Manilla & Parrilla into Round of 16 at 2018 IRT MWRA Pro-Am

A few matches into the Round of 16 at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) MWRA Pro-Am in Laurel, Maryland, and it was going well for the higher seeds, but then the script flipped with the last two matches. Adam Manilla squeaked out an upset win over 5th seed Mario Mercado, 15-13, 9-15, 11-10. And in the battle of 8 & 9 seeds, Andree Parrilla defeated 8th seed David Horn, 15-11, 15-9, in what was a rematch of the Shamrock Shootout final from earlier this year.

Parrilla faces IRT #1 Rocky Carson in the quarterfinals later today, as Carson made short work of Gerardo Franco, 15-4, 15-0. To be fair there was a bit of a difference in experience between Carson, who is now playing his 21st year on the IRT, and Franco, who wasn’t alive when Carson began playing the IRT.

Manilla will play 4th seed Sebastian Franco, who defeated Andres Acuña, 15-13, 15-7.

IRT #2 Alejandro Landa also won in straight games, as he defeated a solid player in Nick Montalbano, 15-7, 15-3. Next up for Landa will be 7th seed Jansen Allen, who needed a tie-breaker to fend off the challenge from Jose Diaz, 15-4, 11-15, 11-5.

Samuel Murray came out on top in a heavyweight match up with Jake Bredenbeck, who looked slimmed down, which should help him over the course of the season, but not on this day, as Murray won 15-13, 15-7. Murray will play Thomas Carter, who benefited from a late withdrawal by 3rd seed Kane Waselenchuk, to reach the quarters.

The four quarterfinals will be available via the IRT Network, or the IRT Facebook page from 5 PM Eastern time Friday. The semi-finals will be Saturday morning at 11 AM and noon with the singles final Saturday at 7 PM. All times Eastern.

2018 IRT MWRA Pro-Am, September 13-15, 2018
Laurel, Maryland

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Rocky Carson d. Gerardo Franco, 15-4, 15-0
Andree Parrilla d. 8) David Horn, 15-11, 15-9

Adam Manilla d. 5) Mario Mercado, 15-13, 9-15, 11-10
4) Sebastian Franco d. Andres Acuña, 15-13, 15-7

Thomas Carter d. 3) Kane Waselenchuk, forfeit
6) Samuel Murray d. Jake Bredenbeck, 15-13, 15-7

7) Jansen Allen d. Jose Diaz, 15-4, 11-15, 11-5
2) Alejandro Landa d. Nick Montalbano, 15-7, 15-3

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Rocky Carson v. Andree Parrilla - 7 PM
4) Sebastian Franco v. Adam Manilla - 8 PM

6) Samuel Murray v. Thomas Carter - 5 PM
2) Alejandro Landa v. 7) Jansen Allen - 6 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….