Pennsylvania Kubb Championship 2019 Recap

Photo of the Pennsylvania Kubb Championship trophies. — The awards at the 2019 Pennsylvania Kubb Championship.

ELVERSON, Penn. — The first annual Pennsylvania Kubb Championship was held Saturday, Aug. 17. The day started with an overcast sky in the morning that opened up into a nice sunny afternoon. A total of 17 teams and about 40 players from seven states attended the inaugural tournament hosted by the Keystone Kubb Club.

In the morning, the teams played seven rounds of Klassic system qualifying rounds, with the Kubbstaches (Bob Hickes, Bryan Jones) earning the top seed. After the first round of championship play, the semi-final matches were set with the Kubbstaches taking on Das Kubb (Mike Davids, Nick Bartlett) in one semi-final and Ugh! Those Guys! (Jake Leavitt, Kyle Weakland) against Defectors (Kevin Bachman, Jesse Wienckoski).

The first semi-final was a long battle with the Kubbstaches taking game one. In game two, Das Kubb took an early lead but couldn’t finish the game before a hard rain passed through. Eventually Das Kubb clawed their way to a game two victory, but in game three the Kubbstaches took back control of the momentum and won to advance to the championship match.

In the second semi-final, Ugh! Those Guys! battled with the Defectors, holding a slight lead and eventually taking game one. In game two, the rain came down hard and the Defectors had trouble connecting on 8 meters, giving Ugh! Those Guys! the win to advance to the championship match.

In the first game of the championship match, the Kubbstaches started strong by taking four 8 meters in their first eight batons and winning the game two turns later. In game two, Ugh! Those Guys! returned the favor by getting four 8 meters by their second turn. The next turn, a penalty kubb Ugh! Those Guys! threw, dug them into a hole that they struggled to get out of, and the Kubbstaches were able to use the advantage line to take the lead. The Kubbstaches went on to win the game and with it the inaugural Pennsylvania Kubb Championship title.