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US Team Wins MCA Bonspiel
Sunday Jan 22 2012The 124th MCA Men’s Bonspiel has come to a close. The world’s largest bonspiel which started on Thursday, January 19 with 352 teams competing in 17 different clubs in Winnipeg and surrounding area. With the completion of the Bonspiel the final five berths into the Safeway Championship were awarded to the following teams: Dave Johnson, Pembina, Carl German, West St Paul, Trevor Loreth, West Kildonan, Curtis McCannell, Pilot Mound, and Bruce Jones, St. Vital. This completes the 32-team field for the Safeway Championship to be held February 8 to 12 in Dauphin, MB. Johnson, German and Loreth won their berth’s through their placement in the Bonspiel while McCannell and Jones were required to play one game play offs on Monday for the final two spots.
In addition to the final berths being awarded 13 event finals were played Monday. In the Asham (main) Event the Craig Brown team from Green Bay Wisconsin become the first non-Manitoba team to win the Bonspiel since 1953 when R Dunbar shared in the Bonspiel title with Mac Scales. They become the first non-Manitoba team to win the Bonspiel outright since 1929 when J.G. MacDonald of Fort William, Ont won the title. The Brown foursome took the title by defeating Sean Grassie from Deer Lodge 5-2 in the final game. Brown scored singles in 1, 3 and 4 to take a 3 to 0 lead. Grassie came back with 1 in 5 and a steal of 1 in six to make it 3 to 2 but Brown scored 2 in 7 to take a 5 to 2 lead, which is how the game ended. The Brown team actually played with 3 players for the final game as skip Craig Brown had to return to the US early.
BROWN:
101 100 2x = 5
GRASSIE
000 011 0x =2
In other event finals..........
Safeway-Lucerne: Dave Johnson, Pembina 8, Jason Gunnlaugson, Assiniboine Memorial 5
Free Press: Trevor Loreth, West Kildonan 8, Jared Kolomaya, Stonewall 2
Chas Fidler and Son: Mike Mahon, Deer Lodge 7, Ian Beavis, Fort Rouge 6
thecurler.com: Mark Lukowich, West Kildonan 6, Louis Wenden, Ft. Garry 2
LaFarge Construction: Derek Samagalski, West St Paul 6, Scott Barenz, Charleswood 5
Lazer Grant: James Scott, Fort Rouge 7, Gord Green, Fort Rouge 1
Bituminex Paving: Darryl Friesen, St. Vital 6 Jay Packard, Milwaukee 1
Manitoba Hydro: Daniel Birchard, Pembina 6, Derek Dowsett, Stonewall 4
8-Ender: Curtis Joyal, Springfield 8, Jack Clarke, Thistle 1
Manitoba Pork Council: Pat Carson, Fort Rouge 6, Doug Hamblin, Wildewood 3
Monsanto Canada: Paul Scinocca, St. Vital 8, Jesse Boulet, Rossmere 6
Canada’s Web Shop: Larry Liebrecht, West St Paul 8, Darryl Berard, Heather 1
The complete list for the Safeway Championship is as follows..........
Jeff Stoughton (Charleswood): Defending Champion
Mike McEwen (Assiniboine Memorial): CTRS Berth
Dean Dunstone (Rossmere): MCT Event Berth
Kyle Foster (Arborg): Safeway Bonspiel Berth
Rob Van Kommer (Carberry): Safeway Bonspiel Berth
Rob Fowler (Brandon): MCT Champion
William Lyburn (Deer Lodge); MCT Berth
Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge): MCT Berth
Rae Hainstock (Burntwood): Norman Region
Brad Hyrich (Flin Flon): Norman Region
Glen Toews (Dauphin): Parkland Region
Rae Kujanpaa (Dauphin): Parkland Region
Jared Kolomaya (Stonewall): Interlake Region
Rob Atkins (East St.Paul): Interlake Region
David Hamblin (Morris): Central Region
Dean North (Carman): Central Region
Richard Muntain (Pinawa): Eastman Region
Murray Woodward (Ste.Anne): Eastman Region
Kelly Skinner (Brandon): Westman Region
Terry McNamee (Brandon): Westman Region
Kelly Robertson (Neepawa): Westman Region
Vic Peters (West Kildonan): Winnipeg Region
Jim Coleman (Pembina): Winnipeg Region
Scott Ramsay (Granite): Winnipeg Region
Jason Gunnlaugson (Assiniboine Memorial): Winnipeg Region
Dave Elias (West Kildonan): Winnipeg Region
Jerry Chudley (Neepawa): Brandon Men's Bonspiel Berth
Dave Johnson (Pembina): MCA Men’s
Carl German (West St Paul): MCA Men’s
Trevor Loreth (West Kildonan): MCA Men’s
Curtis McCannell (Pilot Mound): MCA Men’s
Bruce Jones (St. Vital): MCA Men’s
** The 7pm (Granite CC) of the 124th MCA Bonspiel's main Asham Event wil feature former US National Champion Craig Brown-Green Bay against former Canadian Mixed Champion Sean Grassie-Deer Lodge. Brown, who defeated Jared Kolomaya-Stonewall (4-3) in the semi-final, would become the first US-based team to win the MCA bonspiel Championship (formerly Grand Aggregate) since 1952 when R. Dunbar-St Paul was the winner. Grassie defeated Dave Johnson-Pembina (6-2). The last Deer Lodge team to win the Grand Aggregate trophy was skipped by Ron Gauthier in 2002. Since neither Grassie, who is already qualified, nor Brown were eligible to win the Asham Event entry to the Safeway Championship, five berths were available through the Safeway-Lucerne and Winnipeg Free Press Events.
CurlManitoba has confirmed Safeway Championship eligibility Monday morning. Loreth, German, and Johnson are eligible and have been awarded berths. Evan and Lee are ineligible while Kolomaya, Gunnlaugson and Dunstone are already in the Safeway Championship.
Given that, two playoff games will take place Monday evening at Granite - Curtis McCannell-Pilot Mound vs Geoff Trimble-Carberry and Robert Baldwinson-Fort Garry vs Bruce Jones-St Vital to determine the final two Safeway Championship berths.
The other event final match-ups are:
AT GRANITE:
BITUMINEX PAVING: ICE 6 FRIESEN, DARRYL ST VITAL vs PACKARD, JAY MILWAUKEE
THECURLER.COM: ICE 4 WENDEN, LOUIS FT GARRY LUKOWICH, MARK W. KILDONA
8-ENDER: ICE 7 CLARKE, JACK THISTLE vs JOYAL, CURTIS SPRINGFIEL
CANADA'S WEB SHOP: ICE 3 LIEBRECHT, LARRY W. ST. PAU BERARD, DARRYL HEATHER
AT ROSSMERE:
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS: ICE 203 LORETH, TREVOR W. KILDONA vs KOLOMAYA, JARED STONEWALL
MANITOBA HYDRO: ICE 204 BIRCHARD, DANIEL PEMBINA vs DOWSETT, DEREK STONEWALL
LAFARGE CONSTRUCTION: ICE 205 SAMAGALSKI, DEREK W. ST. PAU vs BARENZ, SCOTT CHARLESWOO
MANITOBA PORK COUNCIL: ICE 202 HAMBLIN, DOUG WILDEWOOD vs CARSON, PAT FT ROUGE
AT WILDEWOOD:
SAFEWAY - LUCERNE: ICE 223 GUNNLAUGSON, JASON ASSINIBOIN vs JOHNSON, DAVE PEMBINA
CHAS FIDLER & SON: ICE 224 MAHON, MICHAEL DEER LODGE vs BEAVIS, IAN FT ROUGE
LAZER GRANT: ICE 225 SCOTT, JAMES FT ROUGE vs GREEN, GORD FT ROUGE
MONSANTO CANADA: ICE 222 SCINOCCA, PAUL ST VITAL vs BOULET, JESSE ROSSMERE
**A Day and a Half from FIVE Safeway Berths: %uFEFF%uFEFF%uFEFFThe final five entries in the 2011 Safeway Championship in Dauphin will be won in the next day and half. The following, of course, assumes the teams I talk about are eligible to earn a championship entry. For example, it is a fact that three of the final four teams inthe Asham main event are NOT eligible to win. Two of them, Jared Kolomaya and Sean Grassie, have already earned Safeway berths so they are simply playing for the prestige which goes with being the bonspiel champion - no small honour on a long list of great teams who are bonspiel Aggregate or Championship winners. And, former US champion Craig Brown is of course not eligible but he admits it is a badge of honour in US Curling to "win" a provincial playoff berth. His Green Bay team has already won a Northern Ontario berth spiel and, while a few teams have done the same in the past, his team would be the first to win theoretical entries in two different provincials in the same year.
In the Asham event only Dave Johnson's Pembina team can advance to provincials, again assuiming his team is eligible.
Brown plays Kolomaya and Johnson plays Grassie in the semi-finals. The winners will meet in the Monday evening Asham Championship final. The loser drops to the Winnipeg Free Press event semi-final. IF Johnson beat Grassie, his team is in a position to collect that Safeway Berth.
In the Free Press quarter-finals are Daryl Evans-Somerset (whose string of victories started with a come-from-behind win over my own Norm Magnusson team Friday afternoon) ve Ken Tresoor-Rossmere. Curtis McCannell-Manitou awaits the winner between Todd Witherspoon-Ft Rouge vs Trevor Loreth-West Kildonan. And the winner of Peter Prokopowich-Dauphin vs Larry Taylor-Granite lays the winner of Carl German-West St Paul vs Don Lecuyer-Heather. Of these teams, Taylor is ineligible as he is the Coaldale, AB father of Mark Taylor who already has a Safeway berth with the rest of the Scott Ramsay team which he is skipping. And Tresoor is ineligible as he is the third for Dean DUnstone's Dauphin bound team.
In the Safeway-Lucerne event, the Asham event loser between Grassie and Johnson drops to the semi-final. In the quarter-finals, Geoff Trimble-Carberry plays Jason Gunnlaugson-Assiniboine Memorial; the winner of a 3pm game Bill Coulter, Charleswood vs Robert Baldwinson-Fort Garry plays the winner of Darryl Lee-Thistle vs Dwayne Treichel-Fort Garry; and the winner of a 3pm game Bruce Jones-St Vital vs Ryan Thomson-Miami plays the winner of Dean Dunstone-Pembina vs Andrew Wickman-Pembina.
Of those Safeway-Lucerne teams Gunnlaugson and Dunstone already have Safeway invitations confirmed.
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