Dave Senft and the Schoolboys are champs again.
The foursome defeated Penticton’s Cy Gladish rink 7-2 to capture the Edward Jones Tin Cup.
“That doesn’t happen too often,” said Senft of the repeat. “We’re very fortunate. We’re very happy. Everybody did their part. These last few games I just had to throw guards so that’s easy for me.”
Gladish was in good spirits after the loss, especially since he purchased the winning team in the calcutta along with his own, guaranteeing himself a payout.
“It’s never about the money, it was fun,” said Gladish. “The Schoolboys were right on their game. Terrific team. They don’t get out of sync.”
While the two teams enjoyed their matchup, they felt the same about the quality of competition the 36-team men’s bonspiel offered. Senft, who has come from the Lower Mainland to play in the Tin Cup for the last five years, said one of their matches was against a team who had a member who played in the Brier.
“We’ve got world champions (Gerry Richards, who won with Rick Folk) here, a lot of provincial champions, nationals champs,” said Gladish. “It’s fantastic. We are lucky to have them in Penticton for sure. Everyone loves the tournament.”
That includes Tyrel Griffith, who has played for five straight years with his school friends. Griffith, who nearly qualified to represent Canada in the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, said the Tin Cup is one of the highlights of his season.
“It’s so fun,” said Griffith, who had one of his members choose to play in Penticton rather than go home for Christmas. “There is a lot of great players. A lot of good teams.”
Griffiths, who played with Jim Cotter, John Morris and Rick Sawatsky and lost in the final of the Roar of the Rings Olympic trials, said he and his friends didn’t play well, winning two of five matches. They lost in the quarter-final to Summerland’s Steve Clement.
Organizer Matt Tolley was very happy with how the weekend played out saying they had a great turnout with teams that enjoyed the camaraderie.
“It’s been great,” said Tolley, adding that they attracted 20 teams from the valley, 14 from the rest of B.C. and one each from Saskatchewan and Alberta. “It’s nice to see the same teams coming back.”
Tolley said the best part of the weekend was the social aspect.
“That’s the whole point,” said Tolley, who loved the entertainment provided by comedian John Cullen. “Yeah, we’re here to win, but at the end of the day we just want to have fun and it’s great to have a good group of people.”
Taking the B event was Ken Johnson’s rink. The C event was won by Dale Hockley and the D event was won by Gary Gelowitz.