making some shots,” stated Flores. “Both players were hustling and diving and making great shots.”
With title number nine within his reach, Beall took control in the third. “Both were tired in the tiebreaker during the two-hour final but Dalton took command and made enough passes to move Cody around and put his kills away. With this win, Dalton tied the great Bob Schoning with nine OR singles championships, a record that has stood since the 1960’s. Dalton will have a chance to break it next year.”
Thank you to tenth place OR singles finisher Nick Flores for updates and quotations from the 2022 OR Singles Championships.
Semifinals
Beall def English 21-8, 21-19
Townsend def Stevens 18-21, 21-14, 11-9
Final: Beall def Townsend 12-21, 21-18, 11-7
Follow all of the brackets from the 2022 Oregon State Singles HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer