{"id":1148,"date":"2021-03-05T21:33:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T21:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/?p=1148"},"modified":"2021-03-05T22:02:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T22:02:31","slug":"1st-annual-average-joes-invitational","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/05\/1st-annual-average-joes-invitational\/","title":{"rendered":"1st Annual Average Joes Invitational"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"508\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/156202044_2524492331191392_4203503026626269662_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/156202044_2524492331191392_4203503026626269662_n.jpg 508w, https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/156202044_2524492331191392_4203503026626269662_n-238x300.jpg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So, In case you weren&#8217;t aware, the Kelley brothers from New Jersey have built a racquetball court at their house, complete with viewing area, mini-clubhouse and had it christened by none other than the legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cliff.swain.14?__cft__[0]=AZXh9JDVPJ8dT6J6g4Vu5w0FATVCfcjb3BtZNIUFAtVeY51i6TfeAAjsgGsBL4qQRbzfKzVY1yaWCfi8qx4tGMGgkWq-cS-ZWurmygiwOa8IIZx6UF6olgw5R2dHhTYRH9iYP_PyEu6wg4oZ6V8Xw6Jz2JMnXRiKcvt7Im1o5zIfdg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R\">Cliff Swain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This weekend they&#8217;ve invited 15 of the top open players from up and down the East Coast to their home for a single elimination tournament.  The draw sheet is out (Austin Cunningham posted it on Keep Racquetball Great earlier today).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s PRS&#8217; predictions on how it will play out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the round of 16s.<br>&#8211; #1 seed North Carolinian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/brent.walters.735?__cft__[0]=AZXh9JDVPJ8dT6J6g4Vu5w0FATVCfcjb3BtZNIUFAtVeY51i6TfeAAjsgGsBL4qQRbzfKzVY1yaWCfi8qx4tGMGgkWq-cS-ZWurmygiwOa8IIZx6UF6olgw5R2dHhTYRH9iYP_PyEu6wg4oZ6V8Xw6Jz2JMnXRiKcvt7Im1o5zIfdg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R\">Brent Walters<\/a> gets a bye, which is probably good since he&#8217;s the oldest player in the draw.  He&#8217;ll need his energy come Saturday night.<br>&#8211; In the #9\/#8, I&#8217;ve got Maryland&#8217;s own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100007112715487&amp;__cft__[0]=AZXh9JDVPJ8dT6J6g4Vu5w0FATVCfcjb3BtZNIUFAtVeY51i6TfeAAjsgGsBL4qQRbzfKzVY1yaWCfi8qx4tGMGgkWq-cS-ZWurmygiwOa8IIZx6UF6olgw5R2dHhTYRH9iYP_PyEu6wg4oZ6V8Xw6Jz2JMnXRiKcvt7Im1o5zIfdg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R\">Dylan Pruitt<\/a> taking out New Jersey native #8 Greg Caruso in a slight upset.  They played twice in mid 2019 and Pruitt beat him both times.<br>&#8211; #5 and host Joe Kelley takes out #12 Connecticut-based Tony Prater in the opener.<br>&#8211; #4 North Carolina&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheJonJustice\/?__cft__[0]=AZXh9JDVPJ8dT6J6g4Vu5w0FATVCfcjb3BtZNIUFAtVeY51i6TfeAAjsgGsBL4qQRbzfKzVY1yaWCfi8qx4tGMGgkWq-cS-ZWurmygiwOa8IIZx6UF6olgw5R2dHhTYRH9iYP_PyEu6wg4oZ6V8Xw6Jz2JMnXRiKcvt7Im1o5zIfdg&amp;__tn__=kK-R\">Jon Justice<\/a> takes out #13 Jersey native David Austin.<br>&#8211; #3 Georgian Austin Cunningham takes out NY&#8217;s #14 Josh Shea.<br>&#8211; #6 Fellow host @sam kelley handles New Yorker #11 Aaron Dardani.<br>&#8211; #7 Connecticut native Jose Flores takes out #10 North Carolina native <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jordan.walters.12382?__cft__[0]=AZXh9JDVPJ8dT6J6g4Vu5w0FATVCfcjb3BtZNIUFAtVeY51i6TfeAAjsgGsBL4qQRbzfKzVY1yaWCfi8qx4tGMGgkWq-cS-ZWurmygiwOa8IIZx6UF6olgw5R2dHhTYRH9iYP_PyEu6wg4oZ6V8Xw6Jz2JMnXRiKcvt7Im1o5zIfdg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R\">Jordan Walters<\/a> in a tight match.<br>&#8211; #2 New Yorker Jason Sylvester handles #15 Jersey native Matt Mertz.Just one upset by seeding in the 8\/9, though the 7\/10 could flip as well depending on how much Flores has been playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the quarters we start to see some matches.<br>&#8211; #1 Reigning NC state champ Walters handles the youngster Pruitt.<br>&#8211; #4 2019 NC state runner up Justice takes out Joe Kelley.<br>&#8211; #3 Cunningham drops a game, but advances over Sam Kelley, knocking both brothers\/hosts out in the quarters.<br>&#8211; #2 Sylvester goes tiebreaker but advances over long-time NE rival Flores.Chalk to the semis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Semis:<br>&#8211; Walters prevails over his NC rival Justice in the semis.<br>&#8211; Cunningham takes out the veteran Sylvester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the final&#8230;<br>&#8211; Walters takes out Cunningham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:left\">Keep an eye out at KRG group and for Cunningham, Pruitt and Walters streaming the matches; they&#8217;re always good for it.  They&#8217;ve already started streaming practice doubles matches this afternoon, and its great to see the guys back on the court. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, In case you weren&#8217;t aware, the Kelley brothers from New Jersey have built a racquetball court at their house, complete with viewing area, mini-clubhouse and had it christened by none other than the legend Cliff Swain. This weekend they&#8217;ve invited 15 of the top open players from up and down the East Coast to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/05\/1st-annual-average-joes-invitational\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;1st Annual Average Joes Invitational&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,98],"tags":[800,148,30,178,52,267,797,803,562,799,720,801,495,804,802,674,798],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amateur","category-singles","category-usa","tag-aaron-dardani","tag-austin-cunningham","tag-brent-walters","tag-cliff-swain","tag-david-austin","tag-dylan-pruitt","tag-greg-caruso","tag-jason-sylvester","tag-joe-kelley","tag-jon-justice","tag-jordan-walters","tag-jose-flores","tag-josh-shea","tag-matt-mertz","tag-north-carolina","tag-sam-kelley","tag-tony-prater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1152,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions\/1152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}