Bolen named all-star skip

Considering they had practised as a team only once before they headed to Thunder Bay for the junior men’s Northwestern Ontario playdowns last week, the local rink of Adam Bolen exceeded all expectations they had.
“That was the first time we had ever played together as a team so we’re really pleased with the way things worked out,” said Bolen, whose rink of David Kaun, Chris Jodoin, and Michael McKay finished with a 3-4 record in the eight-team tournament.
The late addition of Jodoin, who hails from Pinewood, gave the Fort Frances Curling Club reps precious little time to practice together before going up against much more experienced teams.
“For the length of time they were together, they played exceptionally well,” said coach June Bonot.
“Those Thunder Bay teams had around 40 games under their belts and they’re always playing against high-calibre teams, so we knew the competition was going to be tough, but the team did very well,” Bonot added.
Adding to the experience was Bolen being named the all-star skip for his overall performance during the playdowns, which was a surprise to the Fort Frances native.
“I couldn’t believe it. I knew that I curled good, but I didn’t think that I curled that good, so I was proud of that,” said Bolen, who already is looking forward to next year’s playdowns.
The rink opened play last Thursday with a 7-3 loss to Jeff Sargent (Fort William Curling Club), then fell 8-6 to Andrew Nerpin (Marathon Curling Club).
Bolen then dropped to 0-3 with a narrow 11-10 loss to Taylor Kallos (Fort William Curling Club) on Friday morning, but followed that with an 8-7 win over Andrew McMillan (Eagle’s Landing Curling Club in Dryden).
They then finished play Friday with a 7-5 win over Mike Frostiak (Red Lake Curling Club).
Bolen started Saturday with a 9-4 loss to Trevor Bonot (Port Arthur Curling Club), but closed out the round-robin with a 8-2 win over Andrew Brown (Geraldton Curling Club).
“It was a great experience and we got to see the competition, so we know what to expect next year,” said Bolen.
“With each game, we played better and better, so we’re really looking forward to next year,” he added.
And at least next time around they’ll have more than a week of practice.
< *c>Bonot advances
Meanwhile, Trevor Bonot, originally from Stratton and now attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, was one of the two teams that advanced to the provincials coming up Jan. 13-15 in Kapuskasing.
The Bonot rink, which included Aaron Stewart, Eric Theriault, and Alexander Walsh, wasn’t even supposed to be in the playdowns because they had finished third in the city’s qualifier.
But a lack of teams from the surrounding areas earned Bonot an invite.
“We got in the back door and we took advantage of it,” said Bonot, who went 6-1 in the round-robin and then beat Kallos, who also sported a 6-1 record, in a tie-breaker by a 10-5 score to emerge as the top team.
Kallos was the other rink to qualify for the provincials next month.
“We weren’t even supposed to make it this far, so everything is a bonus now,” added Bonot. “We thought we had a chance, and we played well and everything just worked out.”
Also adding a wrinkle to the tournament was that Bonot’s mother, June, was the coach of Bolen’s rink, but no conflicts of interest were seen when the two teams met in the round-robin.
“We just laughed about it because [Adam and I] are really good friends,” said Trevor Bonot.
“That was a little bit awkward, but the coaches didn’t have to get involved because both teams played well,” said June, who watched her son beat her team by a 9-4 count.
“We’re very pleased that he moved on because it’s been his lifelong goal to represent Canada,” she added.
But first they will have to get past the competition next month in Kapuskasing.
“And now we’re going in as the underdog again because no one really knows us, but we have confidence that we can play and hopefully win some games,” Bonot said.