Wednesday, December 31st, 2014, WPH Press- The United States Handball Association’s Junior National 4 Wall Championships wrapped in Tucson, AZ, on Tuesday, December 30th [2014] with a few marquee matches playing out in select divisions. Ireland’s Gabhain McCrystal was seeking his second straight Boy’s 19U trophy; meanwhile, Luis Bustos (last year’s 15U champ) was gunning for a 17U crown. In doubles, McCrystal (Omagh, Co. Tyrone, IRE) and fellow club-mate Pol Clarke looked to win the big trophy verses young phenom, Tyler Stoffel (MN), and one of the Pacific Northwest’s rising stars, Jordan Taylor (WA).
Jesus Avila (15) won another junior title [slamming the 15U singles and doubles] and is appearing to be following in the same footsteps as another local Tucsonan, Luis Moreno; meanwhile, the talk of the tournament was the play and sportsmanship from Canadian Ivan Burgos. “Burgos took down the 13U Small and Big Ball Divisions and would have been competitive in any division he wanted to play in,” claimed WPH’s Dave Vincent. “That includes the 19U singles. This kid has the it factor!”
In the women’s brackets, Kena Byrd-Jackson may come from handball blood, as her mother played New York 1 Wall before transplanting to Arizona some years back, but she is relatively new to the game, only playing for three very short years. Byrd-Jackson slammed the 15U small ball girls singles and 19U girls doubles (Maldonado).
The full list of champions are posted below. You can get all of the scores and articles related to this event by visiting R2sports.com or the United States Handball Association’s Website or Facebook Fanpage.
2014 USHA Junior 4 Wall Nationals, by the Fred Lewis Foundation
List of Champions:
SINGLES
19U Boys Small Ball Gabhain McCrystal (IRE) def Anthony Collado (CA): 21-10, 21-7
19U Boys Big Ball Rodolfo Ruiz (CA) def Manuel Ruiz (CA): 21-20, 21-19
17U Boys Small Ball Luis Bustos (CA) def Alex Guadarrama (CA): 21-18, 21-3
17U Boys Big Ball Andrew Garcia (CAN) def Michael Gaulton (CAN): 21-11, 16-21, 11-8
15U Boys Small Ball Jesus Avila (AZ) def Michael Gaulton (CAN): 21-16, 21-12
15U Boys Big Ball Samuel Richer (CAN) def Noe Rios (AZ): 21-5, 19-21, 11-5
13U Boys Small Ball Ivan Burgos (CAN) def Jose Maldonado (AZ): 21-17, 21-12
13U Boys Big Ball Ivan Burgos (CAN) def Carlos Villegas (MEX): 21-4, 21-8
11U Boys Small Ball Luis Fernandez (CA) def Savid Sanchez (CA): 19-21, 21-16, 11-8
11U Boys Big Ball Andres Maldonado (AZ) def Nathan Stoffel (MN): 21-2, 21-14
9U Junior Small Ball Ayden Brule (AZ) def Antonio Rivera (AZ): 21-8, 21-7
9U Junior Big Ball Ayden Brule (AZ) def Antonio Rivera (AZ): 21-7, 21-3
Girls 15U Small Ball Kena Byrd-Jackson (AZ) def Marisol Maldonado (AZ): 21-4, 21-6
Girls 13U Small Ball Sophie Della Croce (AZ) def Belisa Camacho (AZ): 21-13, 13-21, 11-8
Girls 13U Big Ball Alexandra Jewitt (CAN) def Ariel Cheng (AZ): 21-5, 21-6
DOUBLES
19U Boys Small Ball McCrystal/Clarke (IRE) def Stoffel/Taylor (MN/WA): 21-13, 21-9
19U Boys Big Ball Garcia/Palma (CA) def Badillo/Ruiz (CA): No Score Reported
17U Boys Small Ball McGrath/Rodriguez (CA) def Gaulton/Biddle (CAN/OR): 21-4, 21-15
15U Boys Small Ball Camacho/Avila (AZ) def Richer/Burgos (CAN): 21-18, 20-21, 11-10
13U Boys Small Ball Pimentel/Maldonado (AZ) def Ure/Cooke (IL): 21-5, 21-3
Girls 19U Small Ball Byrd-Jackson/Maldonado (AZ) def Camacho/Croce (AZ): 21-20, 21-4