AVP San Antonio, Texas - May 24-25, 1997

STEFFES AND LOIOLA CLAIM SIXTH TOURNAMENT WIN OF THE
SEASON AT THE $100,000 AVP SAN ANTONIO OPEN

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (May 26, 1997) -- Top seeds Kent Steffes and Jose Loiola won their sixth tournament of the season on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour by a score of 15-4 over the No. 14 seeded tandem of Eric Wurts and Henry Russell at the $100,000 AVP San Antonio Open.

Steffes, a gold medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and Loiola the 1997 King of the Beach, advanced to the championship match after defeating Wurts and Russell 15-7 earlier in the day in the winner's bracket final match.

Wurts, appearing in a championship final for the first time since recording two second-place finishes in 1992 (Fort Worth & Milwaukeee), and Russell, making his first career final appearance, won the right to meet the No. 1 seeds after upsetting No. 2-seeds Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson, 15-7.

Kiraly, who paired with Steffes to fin the Olympic gold in Atlanta, posted a third-place finish in his first tournament back on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour after missing the past seven weeks due to a shoulder injury.

The Miller Lite/AVP Tour resumes play at the $100,000 AVP Indianapolis Open (May 31-June 1). For ticket information contact Tele-charge at (800) 432-7470.

$100,000 total prize money
32 Teams

1st - Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)           $20,000

2nd - Henry Russell/Eric Wurts (14)*         $11,400

3rd - Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly (2)*         $ 9,030

4th - Eric Fonoimoana/Bryan Ivie (7)         $ 7,130

5th - Randy Stoklos/Troy Tanner (5)          $ 5,700
5th - Guilherme Marques/R Para (29)          $ 5,700

7th - Rob Heidger/Raul Papaleo (9)*          $ 4,280
7th - Brent Doble/Albert Hannemann (20)*     $ 4,280

9th - Bill Boullianne/Brian Lewis (4)        $ 3,090
9th - Ricci Luyties/Jim Nichols (11)*        $ 3,090
9th - Mike Garcia/Justin Perlstrom (17)      $ 3,090
9th - James Fellows/Lance Lyons (25)         $ 3,090

13th- Ian Clark/David Swatik (10)            $ 2,130
13th- Aaron Boss/Nick Hannemann (16)*        $ 2,130
13th- Matt Lyles/Kevin Martin (27)*          $ 2,130 
13th- Eduardo Garrido/Carlos Loss (28)       $ 2,130

17th- Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (3)           $   950
17th- Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (6)          $   950
17th- Scott Friederichsen/Leif Hanson (12)   $   950
17th- Dan Castillo/Jason Ryan Pursley (15)   $   950
17th- Todd Ahmadi/Curtis Griffin (18)        $   950
17th- Daxton Holdren/Kevin Wong (23)*        $   950
17th- Daniel Cardenas/Andre Gomez (24)*      $   950
17th- Aaron Smith/David Smith (30)           $   950

25th- Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (8)           $   500
25th- Lee LeGrand/Matt Unger (13)            $   500
25th- Greg Shankle/Bruk Vandeweghe (19)*     $   500
25th- John Brajevic/Chris Young (21)         $   500
25th- Mark Paaluhi/Greg Ryan (22)            $   500
25th- Burke Stefko/Jason Stimpfig (26)*      $   500
25th- Leland Quinn/Matt Winterburn (31)      $   500
25th- John Anselmo/Erik Moore (32)           $   500

PLAYERS

Seedings announced on May 22nd:

Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)
Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly (2)*
Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (3)
Bill Boullianne/Brian Lewis (4)v
Randy Stoklos/Troy Tanner (5)
Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (6) 
Eric Fonoimoana/Bryan Ivie (7)^
Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (8)
Rob Heidger/Raul Papaleo (9)*
Ian Clark/David Swatik (10)v
Ricci Luyties/Jim Nichols (11)*
Scott Friederichsen/Leif Hanson (12)v
Lee LeGrand/Matt Unger (13)v
Henry Russell/Eric Wurts (14)*
Dan Castillo/Jason Ryan Pursley (15)^
Aaron Boss/Nick Hannemann (16)*
Mike Garcia/Justin Perlstrom (17)^
Todd Ahmadi/Curtis Griffin (18)^
Greg Shankle/Bruk Vandeweghe (19)*
Brent Doble/Albert Hannemann (20)*
John Brajevic/Chris Young (21)^
Mark Paaluhi/Greg Ryan (22)^
Daxton Holdren/Kevin Wong (23)*
Daniel Cardenas/Andre Gomez (24)*
James Fellows/Lance Lyons (25)
Burke Stefko/Jason Stimpfig (26)*
Matt Lyles/Kevin Martin (27)*
Eduardo Garrido/Carlos Loss (28)
Guilherme Marques/R Para (29)
Aaron Smith/David Smith (30)
Leland Quinn/Matt Winterburn (31)
John Anselmo/Erik Moore (32)

NOTES: Number in brackets "(#)" reflects the teams seeding
       * = New Team (from previous week)
       ^ - movement up from last week
       v - movement down from last week

DATE

May 24-25, 1997

LOCATION

   St. Mary's University
   San Antonio, Texas

PRIZE MONEY

$100,000

TELEVISION

Fox Sports Net

TICKETS

   Telecharge  800-432-7470

NUMBER OF TEAMS, FORMAT

32 Teams
Double Elimination

PAST CHAMPIONS


YEAR EVENT BEGAN: Returning after three-year hiatus