Screw City Kubb Klassic 2019 Recap

ROCKTON, Ill. — The 2019 Screw City Spring Kubb Klassic, the second of its name and the tenth Rockford kubb tournament, was chilly and overcast with spurts of rain throughout the day, but the play and attitude at this mid-spring tournament wasn’t influenced by the weather. Smiles and excellent play from all participants were abound as 31 teams from all over the Midwest competed to win one of the oldest kubb tournaments in the country.

After six Klassic system rounds and two rounds of a 16 team best-of-three tournament, the field was down to its final four teams: the undefeated on the day Michigan team Kubbadox (Phil Dickinson, Jesse Fraim), a second Michigan team Kubb Snipers (Joe Hrejsa, J.R. Hrejsa), the always formidable duo from Iowa playing as Contrekubb (Josh Feathers, Chris Hodges), and the always dangerous and ubiquitous El Ringers (Dave Ellringer, Sy Ellringer).

In the semi-finals, Kubbadox proved to be the tougher Michigan team, winning the first two games and moving on to the finals. Contrekubb had a tougher time with the El Ringers. The El Ringers forced the match into a third game that seemed evenly matched until Contrekubb won on their third turn with a huge clearing of six kubbs by Hodges and Feathers clearing the remaining two baseline kubbs with his first two batons and the king with the last one.

In the first game of the final, Contrekubb managed to get a 3-1 kubb lead in their second turn which Kubbadox was unable to match on their subsequent turn. Contrekubb cleared the baseline on their third turn, but didn’t win the game until their fifth turn, missing two king shots on the fourth turn.

In the second game, Contrekubb took two baseline kubbs in their first turn and Kubbadox answered with two baseline kubbs on the next turn. The following three turns saw Contrekubb adding one more, Kubbadox answering with two, and then Contrekubb adding another bringing the game to a 4-4 tie. The next few turn were a stalemate with Contrekubb struggling with the last baseline kubb and Kubbadox struggling with penalty kubbs even though Dickinson managed a couple impressive recoveries. In their last turn, Kubbadox left an advantage line for Contrekubb that proved enough for Feathers and Hodges to win the second game and the match.

This event was another showcase of strings for boundary lines. Strings were used for the side and midlines, while paint was used for the baseline. Very few participants needed clarification on whether a kubb was inbounds or not, but visibility with the tall grass seemed to be an issue for the inkasters.