2nd “Average Joes” Kelley court tournament Preview

Joe Kelley is back in action this weekend and the favorite to win his namesake event again. Photo SevernaPark2021 courtesy of Ken Fife

This weekend, the Kelley brothers are inviting 20 of their closest racquetball friends to their unique home court for a fun shootout. The players are coming from all over the eastern seaboard, with 9 different states represented.

Here’s a review of the top 8 seeds:

  1. Former IRT regular Kyle Ulliman​ heads over from Ohio to claim the top spot.
  2. Host Joe Kelley claims the #2 seed, having won the first iteration of this event last march.
  3. Ohioan Victor Migliore​ has been playing the IRT regularly lately.
  4. Maryland’s Dylan Pruitt​, who was the 2019 18U doubles junior national champ and who made the semis here in March.
  5. Texan Brennen Jennings​ had the furthest trip but represents the great state of Texas in the draw.
  6. Floridian Alex zamudio​ has been making some waves lately in both his home state and on the IRT.
  7. Marylander Ben Bleyer​ is a dark horse 7th seed, not well known nationally but a solid player from the Baltimore suburb of Ellicott City.
  8. Georgian Austin Cunningham​, who raced to the final here in march and will have his work cut out for him to repeat.

Also here are long-time new england top players Jason Sylvester KWNorth Properties​ and Jose Flores, who had a barn burner of a quarter final in March. Junior phenom from NY @josh shea is here as well as the 9th seed, and the other host Sam Kelley is the 12th seed.

Here’s a prediction piece, picking up in the round of 16:

Upset watch in the 16s for these matches:

  • 8/9: Shea has been playing tough but Cunningham should advance.
  • 5/12: Sylvester as a 12 seed is tough; he was the #2 seed in March and could upset the young Floridian here.
  • 7/10: Bleyer is good, but so is #10 Flores. This could go either way as the wily veteran Flores plays tough.

Quarters prediction:

  • Ulliman over Cunningham in a breaker
  • Jennings wears down Pruitt in a breaker.
  • Migliore takes out a fatigued Sylvester
  • Joe advances in a tough one over Bleyer.

Semis prediciton:

  • Ulliman over Jennings
  • Joe over Migliore

Final: Joe repeats on home soil and upsets the Ohioan in the final.

Should be a fun one! Look for streaming from the private accounts of the players in the draw Play starts 6pm Friday and finishes up 8pm Saturday night.

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