After being shut down by COVID-19 the Canora Senior Bonspiel returned on March 7 to 10, giving experienced curlers across the region a chance to once again see each other face-to-face, while satisfying their love of on-ice competition.
With 15 teams entered, each team played five 6-end games under the Brandon Draw format. Four points were awarded for a win, two points for a tie, and two points for each end won. In an all-Canora matchup Ron Hoehn’s Canora foursome entered their final game against Bob Kolodziejski trailing Laird Gervais of Crystal Lake by six points, after the Gervais rink had played its fifth game earlier. Hoehn defeated Kolodziejski and picked up 12 points to claim first place in the bonspiel, with Gervais finishing second. The Ross Tressel rink of Yorkton and Canora came in third.
In addition to Hoehn at skip, the other members of the winning rink were: Robert Waselenko, third; Brian Herriges, second and Maxine Stinka lead.
Adding to the fun of the event, there were other competitions to keep everyone involved.
In the individual draw to the button, Hoehn picked up another first place finish. Gloria Rathgeber of Yorkton finished second.
In team draw to the house competition, Norquay curlers proved to be the class of the field. The Ted Kreklewetz foursome finished first and Sharon Naclia’s team finished second.
The Naclia rink also won the award for the oldest team with a combined total of 309.
Vern Schick, organizer, said the bonspiel went very well.
“It was the first time curling in two years for some of the out-of-town players,” explained Schick. “I believe we had at least 10 players over 80 years of age. There were numerous close games and many good shots were made.”
The Canora Senior Bonspiel was originally scheduled for late January, but Schick was happy that they made the decision to postpone.
“There were a lot of smiles and everyone was happy to see each other. Some hadn’t seen each other for two years and it was so nice that our faces weren’t covered in face masks,” he concluded.
In addition to the foursomes mentioned earlier, other teams entered were: Bill Foreman, Ernie Gazdewich and Peter Wiwchar of Canora; Len Bazarski of Buchanan; Larry Dahl and Bob Lumley of Norquay; Nick Bodnar of Sturgis, Gerald Peesker of Kamsack and Dave Zbeetnoff of Yorkton.
