Day 1
Chicago, IL, WPH Press, 7/11/25
The 2025 La Grange Icebreaker marks the twenty-ninth event in the history of the Icebreaker Series and the first Icebreaker held outside of Tucson. The Icebreaker Series kicked off in August of 2020 to break the ice during the pandemic and has evolved into the premiere 3-Wall handball tour in the world, featuring the best men’s small ball, women’s small ball, and men’s big ball players in the game.
The 2025 La Grange Icebreaker features current Race 4 Eight #1 and six-time Icebreaker champion Lucho Cordova, defending La Grange champion and one-time Icebreaker champion Danos Cordova, seven-time Icebreaker champion David Fink, R48 #4 Ray Ure, Icebreaker stars Jab Bike, Shorty Ruiz, John Chapman, Loren Collado, Bill Mehilos, Dave Munson, and a number of top contenders from the Midwest.
Round of 16
Pro player representative (HERE) and fourth-seeded Jab Bike entered La Grange on the short list of pre-tournament favorites, having won the Cincinnati 3-Wall Invitational (HERE) and the Vasquez 3-Wall Doubles (HERE) on back-to-back weekends in late June. Buoyed by his hall of fame family that traveled thousands of miles to watch the third generation Alvarado-Bike pro compete, Bike was dominant in his opening match against Chicago legend Dane Szatkowski. Arriving on Tuesday night for a Friday start, Bike eschewed the notion that he arrived early to familiarize himself with the La Grange courts.
Joining Bike in Saturday’s quarterfinals were tops seeds Lucho, Fink, Ruiz, and Ure, all of whom advanced comfortably in Friday’s stifling humidity at La Grange. Third-seeded Danos Cordova needed a tiebreaker to defeat La Grange backyard dog and SR48 star Bill Mehilos, using his serve and drives to separate himself in the third.
Dave Munson upset Race 4 Eight top 15 pro Jeff Streibig, scoring 21 consecutive points after being tied at 11 in the first game. Streibig battled back late in the second to tie the game at 18 but two great Munson serves and two timely fist drives sent Streibig crashing out of the tournament.
Erik Torres reappeared on the Icebreaker scene after dedicating much of the past two years to play big ball. Torres overpowered John Chapman and cruised in two games to make his first Icebreaker quarterfinal in four years.
Lucho def D. Schmitt 21-17, 21-7
Fink def Elkin 21-9, 21-5
Danos def Mehilos 21-11, 14-21, 11-3
Jab Bike def Szatkowski 21-4, 21-15
Ruiz def Collado 21-1, 21-0
Ure def Schmitt 21-1, 21-9
Munson def Streibig 21-11, 21-19
Torres def Chapman 21-11, 21-15
Round of 8 (Saturday)
Lucho vs. Torres
Fink vs. Munson
Danos vs. Ure
Bike vs. Ruiz
Follow all of the results from the 2025 La Grange Icebreaker HERE
La Grange Icebreaker press release HERE
Icebreaker Fun Facts and List of Champions HERE
WPH on YouTube HERE
Become a WPH Patreon HERE
Icebreaker bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2025 Icebreaker Schedule HERE
2025/26 Race 4 Eight Schedule HERE
WPH Icebreaker Series: The World Players of Handball’s 2025 Icebreaker Series features three events, starting with the La Grange Icebreaker in Chicago in July, the Ice Bowl in Tucson in August, and the December Icebreaker in Tucson.
For more information on the WPH Icebreaker sponsor opportunity, please contact World Players of Handball Executive Director David Vincent at dave.vincent@wphlive.tv or World Players of Handball Development Director David Fink at david.fink@wphlive.tv. For more information on the World Players of Handball, please visit wphlive.tv
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer