The 60th-annual Burntwood Curling Club men’s bonspiel March 6-7 was one of the last scheduled events for the club this curling season and one of the last sporting events held in Thompson before the COVID-19 pandemic led to large-scale events being shut down here and all across Canada.
The team of Grant Brown, Travis Graham, Ken Allard and Guy Bodnaryk emerged as the champions, winning the A event final over Lyle Saskowski’s team.
Rylan Young, Curtis Briscoe, Jared Schewe and Andre Jacques won the B event over Trent Meston’s foursome.
The C event champions were Claude Hykawy, Jason Peters, Cam Muir and Mark Pitre, who defeated Matt Hause’s team in the final.
Brad Ritchie, Garry Miscavish, Collin Rushton and Keith Hanson beat Doug Sime’s team to win the D event.
There were 18 teams signed up for the bonspiel, more than it has had for the last six or seven years, said Sam Antila of the Burntwood Curling Club. In addition to more teams, it had a different format, with all the games taking place on Friday night and Saturday, and the four finals on the Saturday evening at 8 p.m. following the banquet.
“It seemed to be quite popular,” said Antila, noting that the format works if there are 20 or fewer teams in the tournament. “I’m really pleased with the outcome.”
Ed McTavish, who was president of the club in 1974-75, cut the cake at the banquet alongside current president Pam Antila.
