When the summer swelter pushes outside temperatures past triple digits in Southeast Texas, local pinball athletes head inside to battle for silver ball supremacy. On Tuesday night at The Game Preserve in Spring, hometown favorite Nicholas Gustafson put on an absolute clinic in competitive stamina. The IFPA #1243 ranked competitor stepped up to the flippers as the clear rating favorite in a tight, twelve-player field and delivered a masterclass in survival.
Operating under classic Group Knockout rules, every single bad bounce or drained outlane carried tournament-ending weight. Yet Gustafson remained cool under the neon glow, capturing his third tournament championship in his last five circuit appearances. It was a dominant performance from drop-in to the final pop bumper count, cementing his reputation as one of Texas’s most dangerous knockout specialists.
Steady Flipper Work Through the Early Knocks
The Game Preserve provided a legendary arena for tonight’s contest, offering rows of vintage cabinets, nostalgic tunes humming from the digital jukebox, and that iconic silver DeLorean parked out front. In a compact field of eight ranked veterans and four unranked challengers, early survival meant avoiding catastrophic group finishes. Gustafson adopted a disciplined, low-risk strategy right out of the gate. He consistently secured safe second-place finishes across the opening four rounds on heavy hitters like Stern’s Nascar and Bally’s 1994 classic World Cup Soccer.
While visiting challengers like David Pollock and Stephanie Manley took early round victories, Gustafson quietly banked survival points. Even when the playfield turned treacherous during Round 3 on Ghostbusters (Pro), where Pollock and Daniel Koba pushed him down to third place, Gustafson kept his focus locked in. He bounced right back in Round 4 on Williams’ 1980 solid-state staple Firepower, trailing only Daniel Koba to safely advance into the mid-game traffic.
Surviving the Thirty-One Minute Deadpool Faceoff
The entire momentum of the evening shifted dramatically as the tournament crossed into its middle stages. Gustafson found his aggressive gear in Round 5, putting up a commanding first-place finish on Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast to leave Noah Koba and Daniel Koba in his wake. That victory set the stage for Round 6, an absolute grueling thirty-one minute four-player marathon on Stern’s 2018 Deadpool (Pro).
Designed by legendary craftsman George Gomez, Deadpool (Pro) is a modern arena featuring an aerial habitrail modeled after a Japanese samurai sword and a spring-articulated Lil’ Deadpool bash toy. Top contenders Hayden Crookham, Noah Koba, Daniel Koba, and Gustafson went toe-to-toe on the illuminated playfield. Smart competitors know to fire at the right orbit immediately on this layout, ensuring all other major shots earn Chimichanga progress toward qualifying high-scoring Quests. Crookham executed brilliantly to take the top spot, but Gustafson ground out a vital second-place finish to outlast both Koba brothers.
Crookham was putting together a monstrous tournament of his own, ultimately posting the top score on five of the nine machines he played on his way to a third-place overall finish. But Gustafson refused to yield ground. In Round 7, he took his talents to Bally’s 1986 Motordome, firing precise shots to claim first place over ongoing rival Ben Whittington.
Late Danger on Guardians and a Fastbreak Counterpunch
No pinball athlete captures a knockout crown without facing at least one moment of pure, unadulterated adversity. That dramatic test arrived in Round 8 on Stern’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Whittington and Noah Koba found the multiball rhythms early, forcing Gustafson into a dangerous third-place finish that threatened to derail his entire championship campaign.
With his back against the wall in Round 9, Gustafson answered like a seasoned pro on Bally’s NBA Fastbreak. Facing off against the remaining powerhouse trio of Whittington, Noah Koba, and Crookham, Gustafson dominated the paint. He racked up a decisive first-place finish, eliminating competitors and setting up a final head-to-head showdown.
Championship Horizon on Elvira and the Party Monsters
The tournament’s tenth and final round came down to a classic Texas duel between Gustafson and Whittington on Bally’s 1989 horror-comedy hit, Elvira and the Party Monsters. The two share a fierce, ongoing circuit rivalry, having crossed competitive paths across fourteen shared tournaments. Whittington entered the match riding a red-hot, four-event active podium streak, but Gustafson maintained the upper hand tonight. Over an intense eleven-minute battle, Gustafson controlled the flippers to seal first place in the round and lock down the overall tournament victory.
This triumph adds serious momentum to Gustafson’s season arc as he climbs the Texas NACS standings, where he currently sits at #64. Having reached a career peak IFPA ranking of #826 earlier this year, his dominant performance across 23 grueling tournament games proves he is primed for an even bigger national breakthrough. Whittington’s runner-up finish keeps his incredible podium streak alive, while Crookham and Noah Koba bowed out tied for a well-earned third place. When the flippers finally fell silent in Spring, the final standings reflected an unforgettable evening of arcade grit:
Tied for Third:
- 1st Place: Nicholas Gustafson
- 2nd Place: Ben Whittington
- 3rd Place: Noah Koba
- 3rd Place: Hayden Crookham
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