U.S. Kubb Open 2022 Recap

BELOIT — With the help of a little rain the night before and the near-perfect turf of a former minor league baseball field, pitch conditions were close to perfect for the 2022 U.S. Kubb Open at Pohlman Field in Beloit.

The 44-team field included a number of kubb-first-timers, some of whom had to match up against stiff competition in the early rounds under the Klassic System. Under this system, as play progresses through a tournament’s qualification rounds teams are systematically paired against other teams of relatively equal skill level. The very first round creates matches completely randomly. Then, as a team wins or loses, from one round to the next teams will automatically begin to compete against similarly skilled teams. Also, there are no repeat opponents in the qualification rounds, as long as there are enough teams in the tournament.

This year’s U.S. Kubb Open included a great mix of high-level veterans, up-and-comers, surprising youngsters, and a number of players/teams beginning to make a name for themselves outside of their local kubb club or region.

After seven qualifying rounds, the top 16 teams earned slots in the Championship Bracket. A handful of teams separated themselves at the top of the standings, but the relative parity of the field was evident as eight teams with four wins each ended the morning tied for thirteenth place. Based on each team’s overall opponent score, only four of those eight could compete for the podium or in the Silver Bracket. The other four were relegated to compete against 12 other teams in Bracket B. The remaining 12 teams competed for the Bracket C title.

Los Chicos de Jake (Gregg Jochimsen, Grant Scott) finished the morning in the top spot with a 6-1 record. Grasskickers (Mark Peterson, Gordon Kauffman), the team to hand Los Chicos de Jake its only loss of the morning, entered the Round of 16 in the Championship Bracket as the number two seed.

In the only Round of 16 match to go three games, 14-seeded Ragnorak (Jens Arneson, Lars Arneson) knocked off three-seeded Flux Capacitors (John Ellingsen, Joe Dekan). The three-person, all-Oman, 10-seeded Chaska Super Funky Badasses (John Oman, Nathan Oman, Zach Oman) team scored another of the round’s upsets, taking out seven-seed Hakubba Matata (Matt Green, Andy Terveer).

Next up, in the quarter-finals, only one match went the full three games. After losing game one, number five-seed KUBB Team Six (Joe Harbert, Bob Hickes) took the next two from four-seed Chaska Blue Dragons (Matt Erdman, Jason Larson) to advance to the semi-finals. Ragnarok continued to play strong, taking out six-seeded Kubbcettes (Barb Lancette, Ben Lancette) in two-straight. Grasskickers and Loc Chicos de Jake also advanced.

Befittingly, some of the best kubb of the day came in the semi-final and final matches. After losing game one, Ragnorak looked to continue its string of uspets, storming back in game two against Grasskickers. But, solid as ever under pressure, the Kauffman-Peterson duo finished things up to move on to the championship game.

In the other semi-final matchup KUBB Team Six jumped out to a 1-0 lead over top-seeded Los Chicos de Jake. Jochimsen and Scott had a handful of uncharacteristic misses, and Harbert put together a few turns of multi-8 meter knockdowns to keep the rest of the match tight. In the end, the Jochimsen-Scott team prevailed, moving on to face Graskicckers in the final.

In the first game of the final, Grasskickers capitalized after winning the lag, going two-for-two on their opening turn. Los Chicos de Jake responded by adding two 8 meters of their own. After exchanging a few turns with no big advantages gained, Peterson added a field-kubb plus baseline double to leave Kauffman one baseline kubb with three sticks. It only took two to end game one in favor of the Grasskickers.

Game two opened with Los Chicos de Jake getting a single 8 meter. Grasskickers then managed to add three, with Los Chicos responding with plus two more. After the teams traded turns, Kauffman had a brief flirtation with being a mortal and went 0-2 on baselines. But, Chicos de Jake could not capitalize, with Scott missing the team’s one 8 meter throw for the turn. Kauffman threw a penalty on his next drill, which Scott placed a baton’s-length behind the king. Grasskickers took six batons to clear. Los Chicos responded by adding one. Scott finally claimed game two for Los Chicos, going three for three with one field, one baseline, and the king.

Grasskickers opened game three with one baseline. Los Chicos de Jake responded by adding two. After both teams cooled a bit on 8 meters, Kauffman had a tight drill that looked to be cleared in two. But, a wobbling kubb remained upright. Kauffmn managed to take out one of three remaining baselines after Peterson’s clear. It then took five sticks for Los Chicos to clear a surprisingly loose Jochimsen drill. Scott was unable to add baselines. After Peterson cleared in three, Kauffman cleared the two remaining baseline kubbs, with one miss out of three. Los Chicos had two remaining baselines.

In uncharacteristic fashion, Los Chicos de Jake was unable to clear and left a line at about one foot. Kauffman drilled seven. With one re-throw, the drill was nearly perfect. After barely clearing in five throws, Kauffman used the last baton to win the 2022 U.S. Kubb Open.