The tension at the top of the leaderboard reached its peak during a grueling twenty-one-minute battle on Stern’s 2019 Jurassic Park (Pro). In the fifth and final round of the night, top contenders Kevin Jin and Kevin Ehlers locked horns in a pivotal four-player group alongside Victor Petersen and Diane Smith. With crucial points on the line, kevin jin navigated the layout masterfully to secure a first-place group finish and 7.00 points, leaving Ehlers to settle for second place and 5.00 points. Petersen captured third for 3.00 points, while Smith took fourth to earn 1.00 point. This late-stage collision was the defining dramatic beat of the tournament, sending immediate ripples through the standings and ultimately forging a massive logjam on the podium.
High Stakes in a Brewpub Haven
The stage for this dramatic conclusion was set earlier that Monday evening at the North Mountain Brewing Company in Phoenix. Patrons and players alike were treated to a laid-back atmosphere filled with the scent of American pub fare and the glow of dim overhead lighting bouncing off cherrywood tables. The venue’s dedicated arcade room houses a well-maintained twelve-machine lineup spanning titles from 2013 to 2025, creating a perfect battleground for the local competitive scene.
The North Mountain Brewing League 2026 2.6 event utilized a Group Match Play format, pitting players against each other in four-player groups over five distinct rounds. While the twenty-one-player turnout represents a standard, classic weekly scale, the concentration of talent in the room was exceptionally dense. Twenty of the participants were IFPA-ranked, boasting a national average rank of 5083 and featuring three top-1000 competitors. On the regional level, the field was even more daunting: twenty Arizona NACS ranked players brought a formidable average state rank of 158 into the building, highlighted by Andrew Kohtz, who currently holds the number 25 spot in the state.
Early Tremors on the Road to the Finals
Long before the final round settled the podium, the tightly packed field traded heavy blows in grueling, protracted matchups. The defining intensity of the night was previewed in Round 2 during a marathon game on the 2022 release, Rush (Pro). The music-themed machine demands precise combo work and careful management of the action button to divert ramp shots.
In a closely matched twenty-two-minute game, Sophia Sanders delivered a brilliant performance to capture the top spot and 7.00 points. She outlasted the eventual podium threat Kevin Jin, who took second. The group also featured Kristofer Jonson, a player on a genuine upward trajectory this season who now sits at IFPA #3381, taking third. Paul Hoeprich, who has been quietly leveling up over the past year to IFPA #3753, rounded out the grueling four-player bout. Sanders’ hard-fought victory proved that no points would come easily in such a tightly matched field.
Smith’s Methodical March and Rivalry Shifts
While the rest of the pack cannibalized each other’s points, Jim Smith executed a clinical run to the top of the leaderboard. The top-seeded player, entering with a peak career rank of 386 and an active sixteen-year history spanning 769 total tournaments, was an undeniable force. Smith dominated the arenas, putting up the top score on three of the five machines he played on his way to first place. His dominance was on full display with group wins on Avengers: Infinity Quest (Premium) in Round 1, Jurassic Park (Pro) in Round 2, and Elvira’s House of Horrors (Premium) in Round 4.
Smith’s campaign was fueled by critical rivalry victories that altered the historical landscape. He widened his head-to-head advantage over Kevin Ehlers to 6-3 with a superior final placement. Furthermore, Smith managed to break a standing tie with Diane Smith, taking a 3-2 lead in their shared competitive history. He also secured another win over Kristofer Jonson, pushing his lead in that matchup to 5-3. However, Stephan Klein, who is on the climb this season at IFPA #3087, refused to yield; Klein matched Smith’s pace to pull even at three wins apiece in their head-to-head record.
Settling the Jammed Podium
When the dust settled after the final flips of Round 5, the ripples of those heavily contested group banks crystalized into a fascinating final standing. Jim Smith’s unrelenting trio of group victories safely secured his outright first-place finish. Jeremy Reiman leveraged highly consistent play—including critical first-place finishes in Rounds 3 and 5—to claim second place overall. Reiman’s strong night also allowed him to tie his shared history with Kevin Ehlers at two wins apiece.
Behind the top two, the bottleneck created by the climactic Jurassic Park showdown fully materialized. Kevin Ehlers and Kevin Jin, the combatants in that twenty-one-minute match, found themselves locked in a massive tie for third place alongside Stephan Klein and Jared Harris. Klein earned his share of the bronze with a brilliant mid-tournament surge, sweeping his groups in Rounds 2, 3, and 4. Harris punched his ticket to the podium by winning his final three rounds, capping his night with a critical victory on Godzilla (Premium).
The North Mountain Brewing League 2026 2.6 showcased the undeniable depth of the Arizona pinball community. With twenty-one deeply competitive players battling through a dense, mathematically fierce field, the event proved that a standard local draw can produce high-level drama, shifting rivalries, and thrilling deadlocks at the top of the leaderboard.
No comment yet, add your voice below!