WPH Press, Tucson, AZ, 12/10/23
As we approach the season’s third Race 4 Eight stop at Clark Park in Tucson, let’s break down the two WPH Icebreaker events held this summer by examining the summer Icebreaker rankings, summer Icebreaker finishes and summer Icebreaker Fun Facts.
In two Icebreaker 3-Wall events this summer, the same players finished in the top nine of both small ball events (Clarkbreaker and Ice Bowl), Mikaila Esser defeated Ashley Ruiz to win the July Clarkbreaker and Anthony “Chopper” Hernandez slammed August’s Big Ball Ice Bowl to seize the top spot in the Big Ball standings.
See the Small Ball and Big Ball rankings and point breakdowns below.
Men’s: Ranking + Total Ranking Points
1st: Fink (16)
1st: Ruiz (16)
3rd: D. Cordova (15)
4th: L. Cordova (12)
5th: Canales (9)
6th: Esser: (7)
7th: Bike (6.5)
8th: Burgos (6)
9th: Danny Perez (4)
Ranking Points by Event
July 2023 Clarkbreaker
Fink (10)
Ruiz (8)
Cordova (6)
Canales, Jr. (6)
Cordova (4)
Bike (3.5)
Burgos (3)
Esser (3)
Perez (2)
August 2023 Ice Bowl
Cordova (10)
Ruiz (8)
Fink (6)
Cordova (6)
Esser (4)
Canales, Jr. (3.5)
Bike (3)
Burgos (3)
Perez (2)
Points awarded per stop
1st: 10
2nd: 8
3rd: 6
5th: 4
6th: 3.5
7th: 3
9th: 2
Women’s: Ranking + Total Ranking Points
1st: M. Esser (10)
2nd: A. Ruiz (8)
Ranking Points by Event
July 2023 Clarkbreaker
Esser (10)
Ruiz (8)
Big Ball: Ranking + Total Ranking Points
Ice Bowl: Singles + Doubles
1st: A. Hernandez (15)
2nd: A. Pizano (13)
3rd: G. Rosales (10)
4th: Chapa (9)
5th: Rocha (7)
6th: S. Hernandez (6)
6th: B. Medina (6)
8th: N. Arenas (3.5)
9th: S. Ruiz (3)
Points awarded per stop
Singles
1st: 10
2nd: 8
3rd: 6
5th: 4
6th: 3.5
7th: 3
9th: 2
Doubles
1st: 5 points per partner
2nd: 4 points per partner
3rd: 3 points per partner
2023 Summer Icebreaker Fun Facts from the August Ice Bowl and the July Clarkbreaker
August 2023 Icebreaker Fun Facts: Post August 2023 Ice Bowl
- Danos Cordova won his first Icebreaker at the 2023 Ice Bowl, winning all eight games he played in the event and outscoring his four opponents by a combined score of 168-69 (71%)
- Shorty Ruiz advanced to his fifth Icebreaker pro singles final at the 2023 Ice Bowl (0-5 in finals)
- The same nine players finished in the top nine of the July Clarkbreaker and the August Ice Bowl (Danos, Ruiz, Lucho, Fink, Esser, Canales, Burgos, Bike, Perez)
- Ruiz (2nd), Lucho (3rd), Burgos (4th) and D. Perez (9th) were the only players to finish in the same position in the 2023 Clarkbreaker and the 2023 Ice Bowl
- Anthony “Chopper” Hernandez became the fourth different player to win a Men’s Pro Big Ball singles title at the 2023 Ice Bowl: Morales (1), Medina (3), Siordia (1), Hernandez (1)
- Anthony “Chopper” Hernandez became the second Big Ball pro to slam at the Ice Bowl, taking the doubles with partner Alberto Pizano (Morales, 2021)
- The 2023 Ice Bowl featured the largest 12-and-under bracket in Icebreaker history (13 players) – of the 13 junior players, four have dads that are or have been ranked on the Icebreaker pro series
- The 2023 Ice Bowl featured 60 players in five divisions, making the 2023 Ice Bowl the second largest Icebreaker draw in history (2022 Clarktember Icebreaker – 69)
- Current 3-Wall junior national champion Ayden Brule won his first Icebreaker title at the 2023 Ice Bowl, clocking four hours and twenty minutes of court time in his three matches to win the A singles
- Sam Esser recorded his best Icebreaker finish at the 2023 Ice Bowl (fifth) since making the final at the July 2022 Icebreaker
- Alberto Pizano won his first pro Icebreaker title at the 2023 Ice Bowl, teaming with “Chopper” Hernandez to win the Big Ball Pro doubles after losing to Hernandez in the Big Ball pro singles final earlier in the day – Phoenix’s Pizano called his Ice Bowl experience, “without a day, one of the best experiences of my life.”
- Jab Bike backed up his MVP performance from the July 2023 Clarkbreaker with a seventh-place finish at the 2023 Ice Bowl, overcoming Danny Perez in two hours in the round of 16 in a battle of rocket launchers
July 2023 Icebreaker Fun Facts: 2023 Clarkbreaker
- Lucho Cordova’s streak of four consecutive Icebreaker singles titles came to an end at the July 2023 Clarkbreaker, losing to Shorty Ruiz in the semifinals
- The Flying Cordovas have faced Team Ruiz/Esser in all five Icebreaker small ball doubles finals – The Flying Cordovas lead Team Ruiz/Esser 4-1 in those five matchups
- Mikaila Esser’s come-from-behind victory (trailed 4-8 in the tiebreaker) against Ashely Ruiz at the 2023 Clarkbreaker gave Esser four Icebreaker singles titles, distancing herself from Ruiz (2) and Daskalakis (1) for the most Women’s Icebreaker titles
- After two rain delays in the first 21 Icebreaker events, the 2023 Clarkbreaker endured five rain delays (two on day one, three on day two)
- After losing in the finals of the last three Icebreakers in which he played, David Fink won his fifth Icebreaker singles title at the 2023 Icebreaker, defeating Shorty Ruiz for the fourth time in an Icebreaker final
- David Fink’s (45) four 2023 Clarkbreaker opponents were a combined 77 years younger than him: A. Cordova (18), J. Bike (24), L. Canales (27), S. Ruiz (35)
- David Fink outscored his four 2023 Clarkbreaker opponents by a combined 174-58 (75%)
- Current national men’s age group champions Adam Bernhard (35+, 40+) and Ayden Brule (19-and-under) went a combined 0-3 in the 2023 Clarkbreaker
- John “Jab” Bike became the first player to win Icebreaker MVP honors by entering the event outside of the Race 4 Eight top 25 and upsetting two players in the Race 4 Eight and Icebreaker top 10
- Ivan Burgos became the first player to win a game against Lucho Cordova at Clark Park since 2020, winning game two and forcing a tiebreaker in their quarterfinal matchup – Lucho had won 41 consecutive singles games in Icebreakers prior to dropping game two against Burgos
- David Fink (5), Lucho Cordova (4), and Mikaila Esser (4) have won the most Icebreaker singles titles
- Shorty Ruiz (4) has lost in the most Icebreaker singles finals without winning a title
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer