HARTFORD, Wisc. — The second annual Kubb on the Pond: Ice Games tournament, hosted by Kettle Moraine Kubb, took place on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. Fourteen individuals from three states including Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan showed up for the scramble format tournament and braved the ever-changing weather to battle it out on the ice for pride, glory, and of course, a trophy.
Chris and Steve McDiarmid took turns alternating play and assigning partners and matchups for five rounds of qualifying play. After the qualifying rounds, all players were paired up into teams for the play-in games, consolation bracket, and championship bracket. The teams were as follows:
- Team Alpha (Matt Green, Joe Malkasian)
- Team Beta (Scott Kent, Brad Vock)
- Team Charlie (Cody Glorioso, Andy Terveer)
- Team Delta (Dan Ivanuck, George Sloan)
- Team Echo (Bryan Jones, Andy Mareska)
- Team Foxtrot (Brian Beling, Sara Rydzik)
Teams Alpha and Beta earned a bye and headed straight into championship bracket, leaving Team Charlie to face Team Foxtrot and Team Delta against Team Echo. The winners would advance to the championship bracket, and the not-winners moved to the consolation bracket. In a one game playoff, Team Charlie and Team Echo both won hard-fought battles to move into the championship bracket.
The championship bracket was best-of-three format. On pitch one, Team Alpha took on Team Echo for a hard-fought three games. In the end, even after Matt Green missed three king shots, Team Alpha was able to hang on to victory and advance to the championship game. On pitch two, the battles continued with Team Beta against Team Charlie. Team Charlie was able to hang on tight after an intense back-and-forth in game two, moving on to challenge Team Alpha for the crown.
In the third place match, Team Beta took on Team Echo. The pitch was starting to melt and the teams were very well matched. Both teams saw their fair shares of ups and down, but Team Echo ended up winning the match 2-0 to take home the third place trophy. Team Beta was left with the classic fourth place trophy—a roll of toilet paper saying “who gives a crap.”
The championship game began with Team Alpha shooting out of the gate with Joe Malkasian’s new-found long drill, giving them a few field-to-base doubles. Team Charlie had a secret weapon named Andy Terveer who hit three straight 8 meter shots giving their team one more baton for the king and the game one win. Game two started off the same for Terveer who was able to get all five 8 meter kubbs in sequence and helping them take the first place prize.
In the consolation bracket, Team Delta defeated Team Foxtrot to be the consolation champions.
The day was a beautiful 40-plus degree day, and in true Kettle Moraine Kubb fashion, there were brats and hot dogs served for lunch and a smorgasbord of dips and chips for all to have. Ice Games is the first of three tournaments Kettle Moraine Kubb hosts included The weekend-long Kubbapalooza tournament with The Grass Games on Saturday (Aug. 29, 2020) and The Sand Games on Sunday (Aug. 30, 2020).
Final Results
- Team Charlie (Cody Glorioso, Andy Terveer)
- Team Alpha (Matt Green, Joe Malkasian)
- Team Echo (Bryan Jones, Andy Mareska)
Consolation Winner: Team Delta (Dan Ivanuck, George Sloan)
