Day 1: Saturday
Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 8/16/25
The sixth summer of the WPH Icebreaker Series continued with the 2025 Ice Bowl at Tucson’s Clark Park, featuring men’s pro small ball singles, women’s small ball singles, men’s pro big ball singles and doubles, junior singles, and A singles in the thirtieth Icebreaker since the inaugural Icebreaker in the summer of 2020.
The strong field of small ball and big ball pros played through the Tucson Saturday morning heat and returned to play under the Clark Park lights in the evening, all battling for the Ice Bowl title and the coveted ice plunge that comes with the title. You can follow all
Men’s Small Ball Singles
The second Icebreaker of the 2025 season saw Ray Ure enter his first WPH pro event as the top seed after winning LaGrange in July. After defeating big ball’s top seed Oscar Siordia in the round of 16, Ure raced to a 7-0 lead against five-time Icebreaker finalist Shorty Ruiz. Playing the best ball of his Clark Park career, Ruiz charged back, outscoring Ure 15-1 in the final sixteen points of the first game by blasting nearly all of Ure’s service returns to the ceiling and sending Ure crashing into Clark Park bleachers forty feet behind the back line. “I’m all business here,” Shorty said earlier after defeating Matt Job. Ure stayed with Ruiz in game two, tying the game at 13, but Ruiz ended the match with two points in ten seconds to send Ure plunging into the Playoffs.
Lucho Cordova played with something to prove against Ivan Burgos after dropping a disappointing LaGrange final last month, playing dominating handball and leading 14-0 six minutes into the first game. Burgos finally scored but never threatened in the match, as Lucho will aim to become the second seven-time Icebreaker champion on Sunday.
David Fink entered his quarterfinal match with Sam Esser on a three-match tournament losing streak to Esser, including a three-game loss to Esser at last year’s Ice Bowl. A back and forth first game saw Fink erase a 7-10 deficit to lead 13-10. Esser hit a deep court kill at 10-13 to regain the serve and tied the game at 13 with two kills and a Fink error. Fink served for the second time at 13 and had a setup from two feet away from the front wall with Esser on the ground and missed. Fink ended the game with two more errors. “Probably the three worst shots I’ve ever hit,” Fink announced between games.
Trailing 3-6 in the second, Fink ran off 12 straight points to force a tiebreaker and led 13-7 in the third, eventually closing out the match after Esser hit two consecutive service returns long.
Jab Bike continued to impress on the 3-Wall courts, making his second semifinal of the Icebreaker season with a clinical win against the defending Ice Bowl champion Juan Canales. “Jab served really well in the first and I couldn’t really get into the rallies,” Canales would later say. “I just never got anything going. My serves weren’t good and I couldn’t kill. I’m not sure how I even won the second game.”
With Bike leading 7-6 in the third, the flamethrowing lefty hit the gas, scoring the final eight points of the match.
Round of 8
Ruiz def Ure 15-8, 15-13
Lucho def Burgos 15-2, 15-7
Fink def Esser 13-15, 15-6, 15-10
Bike def Canales 15-5, 10-15, 15-6
Semifinals (Sunday)
Bike vs. Ruiz
Lucho vs. Fink
From the Grounds
A two-hour rain delay could not stop the action on the grounds, as the Big Ball singles and doubles will kick off their quarterfinal action on Sunday morning. Big Ball’s top stars will be in action, to include Samzon Hernandez, Brian Medina, Oscar Siordia, Alberto Pizano, and more.
Women’s Icebreaker hall of famers Mikaila Esser and Ashley Ruiz will battle in the women’s final on Sunday morning.
Important Links
2025 Ice Bowl Full Preview HERE
R2 page for the 2025 WPH Ice Bowl HERE
2020-2025 Icebreaker Fun Facts + Icebreaker History of Champions HERE
Icebreaker pro player bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2025 Icebreaker Schedule HERE
2025/26 Race 4 Eight Schedule HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer