Last month was a busy time at the Nanaimo Curling Centre on Wall Street. So we’ll venture onto the ice this week to catch up on some results from bonspiel and league action…
One of the most popular bonspiels of the year is traditionally held in mid-November. It is the Nanaimo Hangover spiel and is put on the by the curlers of the Sunday men’s Hangover League. Again this season, league president Ferdy Hobson headed up the organizing committee for the event. Hobson, along with Tony Brocklehurst, Jim Forrester, Randy Brahniuk and a number of other volunteers, worked hard to make this year’s bonspiel a success.
Midland Tools was the sponsor of the bonspiel’s A event. In the championship final, the only two undefeated teams in the competition squared off. On one side was the local foursome skipped by Tim Cullen; on the other, an Abbotsford entry led by Bob Arksey. It was a well-played final, with no scoring until the third end when Cullen picked up two points. He led 4-2 after seven ends, so Arksey needed a pair in the final end to tie. He could only manage a single, though, so the final was 4-3 for Cullen. Others on the championship team were third Bruce Willgress, second Ward Wiltsey and lead Murray Norby.
Third place in A event went to the Nanaimo team of Craig MacRae, Louis Cavezza, Paul Merkel and Tom Weinreich.
In the final of B event, sponsored by Marks Imports, two Nanaimo teams skipped by Steve Waatainen and Frank Smith faced each other. The game was tied 4-4 after four ends, but Waatainen pulled away with pairs in the fifth and sixth en route to an 8-6 victory. Teammates with Waatainen were third Kevin Weinreich, second Keith Clarke and lead Glenn Waatainen. Smith was backed by Cam Foster, Ken Wilson and Mark Phillips.
Nanaimo teams claimed both third and fourth places in B event. In third was skip Frank Voysey and his team of Bob Hungar, Dan Danylchuk and Ed Stonehouse.
Sponsor for C event in the bonspiel was Christensen Collision. The all-Nanaimo final for that division saw the team of Brian Scorer, George Duffell, Vic Uniat and Wally Funk jump out to a quick 6-0 lead on the way to a 9-2 win over the foursome of Keith Rodway, Karmen Yee, Don Boudot and Rod Edgeworth.
Taking third place in C event was the foursome of Robert Boudreau, Travis Fritz, Rod Hanson and Drew Nanos.
The final of D event, sponsored by M.J. Chahley Construction Group, involved local entries skipped by Don MacDonald and Brendan Neff. In a closely-played contest, MacDonald trailed 5-3 after six ends, but scored one point in the seventh and then stole two more in the eighth end to pull out a 6-5 victory. Others on the MacDonald team were third Scott Forbes, second Trevor Shaw and lead Brad Van Rossum. Teammates with Neff were Kyle Sedola, Gary Noble and Mackenzie Pawliuk.
In third place came Nanaimo skip Mike Chahley and his team of Tony Wright, Rick Herding and Kerry Lucas.
As for league action at the curling centre, the Tuesday night men’s league’s first square of competition has now been completed. Top team in the A division was made up of skip Steve Waatainen, third Kevin Weinreich, second Sean Krepps and lead Keith Clarke. Tops in B division was the foursome of Frank Voysey, Brian Cocks, Patrick Belanger and Jason Wong. Winners of the C division were Fred Carter, Howard Grant, Gary Thiessen and Paul McDowell. Finishing on top of the D division was the team of Ed Greskow, Dave Kolman, Brian West and Jim Robinson.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Saturdays.