The tournament gets underway at Bloomington South.

The Racquetball Summer Shootout saw big numbers at the Bloomington South and Minneapolis Life Time Athletic Club locations.  The round-robin format tested every player's endurance, especially at the MLTAC where the 8-player tourney brought out the competitior in everyone.

The MLTAC champion was Mike Butchert who earned 51 points and escaped a stiff challenge from early favorite Dan Poretti, who finished with 49 points.  In their lone matchup, Butchert took down Poretti 11-5 thanks to some efficient play that left Poretti stunned and unable to recover.  Another big upset took place later in the evening, when Bryn Johnson vanquished club pro Paul Schulz by the same 11-5 score as the Butchert-Poretti match.  We wish Bryn the best of luck in the future, as he will be leaving the Twin Cities to pursue new opportunities by the Puget Sound of Seattle.

There was a gutsy performance from Chris Carlson - who played injured throughout the MLTAC Shootout - and a trememdnous showing by 74-year old George Bohlig, who saw the tournament through from opening serve to closing point.  Following the Summer Shootout, the players were treated to dinner at Zahtar, where the participants had a blast and gained a sense of camaraderie (in addition to plenty of pizza).

Steve Carroll was in top form during the Summer Shootout on July 23rd.

In Bloomington South, Steve Carroll rolled his way to a 55-point final and a perfect 5-0 match record for the evening.  Kevin Lovegreen (46 points), John Finley (44 points) and Alan Stokes (40 points) all battled to dethrone Carroll's dominant play, but in the end it was Steve's night as Shootout champion.

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the Big16 Racquetball Summer Shootout, and we look forward to providing you with more tournaments in the future!