For the first time in its history, a junior rink captured the Alexander Keith’s Men’s International Bonspiel held over the weekend at the Fort Frances Curling Club.
Club committee chair Tom Fry, also a longtime coach with the Muskie curling program, appeared to be only half-joking when he called it a “changing of the guard.”
Mike Badiuk, along with his team of Sean Murray, Travis Showalter, and Mitch Seguin, earned a 10-5 win in the ‘A’ final Sunday afternoon over the veteran Paul Fraser rink.
“This is the first time in my recollection that we’ve had the junior team in the finals,” noted Fry.
Fraser’s team of Dave Evans, Ron Martinuk, and Jim Ballard were praised by Fry during the awards ceremony for their numerous previous wins in the event.
But even with that experience, it was not enough to hold off the youngsters.
Badiuk opened the final with three points in the first end to jump out to the early lead. Fraser answered right back, however, getting a deuce in the second end and then stealing one in the third.
But the game turned when Badiuk managed a huge five-ender in the fourth to build a commanding 8-3 lead. The two teams then traded points the rest of the way.
Badiuk’s crew earned a spot in the ‘A’ final after rolling through the first four draws against strong teams. Tom Wherley, Matt Miller, Ed Vold, and Ron Bridgeman all fell at the hands of the talented high school skip.
Fraser, meanwhile, posted wins over Ron MacKinnon, who went on to win the ‘B’ final Sunday, Clare Brunetta, Raymond Roy, and Don DeBenedet.
Rob Gushulak, who skipped a team put together at the last minute to round out the field to an even 32 teams, ended up reaching the ‘B’ final.
After losing their opener to Bryan Bonot, Gushulak reeled off wins against Trevor Szmon, Wherley, and Ev Jackson before falling to MacKinnon in their last game.
MacKinnon’s road to winning the ‘B’ crown included victories over Bill Hudson, John Jordbro, and Dale Jackson after their opening loss to Fraser.
Bonot won the ‘C’ final Sunday against Bill Gushulak.
Despite failing to attract a full field of 36 teams, the bonspiel appeared to have been a great success.
“It’s been excellent, excellent, excellent,” curling club manager Rick Grenda enthused during Sunday’s final. “We’ve had good crowds and everyone is having a blast.”
The club will wrap up its season with the annual “Last Chance” mixed bonspiel on April 12. Contact the club for more details.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
