{"id":2563,"date":"2026-11-13T05:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T05:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/?p=2563"},"modified":"2026-11-13T05:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T05:16:10","slug":"irt-2026-34th-annual-turkey-shoot-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.proracquetballstats.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/13\/irt-2026-34th-annual-turkey-shoot-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"IRT 2026 34th Annual Turkey Shoot Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Acuna has been struggling with injury; can he get over the hump th is weekend?. Photo US Open 2019 Kevin Savory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The IRT does a quick turnaround and flies nearly 3,000 miles eastward from last weekend’s Golden State Open for the 2026 Turkey Shoot, Presented by Team Elmwood Racquetball, being held at the Ochsner Fitness Center in Harahan, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. This event is in is 34th year of operation, but for the first time has been elevated to a Tier 1 IRT event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick history lesson: This is the first Tier 1 held in the state of Louisiana since August 2005, more than 20 years ago. The former Team Elwood Summer Cooler event was tradititionally held in late August and had a 17 year run of being the IRT’s season opener. That run ended in late August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the same weekend that the tour was in town. By Friday night of that August 2005 weekend (just after IRT finished quarters) it was clear that the hurricane was going to hit the city hard, so the tournament was cancelled and players got out of town. On saturday the 28th it reached Cat5, and then<\/p>\n\n\n\n

made landfall on the sunday the 29th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the URL in the comments for the match report from that event showing the “?” in the semis and finals. Your four semi finalsts that day: Mannino, Beltran, Huczek, and one Kane Waselenchuk, who is the #1 seed this weekend 20+ years after that event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R2 Sports App link: see comments<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve got a 19-man draw for this event, down nearly 50% from last weekend’s GSO. We’re missing a few of the top 10; Flores remains out due to Visa issues and Montoya will miss this event continuing to nurse an injury sustained at Worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without these two top players, opportunities exist galore for the rest of the tour to make big runs as we saw last weekend, when Diego Garcia made the semis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

——————————<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s preview the draw. Here’s some notable matches that i’m looking forward to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

——————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

round of 16:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Gastelum\/Carter in the 8\/9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Bredenbeck\/Martell is an old WRT era rivalry that goes back more than 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Garcia\/Natera is a great opener and could portend who makes another semis run<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Trujillo\/Carrasco is an opportunity for the young Mexican to get settled for a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

possible upset run himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

——————————<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Projected Qtrs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Kane – Gastelum; Kane cruises against the youngster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Jake-Adam in an all USA battle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Garcia-Acuna, and I see another Garcia win to make the semis as Acuna continues to nurse a leg injury<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Moscoso-Trujillo; if Conrrado isn’t 100%, this could be an upset loss for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– I Like Kane over Jake, but it won’t be easy. Jake is not afraid to play Kane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Garcia over Moscoso: if Conrrado gets past Trujillo, I don’t think he can beat Garcia unless he’s 100%. Diego has h2h wins over Conrrado in the past and knows how to beat him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finals; Kane over Garcia to extend his lead at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

——————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doubles review<\/p>\n\n\n\n

———————————<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the IRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live. Look for Carrie Reitmeier, JT Rball, Rodrigo, Favio Soto, Pablo Fajre, and the IRTLive crew all weekend on the microphone, calling the shots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the Tourney Directors Al Schoff and Team Elwood for putting this event on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to tour sponsors: KWM Gutterman, Papa Nicholas coffee, Black & White Energy drinks, Reignstorm Group; tax and wealth management, Frank Hotels<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gearbox , and Formula Flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reminder to Players! Please like and follow this page so that when I tag you, you see it. Facebook will only retain tags of people that like\/follow a page, which means lots of you are not getting the notoriety of getting tagged and noticed on Facebook. If your name is here and it isn’t tagged … it probably means I attempted to tag you but Facebook stripped it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IRT Club Fantasy: If you’re in the IRT Club, sign up to play Fantasy Racquetball along with myself, Brian Pineda, and other club members. Also, be sure to tune into our Fantasy Fast Break podcast, which we do before and after every IRT Tier 1 event!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Racquetball Tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links for post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links from article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRS Match Report for 2005 Summer Cooler: https:\/\/rball.pro\/6y4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

R2sports link for this event: https:\/\/www.r2sports.com\/website\/event-website.asp?TID=54342<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The IRT does a quick turnaround and flies nearly 3,000 miles eastward from last weekend’s Golden State Open for the 2026 Turkey Shoot, Presented by Team Elmwood Racquetball, being held at the Ochsner Fitness Center in Harahan, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. This event is in is 34th year of operation, but for the … <\/p>\n

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