Jackson overcomes Zone West hurdle

Lorne Jackson almost waited too long.
He got pushed to the cliff’s edge, but managed to dig in his heels to defeat fellow Fort Frances skip Kevin Busch 10-1 to capture the ‘C’ event at the Zone West bonspiel in Kenora yesterday.
With the weekend event representing the last chance for those wanting to qualify for the northwesterns Jan. 15-18 in Thunder Bay, it took Jackson to the last possible opportunity to finally ensure his return to the playdowns.
He ran up the lead early on Busch and the teams shook hands after six ends as Jackson and his team of third Don DeBenedet, second Derek Jackson, and lead Wayne Beacham now look to make it back to the provincials for the second time.
At last year’s northwesterns, Jackson fell 4-3 to eventual Northern Ontario champ Scott Henderson in the last-chance final.
Busch and Garry Windigo skipped the other two Fort rinks at the Zone West bonspiel, but both failed to qualify for Thunder Bay.
Their overall records and game scores, as well as Jackson’s other game scores, were unavailable at press time today.
Steve Meadows (Kenora) won the ‘A’ event while another hometown favourite, Jeff Reich, captured the ‘B’ event.
Those two will join Jackson in Thunder Bay along with Henderson, Zone 7 qualifier Rob Shubat (Atikokan), Bryan Burgess (Thunder Bay), Ron Rosengren (Thunder Bay), Denis Malette (Thunder Bay), Jeff Currie (Thunder Bay), Reece Allison (Dryden), Glenn Keenan (Manitouwadge), Ken Blackwood (Terrace Bay), Jeff Zechner (Nipigon), Frank Stocco (Longlac), Murray Affleck (Kenora), and Ken Anderson (Red Lake).
The top three rinks will move on to the provincial showdown Feb.
10-14 in Sault Ste. Marie.