The duo of Ron Hoehn and Arnie Makowsky of Canora were the winners at the Ted Palagian Memorial Two-Person Stick Bonspiel in Canora on Family Day, February 18.
A total of 16 teams were entered in the bonspiel, including many from Canora and surrounding area. Among those taking part were Gerald Steinke of Crystal Lake and Gerald Morgan of Regina, the defending champions from 2018.
The two-person stick format has a number of unique rules. Players throw rocks with a stick, but those aged 16 and under were exempt from this rule. Each team throws six rocks per end, no takeouts are allowed until the fifth rock, games are six ends, and no sweeping is allowed until the rock has passed over both hog lines.
For the round robin portion of the bonspiel, the teams were split into four groups, with each team playing the others in the group once. The four first-place teams advancing to the playoff round, all from Canora, were: Hoehn and Makowsky, Donna and Darryl Rock, Vern Schick and Robert Waselenko and Ernie Gazdewich and Darryl Stevenson.
Hoehn and Makowsky and Schick and Waselenko survived the semifinal games, setting the stage for the championship final.
Upcoming curling action scheduled for Canora includes: the men’s bonspiel from March 6 to 10, the ladies bonspiel on March 15 to 17 and the mixed wind-up bonspiel scheduled for March 27 to 31.
