Austin Hill is an eighteen year old up and coming pool player from Oshkosh, WI.
At the age of five, Austin started playing pool and traveling to tournaments with his father. By the time he was twelve, he had already started competing and fell in love with the game.
Austin is now a sponsored pool player with Pechauer Cues, and took first place in the 2015 Wisconsin Junior 9-Ball State Championship (sponsored by Jacoby Custom Cues) in Nekoosa, WI. There, he qualified for a spot in the BEF junior nationals tournament being held August 4-7 in Las Vegas, NV.
Recently, Austin has taken an interest in cue maintenance and repair (such as tip replacement, shaft refurbishing, and installing new wraps.) Someday he hopes to become a custom cue maker, and looks forward to becoming a professional pool player and making his business grow.
I asked Austin what the most important part of his game is. He said shot selection and his break were key.
One pocket is Austin’s favorite game, and he likes to play on diamond pool tables while using a Pechauer cue.
Austin plans on representing the state of Wisconsin at junior nationals and is working very hard to gather the money to go.
Due to winning the 15-18 age division at the 2015 junior 9-Ball state championship, Austin will receive a $250.00 travel fund from Jacoby Custom Cues and the Wisconsin Artistic Pool Player Association.
Austin is a force to reckon with no matter what game he is playing, and we look forward to seeing him represent the state of Wisconsin in Las Vegas.
If you are ever in the Fox Valley area and are looking for a game or someone to repair your cue, you might want to give Austin Hill a chance.
From left to right (featured photo): JD Prestegard, 3rd place; Austin Hill, 1st place; Xzaviar Aune, 2nd place.
Ben Zeman is an artistic pool player. The #1 artistic pool promoter in the state of Wisconsin, he is the founder of the Wisconsin Artistic Pool Player Association (WAPPA.)
Dakotah Schmidtknecht was born in Wisconsin on in 1994. His pool life began with his father. SIx months after Dakotah was born, he bought a bar/resort/restaurant, and started shooting league. All Dekotah ever wanted to do was be just like him, so naturally as soon as he could hold a pool stick he did, and he’s been playing since he was four years old. A serious pool career didn’t start until his grandfather bought him his first cue. It was a Minnesota Fatts red light-up cue. He spent days practicing on his Grandfather’s eight foot Olhausen. In his late teens, he started to sub on his dad’s pool team, and went from losing to beating the top players in the league. These days he’s working with the Wisconsin Artistic Pool Players Association as an administrator, and being sponsored by them for artistic pool. “I think my biggest moment in billiards to date is when I met Florian Kohler, and as my artistic pool grows I am able to ask his advice. It’s amazing to me that a master like him will take time to help an amateur like me.” Photo: provided by Ben Zeman (author) Editor: Hannah Murray-King