Madison Kubb Invitational 2019 Recap

MADISON, Wisc. — The inaugural Madison Kubb Invitational took place on Saturday, June 1, 2019 along the shores of Lake Monona at Olbrich Park. The forecast called for rain and possible storms, so players came prepared for anything. Rainstorms blew through the surrounding area throughout the day, causing temperatures to fluctuate between needing a light jacket or hoodie, to t-shirt weather. Luckily most of the rain missed the tournament grounds until around lunchtime.

With the threat of a strong storm looming, it was decided that the originally planned eight rounds of qualifying play would be shortened to only six rounds so bracket play could begin sooner, in hopes of finishing the finals before the storm hit. With the new schedule in place, championship and consolation brackets began elimination play immediately after the lunch break.

In the championship bracket, the semi-finals were set with a rematch from last year’s Madison Kubb Tournament consolation finalists—Tupac Shakubb (Alex Knueppel, Parker Knueppel) versus Ragnarok (Lars Arenson, Jens Arenson, Nick Roth) On the other pitch was Flux Capacitors (Nick Brill, Joe Dekan, John Ellingsen) against Skol (Evan Fitzgerald, Pat Rupp, Dave Giese). The two battles were hard-fought, but in the end Skol and Ragnarok earned a trip to the finals.

The championship match between Ragnarok and Skol saw Skol take an early lead by winning game one. Game two, however, proved to be an upset with Ragnarok missing a king shot, then struggling to clear the field in the next turn, leaving a two-kubb line for Skol to make a come-back. In the end, Skol defeated Ragnarok and brought the first place victory home to Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

In the battle for third, Tupac Shakubb took an early 1-0 lead and appeared to be cruising through the second game, but Flux Capacitors fought back hard to tie up the match. In a very strong third game, Flux Capacitors came out on top to bring home the third place trophy to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.