2017 KC Open Gold: Jackson's Perfect Day

Steve Jackson on his way to a 5-0 day

PARKVILLE, MO -- The MCA Gold Division took to the court for the second half of the Kansas City Open this morning at 8:30 a.m. Five rounds later, Steve Jackson stood tall as the winner as he went 5-0 and won three straight on the King of the Mountain (KOM) court. The 10-player format on two courts acted like a Swiss while awarding more points each round for the winners v winners games. By round three, that created a KOM court that awarded six points per win and a secondary court that offered three points per win. Players that took a loss in the early rounds had a path back to the top of the mountain.

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But Jackson was too strong for the field as he earned 22 overall points in the competition for first place, while Gabe Airrington took second with eight points on a 4-1 records.

Jackson began the day with 14-10 win over Ellie Griffith. That put him on the second tier court where he defeated Brevin Millican 26-6 to pick up three points and advance to the KOM court. There he faced off against Airrington and won tight 16-14 battle to put himself in good position to win the event.

After dropping his first round game 13-11 to Wanda Jackson, Justin Marciniak strung together two wins to get to the KOM court and attempt to spoil the fun for Steve Jackson in round four. Jackson was up for the task though as he dispatched Marciniak 16-7 and clinched first place.

In the meantime, #8 seed Cade Millican put together back-to-back upsets as he slipped past Wanda Jackson 10-8, then his brother Brevin 13-12. He made it to the KOM court for the final round, but fell there to Steve Jackson 21-8.

Airrington had to fight for his second place medal by defeating Ellie Griffith 14-13 in the final round. His win there helped avoid a three-way tie for second.

GOLD RESULTS

Rk/Player / KOM Pts / Record
Steve Jackson / 22 / 5-0
Gabe Airrington / 8 / 4-1
Justin Marciniak / 5 / 3-2
Cade Millican / 4 / 2-2
Brevin Millican / 3 / 2-3
Ellie Griffith / 2 / 2-3
Wanda Jackson / 2 / 2-2
Darin Watson / 0 / 0-3
Di Berg / 0 / 0-2
Jim Ratzlaff / 0 / 0-2