THUNDER BAY – Brian Adams Jr. and Ben Mikkelsen have been curling together and competing against each other for the better part of a quarter of a century.
The duo was part of the 1998 Northern Ontario Junior Championship-winning team, and have competed together at the provincial level, including an appearance at the 2009 Northern Ontario Men’s Curling Championship.
Adams Jr., who moved away for about a decade before returning last year to Thunder Bay, and Mikkelsen were on the Port Arthur Curling Club ice again on Wednesday night, but this time they were facing off against each other looking to improve their lot in the Tbaytel Major League of Curling standings.
Mikkelsen entered play with a slight advantage, with a 1-0-1-1 record, while Adams Jr. last week picked up his first win of the season and was sitting at 1-2-0-0, in a tie for 12th place in the 16-team field.
Adams Jr., whose team missed a week because of a bonspiel commitment in Sault Ste. Marie, found himself down 2-1 after five ends, but rallied for three in the sixth and stole another point in the eighth to get the better of his friend and former teammate, downing Mikkelsen 5-2.
“It’s great to have a match against someone I’ve curled with ever since we were 16 years old. It’s always lots of fun. We always have good games against each other, and it was a good match here today,” Adams Jr. said.
“It was kind of an open game to start. We were having trouble putting the guards up, so we had a few wide-open ends. I had one miss in the second for an extra point. But we got a feel for the ice in the middle of the game and we had a huge three-ender in the sixth and that helped us get control of the game.”
Mikkelsen said it’s never fun being on the wrong end of an outcome against his longtime friend, but it’s something they’ve both experienced plenty of times over the years.
“Brian and I are pretty competitive in a lot of things, whether it’s curling or golf or in our pools and things like that, that we play in. But getting a chance to go out there and play against one of your best friends, they’re always special games. You always get a little fired up. There’s a little bit more colourful language out there if you’re making shot or missing shots. It’s one of those things you look forward to every year, playing against each other,” Mikkelsen said.
One sheet over, Ron Rosengren’s foursome was trying to maintain their perfect record, the lone team in the Major League of Curling to start play on Wednesday with a 3-0-0 record.
Rosengren took an early 2-0 lead on Dylan Johnston, but gave up the lead by the fourth, entering the fifth end tied 2-2.
With the hammer, Rosengren made the most of the opportunity, scoring three to take a 5-2 lead, and went on to double up his opponent 6-3 to maintain his spot atop the standings.
“It always feels good to be 4-0, that’s a good thing,” Rosengren said. “We’re getting the breaks at the right time. We’re playing pretty good too. We’re gearing up for national seniors, so we’ve got lots of practice for it.”
Rosengren will compete at the Canadian Senior Men’s Curling Championship in Vernon, B.C., starting on Dec. 4.
In other action, Robyn Despins doubled up Gary Weiss 8-4 to capture their second straight win, Bryan Burgess stole two in the eight to edge Chris Silver 6-4, Zach Warkentin won a shot to the button to knock off Krista McCarville 6-5, Denis Malette needed four ends to finish off Jackson Dubinsky 8-1, Trevor Bonot’s rink downed Jodi Judd 4-1 and Al Hackner’s team downed Andrew Sinclair 7-1.
