WPH Press
The WPH proudly hosted the “Ice Bowl” Icebreaker Championship at Tucson’s Clark Park, the twelfth Icebreaker since the restart of pro handball in September of 2020. Dubbed the Icebreaker because the WPH safely “broke the ice” during the pandemic, the Icebreaker tour attracted virtually all of the best players from North America. The Ice Bowl marked the Icebreaker season-ending championship for the 2020/21 Icebreaker Tour, the Icebreaker’s inaugural season.
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Men’s Pro Ice Bowl
Killian Carroll won his only two Icebreaker starts in advance of the Ice Bowl and was aiming to remain undefeated on Clark Park’s 3-Wall courts. Carroll would have to contend with most of the game’s 3-Wall stars to complete the hat trick, as David Fink, Shorty Ruiz, Abe Montijo, Danos Cordova, Luis Cordova, Sam Esser, Erik Torres, Max Langmack, and a field of 16 players aimed for the prestigious Ice Bowl championship.
After needing five overtime games to win his six matches in his first two Icebreaker starts, Carroll was ruthless in capturing the Ice Bowl, outscoring his four opponents by a combined 175-68 (72%) to win the inaugural Ice Bowl. Carroll steamrolled the Icebreaker’s oldest qualifier Leo Canales, Sr. in the round of 16, dominated rising star Sam Esser, and overcame a first game loss to Shorty Ruiz in the semifinals to outscore Ruiz 32-11 in the second and third games to advance to the final from the upper bracket.
Danos Cordova entered his second Icebreaker in search of his second consecutive final and cruised in the bottom bracket, eliminating qualifier Buddy Key in the round of 16 and overwhelming Leo Canales, Jr. in the round of eight. “Daniel’s serve was just too much,” stated Canales, who had defeated Daniel in their previous 3-Wall singles matchup.
Danos faced Icebreaker #1 David Fink in the semifinals in the pair’s first outdoor matchup. Cordova fired ace singles and blasted fist shots to the ceiling that bounced over the bleachers sitting 40 feet behind the court. Fink had his chances late in both games, tying the score at 16 in the first and second but could not convert, as Danos reached his second consecutive Icebreaker final.
Killian and Danos met in June’s Icebreaker final, with Danos holding game point at 14-12 in game one before Carroll reeled off 17 straight points to win the match in two games. Carroll dominated game one of the Ice Bowl final, never allowing Danos to set his feet to blast ceiling shots over the bleachers and defending Daniel’s serve with accurate fist shots.
After falling in game one, Danos took control early in game two, surging to an 11-2 lead with ace serves and several Carroll errors. “Come on Killian,” Carroll could be heard muttering to himself in one of the few times Carroll had ever shown any emotion on the court. After admonishing himself, Carroll earned a side out and scored 19 consecutive points without a side out to clinch the Ice Bowl.
“When Daniel took the lead early in the second game, I just kept telling myself to get him out of the service box,” stated Carroll. “When Daniel gets his spin serve going it’s very hard to defend, so I knew I had to keep him out of the service box.”
“I was not happy about my soft dump shots in this event,” stated Carroll. “Normally I can make some dump kills that give me momentum but this weekend I couldn’t. I did hit a lot of good low sidearm power kills, so that made a big difference.”
Final Scores
Round of 16
Carroll def Canales, Sr. 21-2, 21-2
Esser def Lucho 21-18, 21-3
Montijo def J. Chapman 21-10, 21-10
Ruiz def Ibarra 21-3, 21-14
Fink def Sanchez 21-3, 21-1
Torres def D. Perez 21-9, 21-9
Canales, Jr. def Langmack 6-21, 21-15, 11-8
Danos def Key 21-4, 21-4
Round of 8
Carroll def Esser 21-7, 21-5
Ruiz def Montijo 21-15, 21-11
Fink def Torres 21-8, 21-5
Danos def Canales, Jr. 21-7, 21-3
Semifinals
Carroll def Ruiz 17-21, 21-7, 11-4
Danos def Fink 21-16, 21-17
Final: Carroll def Danos 21-9, 21-11
Women’s Pro Ice Bowl
Ashley Moler entered the Women’s Ice Bowl as the number one ranked Women’s Icebreaker pro, having won one Icebreaker and finishing second in the other. Mikaila Mitchell entered the 2021 Ice Bowl as the number two ranked women’s pro and the undisputed breakout star of the tour, having stunned the field en route to the title in the first women’s Icebreaker in April and finishing third in her next start. Outdoor stars Tracy Davis and Danielle Daskalakis were also aiming to contend at Clark Park, while Kristen Hughes and Sophie Della Croce were eager to test their skills against the women’s best.
After defeating Della Croce in the quarterfinals, Daskalakis overcame Tucson’s Ashley Moler in the upper bracket semifinal, dropping the fist-shot artist in three games. Danielle’s improved right hand was the difference, as Double D was able to consistently hit with power and control from beyond the back line with her right to thwart Moler’s fly kill possibilities.
Mitchell emphatically avenged her three-game loss to Tracy Davis from earlier in the season with a two-game sweep, handing Davis her most lopsided defeat in her 3-Wall career.
Daskalakis exacted revenge from her semifinal loss in the Women’s Icebreaker #1 to Mikaila in the final, dropping the first game before rallying to win in three games. Danielle was able to defend Mikaila’s best shot, her overhand serve out the door to the right with far more success than in their first encounter, forcing Mitchell into long rallies. Once in the rally, Danielle showcased her versatility and two-handed attack to take the Ice Bowl.
“Before the last Icebreaker I really did not have a chance to play because I had been in New York,” stated Daskalakis. “For this Icebreaker, I was vacationing in Tallulah (MEX) and did some hikes and runs in the jungle. I also went to California before this event to get some practice in.”
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Final Scores
Round of 8
Daskalakis def Della Croce 21-7, 21-0
Davis def Hughes 21-14, 18-21, 11-4
Semifinals
Daskalakis def Moler 21-15, 15-21, 11-6
Mitchell def Davis 21-7, 21-3
Final: Daskalakis def Mitchell 17-21, 21-15, 11-2
Men’s 5th Place Playoff
Erik Torres put the disappointment of his quarterfinal loss behind him in the 5th place playoffs, ousting top Icebreaker stars Leo Canales, Jr. and Sam Esser to clinch fifth. Torres’s power and serve were too much for his 20-something contemporaries to overcome in the playoffs, as Torres climbed the WPH Icebreaker rankings with an impressive fifth place result in the deepest field of the season.
5th Place Playoff Final Scores
Semifinals
Esser def Montijo 15-13, 15-12
Torres def Canales, Jr. 16-14, 15-11
Final: Torres def Esser 15-4, 12-15, 15-2
Men’s 9th Place Playoff
Max Langmack nearly advanced to the quarterfinals of the Ice Bowl, narrowly falling to Leo “The Missouri State Killer” Canales in an 11-8 tiebreaker in the round of 16. Langmack dominated the Ice Bowl’s 9th place playoff, defeating his former Missouri State teammate Matt Vollink, Armando Ibarra, and Danny Perez to earn 0.25 Icebreaker ranking points.
Women’s Third Place
Tracy Davis and Ashley Moler met for the 157th time in tournament play, and for the 157th consecutive match, the pair traded games. After Davis dominated the first and Moler bounced back to win the second, a heat-suffering Davis summoned the last ounces of her remaining energy to escape in the tiebreaker before retiring to a bag of ice on one of Clark Park’s makeshift medical tables. “I just can’t handle this heat,” bemoaned a diminished Davis. “I used to be able to play all day in the heat and humidity in New York but I can’t handle this kind of heat.”
Ice Bowl Qualifier: Sanchez, AI, and El Senor Qualify
WPH Press, Tucson, AZ
Thirteen players from five states entered the 6 am Ice Bowl Qualifier, competing for three spots in the inaugural Ice Bowl’s Men’s Pro main draw.
Leo “El Senor” Canales, Sr. had lost in two previous Ice Bowl qualifiers and was hungry to climb over the line. “He’s been really training for this,” stated top eight Icebreaker pro Leo Jr. El Senor entered the qualifier as the number one seed and cruised to the semifinals of the upper bracket, where his frequent sparring partner and travel mate Victor Sanchez awaited. El Senor built a n 18-11 lead in the one-game qualifier final match, standing just three points from the qualifier spot he so desperately craved. Sanchez caught fire, stringing together a series of deep hop serves and fly kills to stun Canales with ten consecutive points. “He’s never beat me in 20 years, ever!” screamed the normally mild-mannered El Senor.
Colorado’s Armando “The Answer” Ibarra entered the Ice Bowl Qualifier as the second seed. The former Colorado state singles champion prepared for the qualifier by spending three weeks in Tucson, training on Clark Park’s 3-Wall courts. Ibarra faced Tucson’s Carlos Espinoza in his opening round and nearly saw his three weeks of training flushed down the drain, as Espinoza served at 18-18 after a furious comeback in the one game match to 21. Ibarra regained control, scoring the final three points of the match to advance to the bottom bracket qualifier final. Ibarra dominated Phoenix’s Matt Vollink to nab the qualifier spot in the bottom bracket final, 21-2.
El Senor had one more chance to qualify before the Icebreaker I season ended, facing Vollink in a one-game to 11 match for the final qualifier spot. El Senor would not allow this opportunity to slip away, as El Senor dominated his 30 years younger opponent to become a R48 and Icebreaker qualifier.
Thank you to the WPH staff, the Icebreaker pros, and to the WPH donors and board of directors for a phenomenal Icebreaker season.
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer