USAR - 40th Wilson Junior Olympics - Quarter finals

They've played a few rounds at the 40th Wilson USA Racquetball Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, and the craziest results come from the Boy's U16 division, where only one of the top four seeds has made the semi-finals.

Mauro Rojas, the second seed, is the player who's made it through to the semis with a 15-10, 15-7 win over Jacob Matthews. But top seed Jordan Barth lost an 11-10 tie-breaker to 8th seed Justus Benson, 13-15, 15-11, 11-10.

The 3rd and 4th seeds in U16 lost as well. Sixth seed Sam Bredenbeck beat 4th seed Matthew Goolsby, 1512, 7-15, 11-4, and 5th seed Jake Bimel took out 4th seed Alec Wasilonsky, 15-6, 15-7.

Usually, when you lose to a player in a tournament, you have to wait until the next tournament to get a re-match. But Barth only has to wait one day, as he will face Benson in the semi-finals of U14, where Barth, as defending champion, is also the #1 seed. Benson is 4th seed in U14.

In the U14 quarter finals, Barth defeated Shaharyar Soomro, 15-2, 15-5, and Benson beat Sebastian Fernandez, 15-3, 15-14, on the top side of the draw, while 3rd seed Wayne Antone defeated Carter Simon, 15-2, 15-1, and Rojas, who's also the 2nd seed in U14 as he is in U16, got the best of Sean Henry, 15-3, 15-4.

In boy's U18, top seed Adam Manilla got through to the semi-finals with a win over Joshua Lebow. He'll face 4th seed Zack Wertz, who defeated Tyler Kendrick, 11-15, 15-12, 11-3, in the quarters.

The other top seeds are also through to the semis, as 2nd seed Nicholas Riffel beat Tanner Gross, 15-5, 15-8, and 3rd seed Connor Laffey in the semis, as Laffey defeated Mitchell Hardin, 15-12, 15-8.

Girl's Divisions

On the boy's side there have been some close matches, including several tie-breakers. But that hasn't been the case in Girl's U18, where in six matches the most points the losing player has scored is four (4!). That happened in Hannah Shnurman's win over Krista Yourstone, which was 15-2, 15-2.

Shnurman and Yourstone are both Iowa players, so they are likely participating primarily because the event is in Iowa, and that's great. But they are up against some strong competition, including Kelani Bailey, last year's U18 champion and the daughter of former US National Team player Malia Bailey.

Kelani Bailey has only surrendered one point in three matches so far with one to go. However, her last match will be against last year's U18 runner up Samantha Simmons, who has also been winning her other matches comfortably. But their match should be much more competitive than what they have faced so far.

In the other girl's divisions, Hollie Scott is in the curious position of finishing higher in U16 than in U14, as she's in the U16 final, but can finish no higher than 3rd in U14, which was a four player round robin play-off.

In U16, Scott defeated Molly Manning, 15-7, 15-9, in the semi-finals, and will face top seed Kaitlyn Simmons in the final, as Simmons beat Danielle Falvey in the other semi, 15-1, 15-4. Simmons was runner up in U16 last year.

Girl's U14 will come down to showdown between Erika Manilla, last year's U14 champion, and Jordan Cooperrider, who finished 3rd last year, as both of them defeated the other two players in their division, who where Scott and Kristine Holman. Scott and Holman will play-off for third.

The 40th Wilson USA Racquetball Junior Olympics continues Saturday at the Oakmoor Racquet and Fitness Club in Des Moines, Iowa, and will conclude on Sunday.

40th Wilson USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Des Moines, Iowa

Boy's U14

Quarter finals

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) d. Shaharyar Soomro (Piscataway, NJ) 15-2, 15-5
Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) d. Sebastian Fernandez (San Diego, CA) 15-3, 15-14

Wayne Antone Iv (Eugene, OR) d. Carter Simon (Sun Prairie, WI) 15-2, 15-1
Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Sean Henry (Georgetown, IN) 15-3, 15-4

Semi-finals

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) v. Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI)
Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Wayne Antone Iv (Eugene, OR)

Boy's U16

Quarter finals

Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) d. Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) 13-15, 15-11, 11-10
Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA) d. Alec Wasilonsky (Torrington, CT) 15-6, 15-7

Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, MN) d. Matthew Goolsby (Grants Pass, OR) 15-12, 7-15, 11-4
Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Jacob Matthews (Bethel, NC) 15-10, 15-7

Semi-finals

Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) v. Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, MN)

Boy's U18

Quarter finals

Adam Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Joshua Lebow (Salem, OR)
Zack Wertz (Kenner, LA) d. Tyler Kendrick (Arlington, TX) 11-15, 15-12, 11-3

Connor Laffey (Salem, OR) d. Mitchell Hardin (Findlay, OH) 15-12, 15-8
Nicholas Riffel (Loveland, CO) d. Tanner Gross (Glenwood, MN) 15-5, 15-8

Semi-finals

Adam Manilla (Centennial, CO) v. Zack Wertz (Kenner, LA)
Nicholas Riffel (Loveland, CO) v. Connor Laffey (Salem, OR)

Girl's U14 - Round Robin

Round 1

Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Kristine Holman (Salem, OR) 15-1, 15-3
Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL) d. Hollie Scott (Bellingham, WA) 15-2, 15-4

Round 2

Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Hollie Scott (Bellingham, WA) 15-12, 15-11
Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL) d. Kristine Holman (Salem, OR) 15-3, 15-4

Girl's U16

Quarter finals

Kaitlyn Simmons (Crofton, MD) d. Naila Muslic (Lincoln, NE) 15-5, 15-2
Danielle Falvey (Sussex, WI) d. Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL) 15-8, 15-5

Molly Manning (North Mankato, MN) d. Sindhura Devalaraja (Acton, MA) WBF - No Show
Hollie Scott (Bellingham, WA) d. Ema Muslic (Lincoln, NE) 15-8, 15-1

Semi-finals

Kaitlyn Simmons (Crofton, MD) d. Danielle Falvey (Sussex, WI) 15-1, 15-4
Hollie Scott (Bellingham, WA) d. Molly Manning (North Mankato, MN) 15-7, 15-9

Final

Kaitlyn Simmons (Crofton, MD) v. Hollie Scott (Bellingham, WA)

Girl's U18 - Round Robin

Round 1

Kelani Bailey (Norfolk, VA) d. Krista Yourstone (Urbandale, IA) 15-0, 15-0
Samantha Simmons (Crofton, MD) d. Katie Nye (Urbandale, IA) 15-0, 15-0
Hannah Shnurman (Prole, IA) d. Sindhura Devalaraja (Acton, MA) WBF - No Show

Round 2

Kelani Bailey (Norfolk, VA) d. Katie Nye (Urbandale, IA) 15-0, 15-0
Hannah Shnurman (Prole, IA) d. Krista Yourstone (Urbandale, IA) 15-2, 15-2
Samantha Simmons (Crofton, MD) d. Sindhura Devalaraja (Acton, MA) WBF - No Show

Round 3

Kelani Bailey (Norfolk, VA) d. Hannah Shnurman (Prole, IA) 15-1, 15-0
Katie Nye (Urbandale, IA) d. Sindhura Devalaraja (Acton, MA) WBF - No Show
Samantha Simmons (Crofton, MD) d. Krista Yourstone (Urbandale, IA)

Follow the bouncing ball….