Adult Nationals 2005 - Denver Colorado
May 28-June 4th

Rustys 60's

Rustys 60s finish 5^th in 2005 USAV Open Championships

 The Columbia Empire was represented in the 60+ division at Denver by Rustys, composed of Ken Bleasdell, Dick Ellegood, Jerry Kissick, Norm MacLeod, Gary Pfingsten, Tom Swanson, Ed Tamas, and Tom Thiessen.

The men’s 60+ division had 13 teams in divided into Pool A (7 teams) and pool B (6 teams). Seeded 3^rd in the pool, Rustys was the 5 seed overall. Rustys was in pool A, a pool so tough that it contained the eventual top three medalists, Quicksilver Legends, Papakoa, and Molten.  Although finishing 5^th in the pool, Rustys had three game matches with the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th place teams, had a 7-8 game record, and had more points scored for them than against. It was clear that most of the teams in the pool were very close.

In gold medal bracket play the good play continued. Rustys defeated Dinosaurs (25-14, 25-8). Against the top seeded Quicksilver Legends, Rustys played hard, losing (25-21, 25-13). Going into the “losers” bracket (misnamed, since everyone but one team eventually is placed in this lower bracket), Rustys defeated a tough Texas Masters team (25-22, 25-17) qualifying them for Saturday play. Making it to Saturday is the mark of a successful tournament. In a 9:10 am match, Rustys started slow, but eventually overcame Spike Force (22-25, 25-22, 15-13). With no rest time, Rustys had to play again at 10:20, against Molten. This time their tournament came to an end by scores of (15-25, 25-20, 15-12).

Rustys finished 5^th out of 13 teams, playing 11 matches with 10 of them from the tough pool of 7 teams that dominated the tournament.