Jackson tunes up in style

Without his normal rinkmates around him, Lorne Jackson’s goal last weekend was to hone his own game for the bigger challenge to come. Bringing home a championship was just an added bonus.
Jackson teamed up with his wife, Kathie Jackson, at third, along with the husband-and-wife team of second Rory Ellingson and lead Kelli Ellingson from Cambridge, Mn., to win the annual “Icebox Days” bonspiel here with an 8-0 four-end win over Nick Kantos (International Falls) in the ‘A’-event final.
With the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association regional playdowns in Thunder Bay awaiting him this weekend, Jackson gave himself a thumbs-up for his play during the tune-up event.
“I shot very well and got all the bugs worked out,” said Jackson, whose men’s team of third Don DeBenedet, second Derek Jackson, and lead Wayne Beacham has had a subpar season on the competitive curling circuit so far.
“It’s good to keep playing steady,” he noted. “I got to practice the four-rock rule like what they’ll have in Thunder Bay, and discovered some of the different things you can do with that.”
Jackson also got to see how he held up in pressure situations, as all of his games last weekend—other than the ‘A’ final—came down to the wire.
“You never know what’s going to happen in mixed curling,” chuckled Jackson, who was pleased with the fact he defeated two-time defending champ Raymond Roy in the semi-finals.
“We lost to him two years ago in the final, so that was nice to get that win,” Jackson added.
The ‘A’ final saw Jackson waste no time going after Kantos and his band of sharpshooting seniors, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first end that could have been 4-0 had it not been for Jackson wrecking in front of the house with his final stone.
In the second, Kantos’ third Harry Bell from Fort Frances, who was throwing skip’s stones, faced a delicate hit-and-stick situation to score one. But Bell’s rock didn’t hang around after the takeout, allowing Jackson to steal two.
The third end provided no relief for Bell, who was left facing three Jackson stones in the rings and a mess of rocks out front on his final shot. He tried to draw in, but couldn’t negotiate a path through the guards, giving Jackson a steal of three more and a 7-0 lead.
Jackson jammed up the button with more of his stones in the fourth and when Bell couldn’t remove Jackson’s shot stone on his final attempt of the end, it was handshakes all around.
Meanwhile, the ‘B’-event final pitted Greg Plumridge against the Pattison clan, led by skip Rod Pattison.
With the teams tied 2-2 after three ends, Pattison pulled off a hit-and-stick for three in the fourth to make it 5-2.
Plumridge clawed back into the contest by making an open draw for two in the fifth to pull within one, but Pattison notched another pair in the sixth and then stole two more in the seventh for a 9-4 final.
The ‘C’-event final saw Al Holt fall behind Ken McKinnon 3-0 after three ends, but a steal of one in the fifth, two more in the seventh, and another two in the eighth sealed a 6-3 triumph.
And local curling club president Bill Gushulak proved just because he’s on the executive doesn’t mean his game has gone by the wayside as he downed Glen Edwards 7-6 in a thrilling last-end comeback for the ‘D’-event crown.
Trailing 6-4 entering the eighth end, Gushulak’s third, Ken Jackson, made a stupendous double-takeout to leave the team lying three. Gushulak then made a takeout with his final stone to score three and give his rink the victory.
The curling club will host the annual M.E.C. bonspiel this weekend.