Staff
It was deuces wild for Trevor Bonot yesterday.
The Stratton native, who now curls out of the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay, used four two-enders to down fellow Port Arthur skip Matthew Johnson 8-5 in the first draw of the men’s West qualifier in Geraldton.
The top three finishers in the round-robin competition will advance to the men’s provincial championship Feb. 5-8 in Kenora.
Johnson, who sports Isaac Keffer of Fort Frances at third, answered Bonot’s opening pair with one in the second to make it 2-1.
But Bonot responded with two more in the third, then stole two in the fourth for a 6-1 lead.
Johnson fought back with back-to-back deuces in the fifth and sixth ends to cut the lead to one.
But Bonot blanked the seventh, then tallied a pair in the eighth.
Johnson was unable to score with the hammer over the final two ends.
Bonot had a bye in the second draw this morning while Johnson evened his record at 1-1 with a 7-6 win over Bryan Burgess (Kakabeka Falls).
This afternoon, Bonot will challenge Mike Assad (Geraldton) while Johnson faces defending Northern Ontario champ Jeff Currie.
Then tonight will see Bonot meet Cory Nephin (Geraldton) while Johnson takes on Bay’s Ben Mikkelsen (Fort William Curling Club).
Bonot will battle Mikkelsen while Johnson takes on Nephin tomorrow afternoon.
Bonot then gets Burgess tomorrow night.
Sunday morning’s final round-robin draw will pit Johnson against Assad and Bonot versus Currie.
Tie-breakers, if needed, will follow to determine the top three teams.
