--- title: "Shootout Final Tonight: Van Boening, Cousins Into Last Eight" url: https://billiardnews.net/national-shootout-final-tonight-van-boening-cousins-first-into-quarter-finals published: 2026-11-04T17:09:55Z updated: 2026-11-04T17:10:42Z summary: "Shane Van Boening and Tom Cousins won their second-round matches to set the first quarter-final of the National Shootout, whose champion is decided at about 10:30 p.m. ET tonight in Cherokee." author: "BilliardNews Editorial" categories: ["Tournaments"] tags: ["Cherokee", "Grand Finals", "National Shootout", "Shane Van Boening", "Ultimate Pool"] lang: en --- # Shootout Final Tonight: Van Boening, Cousins Into Last Eight *Round two is still playing down on the TV table at Harrah's Cherokee � but the first quarter-final is already set, and the record has settled the Woodward�Charlton question.* The headline event of the [2026 Ultimate Pool USA Grand Finals](/ultimate-pool-usa-grand-finals-league-pool-s-biggest-week-opens-in-cherokee) crowns its champion tonight at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort, with the National Shootout final scheduled for approximately 10:30 p.m. ET — the last stop of a single-elimination sprint that cuts the field from 16 to one across Wednesday. At midday, round two was still playing down on the arena TV table. Two of the eight last-16 matches were complete, one was in progress, and five more were scheduled through the afternoon. ## Van Boening, Cousins set the first quarter-final Shane Van Boening's strong week rolled on with an 8-4 win over Manny Perez in Wednesday's earliest second-round match, a follow-up to his 9-1 opening demolition of Dalton Comstock. Tom Cousins matched that pace, stopping Shane McMinn 7-1 after his own 5-1 first-round win over Hayden Ernst. The winners were paired immediately: Van Boening meets Cousins in the first quarter-final at 6 p.m. ET — the only last-eight matchup already locked in, and a guaranteed semifinalist from the bracket's most imposing quarter. ## The rest of the round-two slate At press time, Chris Melling led Dennis Hatch 4-2 in the round's second session. Five more matches complete the last 16 through the afternoon: - Jesus Atencio vs defending champion Craig Waddingham, about 12:15 p.m. ET - Joven Bustamante vs Roberto Gomez, 1 p.m. - Eric Charlton vs Oscar Dominguez, 1:45 p.m. - Justin Bergman vs Declan Brennan, 2:30 p.m. - Rodney Morris vs Joe Prince, 3:15 p.m. Every one of those carries a storyline. Atencio knocked out Tyler Styer in the round's biggest first-round upset and now draws Waddingham, who has dropped just two racks so far. Brennan, who ended Johnny Archer's Shootout run for the second straight year in a tiebreak shootout, gets Bergman. And Morris against Prince closes the round in a meeting of two of the field's most experienced hands. ## The record settles Woodward–Charlton Tuesday's strangest entry is resolved. The scoring line for Skyler Woodward's opener against Eric Charlton recorded a 5-1 Charlton win, yet the bracket briefly carried Woodward into the last 16 — a contradiction flagged in [Tuesday's recap](/van-boening-waddingham-roll-as-styer-archer-exit-shootout-opener). Both scoring services now agree: the score was correct, and it is Charlton who advances to face Dominguez this afternoon. ## The road to the final The four quarter-finals run at 6, 6:45, 7:30 and 8:15 p.m. ET, followed by the semifinals at 9 and 9:45 p.m. The final is scheduled for approximately 10:30 p.m., all of it on the arena table. Ultimate Pool has not published a prize fund for the invitational Shootout — the title itself is the signature individual trophy of Grand Finals week, in a festival where the 8-Ball Teams championship pays $12,000. The full week's schedule and published payouts are collected in [pool4.org's Grand Finals guide](https://pool4.org/2026-ultimate-pool-usa-grand-finals-schedule-payouts). Whoever lifts the trophy tonight will have won four matches in a single day — and likely beaten at least one of the biggest names in American pool to do it.