Kubbing to Kick Cancer 2018 Recap

KASSON, Minn. — For the sixth time, Dee Dee and Jason Halvorson rallied the kubb community with their Kubbing to Kick Cancer tournament, which raises money for the American Cancer Society. And like in too many years past, Mother Nature decided to make it difficult. The day started out nice with a little cloud cover, but warm temperatures, and then fell into some thunderstorms. Just as bracket play was starting, the storm rolled in and the tournament was put on delay. About 20 to 30 minutes later, play was resumed, and then there was on-and-off rain for the rest of the day.

The less than stellar weather didn’t put a damper on the competition though. As in most years, the field was made up of all skill levels, but was not lacking high-end talents. Six rounds of the Klassic system helped divide teams into three brackets, which then went on for three sets of trophies.

The top championship bracket had some real heavy-hitter teams. In one semi-final, defending champion Evan Fitzgerald and his team Skol (Evan Fitzgerald, Luke Peikert, Patt Rupp) matched up with the always-competitive Chaska Blue (Jason Larson, John Oman, Ford Rolfsrud). Maybe it was the break for the thunderstorm, or the now wetter conditions, but game one took some time to get rolling. The teams traded a couple kubbs for a number of turns with a lot of uncharacteristic misses. Things finally started turning around for Chaska Blue and they ended up taking the match 2-0.

The other semi-final matched up a two-time winner in Kastpinnar Kings (Phil Goetstouwers, Chris Hodges) against Silent Stallions (Dave Giese, Cody Glorioso). This match saw Kubbing to Kick Cancer experience reign supreme with Kaspinnar Kings winning 2-0.

Chaska Blue and Kastpinnar Kings were ready to battle for first place. The rain didn’t seem to be stopping, but the quick starts did. The teams struggled to down more than one 8 meter per turn, which lead to an almost 30 minute long first game. Eventually Chaska Blue chipped away at their back row just a little faster than Kastpinnar Kings and walked away with the win.

Game two started a little better for both teams. A few turns in though, Kastpinnar Kings went very cold on the back row again. Chaska Blue was able to capitalize on this, and knock down their five six kubbs in two batons. They went two for two on the remaining back row kubbs and then downed the king to become the 2018 Kubbing to Kick Cancer champions.

The teams playing for third place agreed to shorten the match to one game. In that game, Skol won to take home the third place trophy.

Final Results

Championship Bracket

1. Chaska Blue (Jason Larson, John Oman, Ford Rolfsrud)
2. Kastpinnar Kings (Phil Goetstouwers, Chris Hodges)
3. Skol (Evan Fitzgerald, Luke Peikert, Patt Rupp)

Silver Bracket

1. The Kubbing Projekt (Brian Evans, Bridget Long)
2. Los Padres (Dave Ellringer, Ethan Forney, Grant Scott)
3. Kubbcettes (Barb Lancette, Ben Lancette)

Bronze Bracket

1. New Kubbs on the Block (Nate Hanson, Brett Ramstad, Damian Will)
2. Kubbfellas (Adam Dohm, Demian Moore, Chad Stute)
3. 12 Years & Counting (Aaron Bauer, Roberta Spangenberg)