Bay City's Nine-time National Paddleball Singles Champ Mike Wisniewski (Left) and Chad Krager will lead a Michigan contingent headed for the NPA National Singles Tournament. Bay City's Mike Wisniewski Seeks 10th National Singles Paddleball Title
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The 2013 National Paddleball Association National Singles Championships will be held in Lombard, Illinois, March 2nd and 3rd, at Glass Court Swim and Fitness. The Glass Court is a full service athletic facility with eight courts and a bar; housing the only three-wall glass court in the state of Illinois. The website is: www.glasscourt.com
According to National Paddleball's Lorri Brigham, "This will be the first NPA tournament at the Glass Court and the fourth national NPA tournament in the Chicago area (Chicagoland)." Additionally, Chicagoland has hosted a number of Midwest Championships and fifteen consecutive annual three-wall outdoor tournaments.
The primary force behind Chicagoland paddleball is, without question, Dennis Negrete. The NPA awarded Denny the 2002 Earl Riskey Award for his considerable contributions. He has served on the NPA Board of Managers for several years, is currently a regional representative for the Chicago area, and promotes paddleball whenever he can.
Negrete is a formidable left sided doubles player with an explosive backhand. He and Bay City's Chad Krager have teamed to be one of the NPA's best doubles team in recent years. They claimed the national open title in 2010; finished second in open and won the seniors national title in 2011.
Denny has also had success in singles and promises to be a contender in the open division, March 2nd and 3rd. Negrete owns two national singles titles in seniors: 2003 and 2004, and finished 2nd in both seniors and open in 2011.
(L/R) PLAYERS TO WATCH -- Top-seeded Cesar Carrillo of Tennessee, Chicago's Dennis Negrete and California's Todd Entrikin.
Cesar Carrillo of Tennessee, the reigning national champion, has entered three previous NPA singles tournaments, never lost a game, and claimed a national title in each: 2009, 2011, and 2012. Certainly, the masterful Cesar will be the number one seed.
At least three serious contenders are expected from California: Todd Entrikin, Emmett Coe, and Justin Ivers.
Entrikin has claimed a share of four national doubles titles and finished second to Cesar in singles last year. Coe teamed with Brian Pineda to win last year's open national doubles championship and the open division at the 3 Wall Ball World Championships. Emmett is eager to make his mark in open singles this year. Justin is fine a young player with a lot of potential.
Michigan will, in all likelihood, send the largest open contingent. Mike "Wiz" Wisniewski, Andrew Price, Don Kirkconnell, Brandon Creamer, and Joe and Sam Baldori are all expected to participate in Illinois.
The remarkable "Wiz" has earned more national open singles titles than anyone in the history of the game -- NINE (9). The last one was in 2010 at age 52. Andrew captured this year's Midwest Championships' open singles title and a share of the open and mixed doubles titles. He did not lose a game in singles; the closest game was 21-14. Andrew has won two A national singles titles, won the Midwest Open singles in 2012 and was runner-up this year. Don won the 2011 A national singles title and has been a threat in open for several years. Brandon has developed into a competitive open level singles player. Joe and Sam are very good paddleball players with considerable potential. The NPA National Singles Championships will be held at the Glass House in Lombard, Illinois, March 2nd and 3rd. Several divisional choices are available. You can enter at www.paddleball.org
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"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers! |
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randalllhoyle Says:
On February 21, 2013
at 01:21 PM
Hey OJ. Great to see the article way over here in Midland Michigan. You have always been a great supporter of paddleball in Michigan and across the USA. You were not a bad player either.
Randy Hoyle |
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O. J. Cunningham |
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