Leivonen, Ramirez, Rivera, Pacheco win their divisions at 5th Annual Dave Rogers Memorial in WY
We don’t hear from the state of Wyoming a lot here at AZBilliards. So, in an attempt to determine what we may have been missing, in preparation for a report on The 5th Annual Dave Rogers Memorial that its capital city, Cheyenne, hosted this past weekend at the Red Lion Hotel (Feb. 14-16), we set […]
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Robert Leivonen
We don’t hear from the state of Wyoming a lot here at AZBilliards. So, in an attempt to determine what we may have been missing, in preparation for a report on The 5th Annual Dave Rogers Memorial that its capital city, Cheyenne, hosted this past weekend at the Red Lion Hotel (Feb. 14-16), we set out on a bit of a search to discover its ‘place’ in the pool community.
Based on a preliminary search, while it hosts thousands of competitors in the APA, BCA and VNEA amateur leagues, the state does not appear to host any regional (cash payout) pool tours. It also appears that the state has yet to produce a “well-known professional pool player who has gained significant recognition on the national or international stage.” If you’re listening, Wyoming, and either of those two things are not true, correct us. Please.
Wyoming is the 10th largest state in the country in terms of size (97,813 sq. miles), but it is the least populous, with an estimated 2024 population of 587,618, which works out on a ‘density’ scale to six people per square mile. Metro Cheyenne is among the least populous capitals, with an estimated 2024 population of 65,141, which works out to be about 1,794 people for every one of the metropolitan area’s 36.3 square miles. It shares the ‘least populous’ title with a few other capital cities that share similar populations, like Montpelier, VT and Pierre, SD (two other states we don’t hear a lot about).
One wouldn’t have guessed any of this based on the size of the four, divisional fields that turned out to memorialize one of its own, Dave Rogers, at his 5th Annual Memorial (more on Dave in a moment). The event hosted 148 unique entrants across four divisions – A (26), B (42), C (59) and AA/AAA (21) – which certainly ‘feels’ like enough folks to get a regional tour going.
And now, a word about the tournament’s namesake, Dave Rogers . . .
Current event director Ryan Lockhart has competed in this event every year since it was initiated and initially run by Jodi Stensgard after Dave Rogers passed away in 2020. Last year, Lockhart began to assist Stengard with the annual memorial and this year, she ‘handed him the reins.’ According to Lockhart, Rogers was a lifelong, well-known resident of the relatively small community in and around Cheyenne, WY. For two reasons; music and pool.
“Dave was a pool player for more than 50 years,” wrote Lockhart in an e-mail to us, “and a member of the VNEA (Valley National Eight-Ball League Association) for more than 30 years. He began refereeing in 1989 and later taught the VNEA’s Certified Referee Course at regional, state and international levels.
“He won many awards and tournaments,” Lockhart added, “but was most proud of the Gordon McDonald Award for best sportsmanship across the pool league in 2013, the Presidential Award for Top Shooter in the 2013-14 season, and a 1st place Charlie (sportsman division) in the 2015 VNEA International Championships with his Cheyenne, WY team “So There’s That.” Dave was posthumously inducted into the VNEA Hall of Fame in 2023.”
The other part of the equation that led to his annual memorial stemmed from the fact that in addition to his skills at and around the table (as a referee), Dave was also a professional musician.
“For more than 40 years,” Lockhart noted. “He started his musical career with a family band that included his father and brothers. His last band – Dave Rogers and Up The Creek- included his wife and their three sons.”
“He was from Cheyenne,” he added, “so he was always at local tournaments. Always had a smile and was a very kind soul.”
Moving on to the Cheyenne, WY pool players who gathered in his honor and played in memoriam
Each of the four divisions played out their separate tournaments in two, double-elimination stages. Two of those divisions (A and AA/AAA) played their Stage 1 bracket and advanced eight players, four from each side of the bracket, to Stage 2. The B and C divisions advanced 16 from their Stage 1 to Stage 2 bracket, eight from each side.
Two of the division winners in the quartet of tournaments went undefeated; Robert Leivonen (A) and Nicole Rivera (C). The other two, Joel Rodriguez (B) and Derrick Pacheco (AA/AAA) came from the loss side to claim their division titles. Rodriguez came from both loss sides to claim his title. Pacheco came from the Stage 1 loss side of his division and went undefeated in Stage 2 to claim his second Dave Rogers Memorial title. He’s been competing in the event since it was initiated five years ago and has finished ‘in the money’ all five times.
Leivonen’s quest for an undefeated run to the division A title (races to 5, both sides) went through runner-up Jose Ibarra twice, both times in Stage 2. They both advanced in Stage 1 to what would have been a winners’ side semifinal against each other. Instead, they both advanced to Stage 2, where they met for the first time in that bracket’s winners’ side semifinal. Leivonen downed Ibarra 5-2 and then claimed the hot seat with a double-hill win over Nathan Woodson. Ibarra came back from the loss side, downing Woodson 5-2 in the semifinal and was defeated a second time by Leivonen 5-3.
Nicole Rivera
Nicole Rivera brushed off a double hill ‘threat’ from her first opponent in Stage 1 of the largest-entrant C Division (races to 3, both sides) and brushed off another one in the second round of Stage 2. She gave up a single rack to Nomar Rodriguez in the Stage 2 winners’ side semifinal and then shut out both Xavier Burnett to claim the hot seat and Jon Glennon in the finals to claim the C Division title.
In the B division (races to 4, both sides), Joel Rodriguez lost a double-hill match in the winners’ side semifinal of Stage 1. He shut out his only opponent on the loss side and advanced to Stage 2. He was challenged, double hill, in his first Stage 2 match, but after downing two opponents, he shut out Ruben Castaneda to claim the hot seat. Castaneda survived a double-hill semifinal against Terry Callsen and came back to shut out Rodriguez in the opening set of a true double-elimination final. Rodriguez roared back and shut him out to claim the B division title.
In the AA/AAA division (races to 6 or 7), the opponent who faced and defeated Derrick Pacheco in Stage 1, Donald Parker, came to regret it, in a manner of speaking. Pacheco won three matches on the loss side of Stage 1 and advanced to Stage 2, where he won three more to claim the hot seat over Devin Schweer (7-1) and then, in a finals rematch against Parker, defeated him 7-3 to claim that title.
Lockhart thanked Jen Walker and the Red Lion Hotel for their hospitality, which included reduced rates for competitors in the event, Shannon Fisher with Fish’s cues for helping with teardown of the tables, and all of those competitors for honoring Dave Rogers by playing their hearts out, in memory.
