Forty-four teams will compete in the 53rd-annual Fort Frances men’s bonspiel, which will gets underway here late tomorrow afternoon.
Rick Grenda, who is helping organize the bonspiel, said local rinks will be vying for top honours in the ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D’ events with ones from Dryden, Kenora, Sioux Narrows, and Thunder Bay.
“[The size] is pretty well the same as any other year,” he remarked, adding the curlers will win prizes, not cash.
The first draw, will starts tomorrow at 5 p.m., will feature Rod Pattison vs. Mike Kjerulf, Doug Currie vs. Kevin Busch, Clare Brunnetta vs. Doug Boyd, and Ernie Brunetta vs. Greg Gustafson.
The 7 p.m. draw tomorrow will see Ron Bridgeman vs. Tom Mayer, Raymond Roy vs. Rick Weidenhoeft, Bill Easton vs. Bill Gushulak, Al Holt vs. Don DeBenedet, Paul Fraser vs. Eddie Vold, and Jeff McEachern vs. Everett Jackson.
Then the 9 p.m. draw will pit Scott Gobiel vs. Mike Asplund, Lee Donaldson vs. Will Windigo, Lorne Jackson vs. Rob Badiuk, John Desaulniers vs. Rob Roy Donaldson, Ken McKinnon vs. Brian Beacham, and Tom Fry vs. Jr. Windigo.
First-round matches will wrap up at 1 p.m. on Friday with Robert Shultz vs. Matthew Snow, Dean Armstrong vs. Ray Rousseau, Ray Lavoie vs. Lorne Gibson, Darryl McLeod vs. Bryan Bonot, William Hillback vs. Clyde Ditmars, and Rob Sinclair Jr. vs. Ron Silver.
Raymond Roy is the defending champ, downing Rob Sinclair Jr. 6-1 in just six ends in the ‘A’ final last year.
Clare Brunetta took the ‘B’ crown last year with a 7-5 win over Everett Jackson in the final while Don DeBenedet captured the ‘C’ title after beating Craig Armstrong 7-3.
Tim Nordin was the ‘D’ champ after downing Don Macsemchuk 5-2 in the final last year.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
