SOUTH PASADENA, Cal.—The Los Angeles Kubb Club hosted another successful edition of the West Coast Kubb Championships on Sunday, April 24. The sixth annual version of the event took place at Orange Grove Park in South Pasadena and featured the bracket-friendly number of 32 teams competing for the podium. Seven different states were represented by various competitors, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. From Oregon, the Portland Kubb Club was also in attendance—making the event a true west coast affair.
A pleasantly cool morning saw the park’s normal early Sunday dog-walkers give way to the L.A. Kubb Club set-up crew, as 18 pitches were laid out around the softball outfield and surrounding area. The turf was choppy, with one club member going so far as to apologize to the assembled players for the “embarrassing” condition of the grass during opening remarks. As the day wore on, though, players adapted to conditions and the sun bore down throughout the afternoon, with temps reaching into the mid 80s.
Six morning seeding rounds ended at the lunch break, with the Traveling Drillburys (Adam Holtz, Dan Ivanuck) earning the top seed, followed by For the Glori (Ethan Forney, Cody Glorioso) as the second seed heading into the afternoon. Six other teams earned spots in the championship bracket, with the remaining 24 teams relegated to the one-and-done silver bracket.
After the best-of-three quarterfinal round was concluded, four teams remained in the championship bracket: The Traveling Drillburys, For the Glori, plus local teams the Kubbix Rubes (John Pettersson, Marshall Dostal), and the Lumber Liquidators (Julian Petrillo, T.J. Bednash). On pitch one, the Drillburys bested the Rubes in two games in the first semi-final. In the other semi-final on pitch two, the Liquidators took game one from second-seeded For the Glori before dropping a close game two and a less-than-close game three, sending For the Glori into the championship match against the Traveling Drillburys.
As the warm afternoon wore on and the shadows started to lengthen, the spectators’ tents and folding chairs migrated to the two championship pitches outside the softball outfield fence, and the bronze medal game was up first. Game one went to the Lumber Liquidators, with relative newcomer Bednash hitting a couple of key 8 meter shots to secure the win. Game two saw 10 field kubbs in play, and the Liquidators secured the bronze medal with a king-in-five final turn, to take the match 2-0.
It was then that the top two teams took to the pitch, assuming their expected and rightful spots across from each other in a clash for the top podium position. Game one was a lengthy affair, with the Drillburys missing the king not once but twice on their penultimate turn. When For the Glori again failed to clear the back line, Ivanuck avenged the missed king throws with a direct hit to take the first game. After drilling impressive woodpiles at the red stake all day long, Forney’s inkasting faltered a bit in game two of the final. For the Glori gave the Drillburys a line on the fourth turn, but the game continued after a split pile gave them one more chance. The line persisted, however, and the Traveling Drillburys sent the king sprawling to the ground on their first chance of the second and decisive game to win gold.
“Adam was out to get me, LOL, “ said Forney of his some-time teammate Holtz after the tournament. “I had beaten him in three out of four tournaments in the last year, so I knew he was wanting revenge in 2022.”
“Dan and I figured if we were going to win it, we would have to go through Ethan and Cody” responded Holtz (whose last name means ‘wood’ in German). “Both Dan and I have had our struggles against Ethan in tournaments, and it felt good for us to get the monkey off our backs,” he said, before going on to add, “The L.A. Kubb club did a great job with everything. The weather was beautiful. The competition was tough, and it is an honor to be called the 2022 West Coast Kubb Champions.”
In the silver bracket final, a three-man team of Midwesterners, the Shinbusters (Dave Bell, Rob House, Justin Kleinschmit) defeated the Minnesotan pair of Kubb Nerds (Dee Dee Havlorson, Jason Halvorson) to take another handsomely-designed Joe Zenas trophy. Medals for all competitors came from Joss Rogers of Foothill Trophy and Engraving.
The seventh annual West Coast Kubb Championships will take place in late April 2023, so mark your calendars for a trip to sunny Southern California in the late spring for what has quickly become a marquee tournament. Maybe by next year they’ll even have the landscaping smoothed out!
Final Results
Championship Bracket
- Traveling Drillburys (Adam Holtz, Dan Ivanuck)
- For the Glori (Ethan Forney, Cody Glorioso)
- Lumber Liquidators (Julian Petrillo, T.J. Bednash)
Silver Bracket
- Shinbusters (Dave Bell, Rob House, Justin Kleinschmit)
- Kubb Nerds (Dee Dee Havlorson, Jason Halvorson)
