For nearly two decades, Canadian curling teams have dominated the championship of the Last Chance Bonspiel, winning the bonspiel’s championship every year except one since 1991. The last American team to win the title was the Legacie team from Fargo, N.D., in 1994, and the last local team to win the trophy was the Al Payne rink which did the trick in 1990.
That all changed Sunday when a team comprised solely of members of the Hibbing Curling Club broke the Canadians’ hold on the championship by winning the title in an all-American final. The Joe Roberts Jr. team, made up of skip Shawn Rojeski, Roberts Jr., third, Joe Gabardi, second, and Tom Scott, lead, defeated the Lakeside Curling team of Duluth to win the Last Chance title and the $5,000 first place prize money that goes along with the crown.
Rojeski said everybody on his team played well Sunday which went a long way to winning the championship.
“I think we had a little less trouble with the ice than they did,” Rojeski said. “They had a couple of times where the ice confused them a bit and it cost them a couple of points. After that, we really didn’t get in much trouble. Everything went our way.”
Rojeski, who earned a bronze medal in the last Winter Olympics game as a member of the U.S. team, said winning the Last Chance is a thrill.
“The arena ice is always fun to play on. You get a few people out here to watch and get behind you and it makes it all that much easier,” Rojeski said. “It feels good. I have never won it so it felt good.”
Roberts Jr. said that Rojeski was able to bail the team out of trouble during the entire tournament. He, too, said it feels great to win the Last Chance.
“Shawn made the big shots that you have to make,” Roberts Jr. said. “He is incredible. He played awesome. Somebody told me before the game that if we win it, we would be the first all-Hibbing team out of the Hibbing club in the history of the bonspiel to win it.
“If we keep playing together, we could move up to better things. It would be fantastic. It is tough to get the guys together, have the time to do it and get the money and everything else, but I wouldn’t play with anybody else.
“This win is just incredible. It is a great feeling.”
Gabardi said he is ecstatic to be a member of the first all-Hibbing team to win the Last Chance championship.
“It is almost numbing right now. Ever since I started curling, this is the bonspiel that I always came to and watched,” Gabardi explained. “I have always wanted to do well in this. I have lost twice for the money game of the Main Event and this is the first time I moved past that point. It is just a great feeling.
“We all put our games together. You have to all play well and when we did get in a little bit of trouble, our skip was right there for us to bail us out. He really made it happen for us. We couldn’t have done it without him.”
Scott said his team played pretty well in all seven games it needed to win on the way to the title.
“It is a great feeling to win,” Scott explained. “Every year, I look forward to this spiel. To me, this is the biggest spiel of the year. It feels really good to win it, especially with those three guys.”
When asked how he feels to be receiving a share of the prize money, Scott said, “I tell you what. Once you know you are in the money in the semis, then you start thinking that you really want to win this. The money is nice, but you want to win. You want that pride, you want your name on that trophy. It means more to me than anything.
“Yeah, the money is great, but I just wanted to win.”
The Roberts Jr. team picked up one point in the first end and added two more in the second end to lead 3-0. The Roberts Jr. team scored another point to offset a Lakeside point as the Roberts Jr. team led 4-1 after four ends.
Lakeside picked up another point to pull to within 4-2 after five ends, but two more points by the Roberts Jr. team in the sixth end caused Lakeside to concede the match.
Members of the Lakeside Curling team include skip Dave Running, Duluth, Jeff Laundergan, Esko, Brad Jensen, Duluth, and Tony Laskai, Duluth. Running said although he is disappointed his team didn’t win the championship, he is happy that it was an all-American final.
“They never played better, I don’t think,” Running said. “They played really good. They helped me out in every end.
“Today we struggled with where to put the broom and the rocks. But we knew that because we had played on this sheet so luckily we were red. The yellow rocks were a little tough. It is not an excuse, but they are a little tough.”
Running said his team conceded after the sixth end because it was down by four and that doesn’t bode well against a team as good as the Roberts Jr. team.
“We were down by four, and our best chance is we would probably get two,” Running said. “Then we would have to steal two. They are a good team. Second place is really good. Jeff (Laundergan) and I have lost five times on Saturday night in the Main Event. So, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
I was thrilled to be playing in the finals of the Last Chance! I've played in the event every year since 1988, and (when we're still in the main) have never made it past the quarterfinals on Saturday night.
We (Dave Running, Brad Jensen, Tony Lasky & I) knocked off last year's champion (Masemchuk) in the 3rd round, and knocked off the only remaining Canadian team in the final 4 ("Sight & Sound"), guaranteeing a US Champion for the first time since 1994.
I have a lot of respect for Shawn Rojeski, and think Joe Roberts, Jr & Tom Scott are great guys and good curlers. I was happy for them. Sorry, I don't know who their 2nd was.
Someone said that's the first time an all-Hibbing team won the event. The crowd was certainly happy.
I just wish we could have given them (and the crowd) a better game. We struggled with (I believe) the rocks more than the ice that game. That was our 3rd game on sheet 9, but our previous 2 were with red rocks.
I'm not making excuses, they played well and deserved to win.
You think I'm complaining about playing in the main event finals, and walking out with $3000?!?
Thanks to Hibbing CC for another great event. Even another April blizzard didn't stop anyone from having fun.
See you next spring!
TVguy
Jeff Laundergan
rojeski and US boys take it, all US final
HIBBING — It has been a long time in coming.
For nearly two decades, Canadian curling teams have dominated the championship of the Last Chance Bonspiel, winning the bonspiel’s championship every year except one since 1991. The last American team to win the title was the Legacie team from Fargo, N.D., in 1994, and the last local team to win the trophy was the Al Payne rink which did the trick in 1990.
That all changed Sunday when a team comprised solely of members of the Hibbing Curling Club broke the Canadians’ hold on the championship by winning the title in an all-American final. The Joe Roberts Jr. team, made up of skip Shawn Rojeski, Roberts Jr., third, Joe Gabardi, second, and Tom Scott, lead, defeated the Lakeside Curling team of Duluth to win the Last Chance title and the $5,000 first place prize money that goes along with the crown.
Rojeski said everybody on his team played well Sunday which went a long way to winning the championship.
“I think we had a little less trouble with the ice than they did,” Rojeski said. “They had a couple of times where the ice confused them a bit and it cost them a couple of points. After that, we really didn’t get in much trouble. Everything went our way.”
Rojeski, who earned a bronze medal in the last Winter Olympics game as a member of the U.S. team, said winning the Last Chance is a thrill.
“The arena ice is always fun to play on. You get a few people out here to watch and get behind you and it makes it all that much easier,” Rojeski said. “It feels good. I have never won it so it felt good.”
Roberts Jr. said that Rojeski was able to bail the team out of trouble during the entire tournament. He, too, said it feels great to win the Last Chance.
“Shawn made the big shots that you have to make,” Roberts Jr. said. “He is incredible. He played awesome. Somebody told me before the game that if we win it, we would be the first all-Hibbing team out of the Hibbing club in the history of the bonspiel to win it.
“If we keep playing together, we could move up to better things. It would be fantastic. It is tough to get the guys together, have the time to do it and get the money and everything else, but I wouldn’t play with anybody else.
“This win is just incredible. It is a great feeling.”
Gabardi said he is ecstatic to be a member of the first all-Hibbing team to win the Last Chance championship.
“It is almost numbing right now. Ever since I started curling, this is the bonspiel that I always came to and watched,” Gabardi explained. “I have always wanted to do well in this. I have lost twice for the money game of the Main Event and this is the first time I moved past that point. It is just a great feeling.
“We all put our games together. You have to all play well and when we did get in a little bit of trouble, our skip was right there for us to bail us out. He really made it happen for us. We couldn’t have done it without him.”
Scott said his team played pretty well in all seven games it needed to win on the way to the title.
“It is a great feeling to win,” Scott explained. “Every year, I look forward to this spiel. To me, this is the biggest spiel of the year. It feels really good to win it, especially with those three guys.”
When asked how he feels to be receiving a share of the prize money, Scott said, “I tell you what. Once you know you are in the money in the semis, then you start thinking that you really want to win this. The money is nice, but you want to win. You want that pride, you want your name on that trophy. It means more to me than anything.
“Yeah, the money is great, but I just wanted to win.”
The Roberts Jr. team picked up one point in the first end and added two more in the second end to lead 3-0. The Roberts Jr. team scored another point to offset a Lakeside point as the Roberts Jr. team led 4-1 after four ends.
Lakeside picked up another point to pull to within 4-2 after five ends, but two more points by the Roberts Jr. team in the sixth end caused Lakeside to concede the match.
Members of the Lakeside Curling team include skip Dave Running, Duluth, Jeff Laundergan, Esko, Brad Jensen, Duluth, and Tony Laskai, Duluth. Running said although he is disappointed his team didn’t win the championship, he is happy that it was an all-American final.
“They never played better, I don’t think,” Running said. “They played really good. They helped me out in every end.
“Today we struggled with where to put the broom and the rocks. But we knew that because we had played on this sheet so luckily we were red. The yellow rocks were a little tough. It is not an excuse, but they are a little tough.”
Running said his team conceded after the sixth end because it was down by four and that doesn’t bode well against a team as good as the Roberts Jr. team.
“We were down by four, and our best chance is we would probably get two,” Running said. “Then we would have to steal two. They are a good team. Second place is really good. Jeff (Laundergan) and I have lost five times on Saturday night in the Main Event. So, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Congrats! God-willing, I'll see you next year.
Couldn't be prouder of the guys who won!!!
I was thrilled to be playing in the finals of the Last Chance! I've played in the event every year since 1988, and (when we're still in the main) have never made it past the quarterfinals on Saturday night.
We (Dave Running, Brad Jensen, Tony Lasky & I) knocked off last year's champion (Masemchuk) in the 3rd round, and knocked off the only remaining Canadian team in the final 4 ("Sight & Sound"), guaranteeing a US Champion for the first time since 1994.
I have a lot of respect for Shawn Rojeski, and think Joe Roberts, Jr & Tom Scott are great guys and good curlers. I was happy for them. Sorry, I don't know who their 2nd was.
Someone said that's the first time an all-Hibbing team won the event. The crowd was certainly happy.
I just wish we could have given them (and the crowd) a better game. We struggled with (I believe) the rocks more than the ice that game. That was our 3rd game on sheet 9, but our previous 2 were with red rocks.
I'm not making excuses, they played well and deserved to win.
You think I'm complaining about playing in the main event finals, and walking out with $3000?!?
Thanks to Hibbing CC for another great event. Even another April blizzard didn't stop anyone from having fun.
See you next spring!
TVguy
Jeff Laundergan