2016 USPA AMERICA CUP TOURNAMENT COVERAGE | U.S. POLO ASSN.

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2016 USPA AMERICA CUP TOURNAMENT COVERAGE

Aug 02, 2016

Pipe Vercellino America Cup Santa Barbara Polo Club

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., August 1, 2016---The California sun has been drenching the Santa Barbara Polo Club which has fared well for the beautiful grass fields. With all six teams in hot pursuit of the third tournament of the summer, the competition heats up as the weeks go on.

After two rounds of play, Farmers & Merchant Bank (FMB) is the only team to emerge with two victories, one against Restoration Hardware (RH) in overtime and the second against Lucchese. FMB players, Dan Walker, Lucas Criado, Joaquin Panelo and Herndon Radcliff are looking to capture their second consecutive tournament of the summer, after recently winning the USPA Maserati Silver Cup. On Friday, in their final game of bracket play, FMB will match up against FMB Too! Both teams field a Walker brother and with older brother Dan Walker taking the victory in their last face off after a fabulous comeback, Henry Walker of FMB Too! will be looking to take this one home.

Right behind Farmers & Merchants Bank are four teams holding strong with a 1-1 record. Restoration Hardware lost to FMB in overtime and pulled out a victory over Klentner Ranch in a tough fought match. Team USPA player Costi Caset, is pairing well with Adam Snow and continues to make a significant difference for RH.

Team USPA Costi Caset Restoration Hardware America Cup Santa Barbara Polo Club

Klentner Ranch hit the ground running, beating FMB Too! in their first match, but RH got the best of the them in the Sunday game. Klentner Ranch will play the first game on Friday against Lucchese which could set the stage for a round of shootouts depending on the result. Lucchese also holds a 1-1 record.

Team USPA Jesse Bray Klentner Ranch America Cup Santa Barbara Polo Club

FMB Too! flexed their muscles against SD Farms, bringing home a 12-7 win. Pipe Vercellino continues to be a scoring machine while Paco de Narvaez’s father, Francisco de Narvaez, proves to be a force to be reckoned with. The SD Farms team has only played two games thus far. Alan Martinez will be joining the lineup for the remainder of the tournament, replacing Marcos Llambias.

Competition will be fierce for the final round of bracket play on Friday. Matches will take place at 2pm, 5pm and 7pm ET.

Photos courtesy of David Lominska

Sterling Giannico SD Farms America Cup Santa Barbara Polo Club