Kubbapalooza: Ice Games 2023 Recap

CAMPBELLSPORT, Wisc. — A sunny yet windy day with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees led to conditions that seemed to change each round. The pitches were set up in an arching half circle on Lake McDiarmid, which meant as the wind blew, depending what pitch you were on, it was a cross breeze, in your face, or at your back. With Kettle Moraine Kubb’s three-six open, many teams contemplated which side to take versus throwing first or second. 

The opening qualifying rounds were run on the new experimental scoring system of teams earning points based on how many kubbs they knocked down instead of the more traditional Klassic system’s (via Tournament Director) win/loss/tie method. More to come on this unique scoring method in a future article. There were six qualifying rounds which saw lots of great matchups, leaving the top eight teams as follows:

1. Kraken Kubb (Scott Taylor, Stephanie Taylor)
2. Glori Holtz (Cody Glorioso, Adam Holtz)
3. Ragnarök (Jens Arneson, Lars Arneson, Alisha Pleotis)
4. Pour Decisions (Mark Burke, Andy Mareska, Kevin Preas)
5. Stay Cold, My Friends (Brian Belling, Andy Terveer)
6. Something Clever (Dennis Basch, Brett Bauer, Doug Fetterman)
7. Yurt Killing Me, Smalls (Matt Jacobucci, Scott Kent, George Sloan)
8. Politikubbs (Ty Bodden, Dan Degner, Jacob Floam)

Kubbapalooza always brings the fun and had three brackets running. To start, there was the Gold Bracket, which held teams qualifying one through eight. The Silver Bracket was the teams qualifying nine through 16. The four teams from both Gold and Silver that did not get the first-round win, moved down one bracket, creating a third Bronze Bracket that was filled with eight teams after the second round of Silver was played. Whew that is a lot of kubb-loving action—thank you Kettle Moraine Kubb.

The Bronze Bracket finals match was a doozy! It featured Kettle Moraine Kubb veterans the Kubbie Bros. (Jared Harrington, Jim Harrington, Matt List) versus Politikubbs. After an intense battle and long day of playing kubb, Kubbie Bros. got the win, leaving Politikubbs as runners up. Iceberg Steelers took third place.

The Silver Bracket finals match featured Cramping Tiger/Frozen Everything, which included fresh-off-his-victory-at-Lake-Superior’s-Ice-Festival-tournament Bryce “they are green eyes” Pecore, “Mr. Fast” Dan Ivanuck and Shea “McD” McDonnell against. SISU (Emily Malkasian, Joe Malkasian). Cramping Tiger/Frozen Everything edged out the victory to stand high on the podium. SISU obviously coming in a hard earned second place. Pour Decisions took third place in the Silver bracket.

The Gold bracket was fierce to say the least. The only one upset during the quarterfinals was the gentle giants fifth-seeded Stay Cold, My Friends over fellow state-mates fourth-seeded Pour Decisions. All teams played very strong in the opening round. Second-seeded Glori Holtz survived by the skin of their teeth (and an advantage line) against seventh-seeded Yurt Killing Me, Smalls. Number three Ragnarok revenged their earlier qualifying loss to number six Something Clever.

In the semi-finals we had two very long battles. The first was between first overall Kraken Kubb and number five Stay Cold, My Friends. Kraken Kubb won in the end. Playing on Pitch 7, AKA the watery pitch, second-seeded Glori Holtz and third-seeded Ragnarök exchanged blows back-and-forth in an epic game one that felt like it may never end. Glori Holtz ended up winning the battle (very shortly after both Pleotis and Jens Arneson won door prizes—coincidence in their concentration level? Nobody will ever know).

The finals brought on a match that “felt like it was going to happen all day” (said one of the spectators in the crowd). Scott Taylor who talked about his personal curse versus Adam Holtz for most of last year and this year (and how he would get past it. Spoiler: sacrifices were involved in his plan—just joking). This day ended up not being the day the curse was lifted, and Holtz and Glorioso came out of their slumber going 10 for 11 on 8 meters in the two games played in the finals. Scott and Stephanie Taylor played strong all day, but it appeared that no defense could match up to those numbers. Second-seeded Glori Holtz lifted the trophy and hugged their opponents as in any finals in kubb—its all about the unity. Not to be outshined, Ragnarok and Stay Cold, My Friends decided they wanted some spotlight kubb, getting into a three-game battle for third place. Stay Cold, My Friends (in this case, not staying cold) ended up slaying the king in game three and taking home the third place honors.

As with any Kubbapalooza event, there is always something special happening. This year Energy City Kubb (who arrived on a bus with seven teams, all chanting and honking their horn) graciously paid for everyone’s lunch that was in attendance. Kettle Moraine Kubb was serving not only chili with hot dogs, but they were wagyu beef hot dogs (yes it’s a real thing). Thank you, Energy City Kubb and Kettle Moraine Kubb for elevating what a kubb tournament should be. I know personally I want to see team busses arrive with chants and loud horns at every event (watch out Chaska, Energy City is bringing the noise!).

Final Results

Gold Bracket

1. Glori Holtz (Cody Glorioso, Adam Holtz)
2. Kraken Kubb (Scott Taylor, Stephanie Taylor)
3. Stay Cold, My Friends (Brian Belling, Andy Terveer)
4. Ragnarök (Jens Arneson, Lars Arneson, Alisha Pleotis)

Silver Bracket

1. Cramping Tiger/Frozen Everything (Bryce Pecore, Dan Ivanuck, Shea McDonnell)
2. SISU (Emily Malkasian, Joe Malkasian)
3. Pour Decisions (Mark Burke, Andy Mareska, Kevin Preas)
4. Something Clever (Dennis Basch, Brett Bauer, Doug Fetterman)

Bronze Bracket

1. Kubbie Bros. (Jared Harrington, Jim Harrington, Matt List)
2. Politikubbs (Ty Bodden, Dan Degner, Jacob Floam)
3. Iceberg Steelers (Shelby Bashford, Aiden Wink, Brandon Wink)
4. EvenKubb (Lynn Flanagan, Mike Knuth)