Esser and Kinane Take the Burnett
Springfield, MO, WPH Press, 10/29/23
The Missouri State Handball Team played host to the 39th Annual Dr. Tommy H. Burnett Bear Bash at Dr. Thomas H. Burnett Handball Courts on the Missouri State University campus in Springfield, MO. 39th Annual Dr. Tommy H. Burnett Bear Bash proudly honors Dr. Burnett, who served as the handball coach at Missouri State, introducing and inspiring hundreds of handball players throughout his fifty-year career at Missouri State. Dr. Burnett was inducted into seven halls of fame for his incredible career as an athlete and a coach.
The Dr. Burnett Bear Bash has become one of the Midwest’s biggest events, with many of his former players traveling from across the country to participate. The 2023 Dr. Burnett Bear Bash featured one-hundred players competing in men’s and women’s singles and doubles, highlighted by former Missouri State Collegiate All-Americans and current Race 4 Eight top ten pros Sam Esser and Max Langmack in the Men’s Open Singles and Taylor Rumping and Taylor Bell in the Women’s Open Singles.
Men’s Open Singles
Race 4 Eight #9 pro Sam Esser entered the 2023 Dr. Burnett Bear Bash as the top seed and was aiming to erase the disappointment of an 11-9 semifinal tiebreaker loss at last weekend’s Handballesta in Kansas City. Race 4 Eight #10 pro Max Langmack was also hoping to erase the disappointment of a tiebreaker loss at last week’s Handballesta, surrendering a 7-0 tiebreaker lead in the final. Fast rising Race 4 Eight #21 Diarmuid Mulkerrins (IRE) was aiming to disrupt the Missouri State reunion, while the Schmitt brothers (TX), Luis Mendez (CA), Ross Colyer (MO) and Garrett Bacon (MO) were among the contenders in the Men’s Open Singles.
Esser cruised to the final in the upper bracket, dropping Dylan Schmitt in two games in the quarterfinals and Garrett Bacon in two games in the semifinals.
Diarmuid Mulkerrins advanced to the final in the bottom bracket by defeating Race 4 Eight rival Max Langmack for the second time in a tiebreaker in 2023 (2023 Race 4 Eight Houston).
Esser continued his nearly decade-long dominance on the courts in which he honed his skills to become an All-American and top ten Race 4 Eight pro, dropping Mulkerrins in two lopsided games to reconfirm his Midwest supremacy.
“Diarmuid made a bunch of incredible gets and shots but Sam was shooting off the back wall really well and was putting the ball down really well,” stated Race 4 Eight pro and WPH correspondent Max Langmack.
“I was shooting the ball well today and made very few errors,” stated 2023 Bear Bash champion Esser. “My serve put Diarmuid in the back left corner which has a glass back-wall and side-wall which earned me some setups.”
“Sam played very well,” stated Mulkerrins. “He had a very high kill conversion rate off the back wall and he punished me when he got his chances in the front court as well.”
Semifinals
Esser def Bacon 21-16, 21-3
Mulkerrins def Langmack 21-14, 14-21, 11-6
Final: Esser def D. Mulkerrins 21-7, 21-10
Men’s Open Doubles: Bacon/Langmack def Esser/Colyer 21-16, 6-21, 11-9
Women’s Open Singles
Taylor Rumping (MO) entered the Bash as the top seed in the nineteen-player Women’s Open singles and was joined by second-seeded Taylor Bell (MO) and a number of the country’s top collegiate stars from Missouri, Illinois, Texas and Minnesota.
Fourth-seeded Emma Kinane announced herself as the Midwest’s newest force, dominating the Dr. Burnett Bear Bash. Kinane allowed just ten combined points in her first two rounds, defeated top-seed Taylor Rumping in two decisive games and dominated Christina Pecaut in the final.
Kinane teamed with Audrey Peters to slam in the doubles.
Semifinals
Kinane def Rumping 21-12, 21-10
Pecaut def Bell 21-13, 21-8
Final: Kinane def Pecaut 21-6, 21-1
Women’s Open Doubles: Peters/Kinane def Charbonneau/Klicker 21-10, 21-9
Thank you to tournament director Christian Madsen for running an outstanding event.
Follow all of the brackets from the 39th Annual Dr. Tommy H. Burnett Bear Bash HERE
For more on Missouri State Handball, visit the MSU Handball homepage HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer