Reed Merschat and Colby Frontiero formed their first bond over riding trials bikes.
Colby was 12 years old at the time and Reed was 16 years old. As Reed puts it, “Not a lot of 16-year-olds want to hang out with 12-year-olds. But Colby’s step-brother talked me into at least taking him on a bike ride.”
It didn’t take long for Reed to be impressed by Colby’s boldness and indifference to authority figures. These qualities would serve both of them well as life’s story unfolded.
The two stayed in touch, but each were heading in different directions. Reed dropped out of college and moved to Portland, Oregon, to pursue filmmaking. He eventually returned to Casper to help open Metro Coffee, then a myriad of start-ups in oil & gas, software, flipping houses, and running the Survivor Antique Mall.
Colby became a language arts teacher at Dean Morgan Junior High and then Natrona County High School. He also spent time rock climbing at an elite level, playing stand-up bass with friends, riding bikes competitively, and playing amateur pool.
The bingo card of life for these two Wyoming kids was interesting.
In 2018 Colby went for a bike ride and used the Strava app on his phone to track his time compared to his friends. Later that night he went to play pool in the local league, and after that, to play at Reed’s place on his home pool table. Many games of pool later the thought occurred to them, “Why isn’t there a tracking app for pool players?”
Reed and Colby floated the idea for a year or so. Their shared boldness and indifference to authority was just what the duo needed to get started on the pool app, Salotto. They competed for a $50,000 grant from Wyoming Kickstart and several other backers joined their journey to building a successful software app.
Now four years later, the Salotto app has just shy of 30,000 downloads and is the go-to billiards scorekeeping and meet-up platform for players meeting one-on-one.
(Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
(Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
(Cowboy State Daily Staff)
One of Salotto’s backers was Casper local, Randy Moser. He too had been bitten by the pool bug and came to Reed and Colby, saying, “I want to open a pool hall and I don’t want to cut corners, do you guys want to help?”
Randy admired the way Reed and Colby operated as passionate, scrappy, and relentless business owners. Salotto was succeeding because they were paying attention to the right things and the fact that they had forged crucial relationships in the billiards industry. He approached them about the idea of opening a pool hall in Casper. Soon, they were off to the races.
In fewer than 18 months, Mint Billiards opened its doors. Through the design and build of Mint Billiards, the team added a fourth member, Gabe Phillips.
If you have eaten at a Casper restaurant in the past three decades, chances are high Gabe served you a plate of food. Gabe took on the task of designing a kitchen and a menu full of gourmet pizza offerings made from scratch…which is exactly what he named it, Scratch Pizzeria.
In August of 2024, the dynamic foursome welcomed their first customers and held their first pool tournaments in this passion-project-turned-business. Patrons are greeted by 20 brand-new Brunswick pool tables, a place to throw darts, a fully-stocked bar, and arguably the best pizza in Wyoming.
“We wanted to build a place that was clean, crisp, and fresh. Nothing like the stigma of pool halls of the past,” said Colby. “We wanted it to be a place where we can bring our kids and not feel guilty. A place that’s just as good for professionals as it is for the first-time player.”
Whether patrons are coming for league play or just a spot to grab a delicious lunch, a feeling of warmth and excellence radiates from every aspect of the building. A nod to both of those aspects is that Brunswick, a premier manufacturer of pool equipment, selected Mint Billiards to become its second-ever Brunswick Arena in the world. This ensures their site will continue to have cutting-edge equipment and also allow them to be part of R&D for the billiards company.
Through Salotto and now Mint Billiards, Reed and Colby have developed a deep respect for pool. “Pool is unlike any other sport we know,” said Colby. “It has the intensity of a sketchy rock climb, but it also feels like a chess match with an infinite number of moves.”
Reed finished Colby’s sentence: “Really, it’s a 40 square foot battlefield. You can dance, you can fight, you can fail, and you can win big.”
Maybe that bike ride 30-years ago was a good idea after all.
