Lucas Punkari
After failing to cash in on a chance to capture the NOCA Region 1 men’s curling title Saturday night at the Fort Frances Curling Club, Trevor Bonot made sure his second attempt at sealing a berth to the provincial playdowns would be successful.
In what was a wild back-and-forth affair, Bonot’s Stratton rink earned a 9-7 extra-end win over Adam Bolen of Fort Frances on Sunday evening to take the regional crown and punch their ticket to Sault Ste. Marie next month.
“This feels pretty good, especially in being able to go back to the provincials for a second time,” said Bonot, who played second on Brian Adams Jr.’s rink during the 2009 provincial championship that was held here.
“It was a crazy weekend with a lot of rocks in play, and it was pretty even when you look at the final standings, so what more could you ask ford,” he added.
Bonot, originally from Stratton but who now lives in Thunder Bay, was in the driver’s seat for the provincial berth Saturday night. His rink sported a 2-1 record in the double round-robin showdown and only had to defeat John Cummine (Sioux Lookout) to assure themselves of the title.
But Cummine played the role of spoiler, earning a 7-3 win in nine ends that prevented Bonot from clinching the title that night.
It also gave the Sioux Lookout rink a chance to punch their own ticket to the provincials the following morning.
“We just came out flat and we ran into a really hot skip as John was just making everything out there,” Bonot recalled.
Cummine’s chance to escape with the title Sunday morning was dashed by Bolen in the final round-robin contest, however, as the local rink took a 8-5 win, which left all three rinks tied at 2-2.
The tie-breaker format for the event was determined by the best average draw shot ranking for all three squads, which gave Bonot a berth straight into the Region 1 final that night.
“I was a little excitable during the course of the day so I was trying to calm myself down,” Bonot admitted.
“Having had a chance slip through our fingers the night before, I didn’t want to have that same thing happen again to us,” he reasoned.
Cummine and Bolen, meanwhile, were back at it in the first tie-breaker game Sunday afternoon, which saw the local skip come out on top once again in a high-scoring 10-8 affair.
“Everyone woke up this morning [Sunday] and knew that we still had a chance,” explained Bolen, who was joined by third Mitch Seguin, second Matt Johnson, and lead Travis Showalter.
“Once we won that first game, we started to get on a bit of a roll,” he noted. “And going into the second game [Sunday night] with the fact that we had just beaten that team, that gave us more of a boost.”
Despite not reaching the final, the Cummine rink, which included third John Davies, second Chris Jefferson, and lead Garth Hyslop, was pleased with their efforts.
“We just came here to have fun and we certainly did that this weekend,” said Cummine, who has been to the regional playdowns 25 times but has yet to qualify for the provincials.
“Even though we were really close this weekend, we still enjoyed our time here and we will be coming back to try again next year,” he vowed.
In the final, it was Bolen who jumped out to an early advantage, holding a 5-2 lead at the fifth-end break.
But Bonot, whose rink included third Scott McCallum, second Tim Jewett, lead Andrew McCormick, and fifth Al Macsemchuk, clawed his way back by picking up a single point with the hammer in the sixth before stealing singles in the next two ends to tie the game at 5-5 going into the ninth.
“I thought that when we were up three that we might have had them on the ropes,” Bolen admitted.
“But Trevor threw some pistols and you can’t beat that,” he reasoned.
“But everyone made some
pistols, though, out there for both teams, which made it one of the best games I’ve ever played in.”
Bolen scored his deuce in the ninth with hammer to take a 7-5 lead coming home, and was sitting shot stone in the four-foot after making a nice freeze with his final rock in the 10th.
That left Bonot with a risky take-out on his final shot to force an extra end. But the skipper made no mistake as he picked up his deuce to keep the game going.
“That was the best shot of the night for me,” Bonot enthused.
“It was one of those situations where you either don’t make it and you lose, or you make it and you have a second life,” he reasoned.
In the extra end, Bolen had a chance to win the Region 1 title on the final shot of the game—needing his stone to work its way through a crowded house and stop in the four-foot.
While the weight was perfect, Bolen’s rock just nicked off one of his stones in the eight-foot, allowing Bonot to come away with a steal of two and a trip to the provincials.
“We had to come through that tight hole and we were just waiting for it to curl,” Bolen said afterwards.
“Once it did curl, we think that the rock might have fudged a little bit, but we have no excuses.
“It was that close and we got really excited, but it ended up coming an inch short,” he sighed.
Although the Bolen rink could try to get into the provincials at the West regional qualifier Jan. 20-22 at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay, they’ll wait another 12 months before trying again.
“We’re just here to have fun and to hang out with the boys, so we’ll just wait until next year to try again,” he explained.
As for the Bonot rink, they now will be preparing for the provincials in Sault Ste. Marie, slated for Feb. 5-12, with the opportunity to represent Northern Ontario at the Tim Hortons Brier in Saskatoon in March on the line.
While the obvious goal is to capture the provincial title and end the two-year reign of Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie), Bonot is keeping his expectations in check.
“Making the playoffs would be a good start,” he remarked.
“After that, we’ll just try and go from there and see what happens,” Bonot smiled.
