ST. JOSEPH, MO - The Bob Symon Memorial Tournament was held at the YMCA of St. Joseph, MO on January 9th-11th, 2004, and produced, once again, some of the finest, hardest-fought handball outside of the Nationals. Both present and former National Champions showed up to compete, namely, Mike Hulbert, Tom Kezlan, Chris Roberts, Richard Lynch, Allan Garner, Jim Cosentino, Marcos Chavez, and Dan Armijo.

In the Championship Bracket, Marcos Chavez of CA knocked off Tyler Hamel of TX in two straight games. Chavez was dominant in this match making very few errors. Chavez advanced by winning a closely contested match over Dan Armijo of NM while Hammel fought off Tommy Little of KS.

In the Contenders Division, Richard Lynch of MO, former 3-wall champion, was hard-pressed by Donny Little of KS, but held on to win in a tie breaker.

The four Masters Divisions brought forth many talented players and as a result, produced three tie breakers in the four finals. The 40s went to the limits with Paul Pfannenstiel of KS squeezing out a win over #1 seed Chris Roberts of IL. In the 50s, Lou Serrone of KS upset #1seed Dan McKenzie of IA. In the 60s, present US National Champion Mike Hulbert of CO defeated Jim Cosentino of KS in the tie breaker, and in the 65s, Bob Marshall of KS battled Jerry Mauren of IA and prevailed in the tie breaker, after both the #1 and #2 seeds were eliminated in the semifinals.

Special thanks to the YMCA, to Joe and Jerry Gray for sponsoring the Saturday evening traditional banquet, to the St. Jo Frontier Casino for sponsoring Friday's lunch and dinner, and to St. Joseph Beverage for the liquid refreshments and banner.

Jon Symon, Jim Cosentino, and Tommy Little, the Tournament Directors, called this year's Tournament probably the best ever and stated that plans are already being made for next year's Tournament, which will be held January 7-9, 2005.