Whitehorse curler Thomas Scoffin has ended his curling season in fine style.

Skip Scoffin and his rink of lead Danny Guhl, second Ryan Burke and third Mason Gray won the A final of the 70th annual Solvest International Bonspiel Sunday afternoon at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

They edged the Balsam foursome – skip Herb Balsam, third Rob Anderson, second Trent Derkatch, and lead Corrine Delarie – 5-4 in a match that came down to the last rock.

In the A final on Sheet 6, Solvest and Balsam were tied 2-2 after three ends.

Solvest had a 5-2 lead after five ends, after scoring three in the fifth end.

Balsam bounced back with two in the sixth to make it 5-4 Solvest.

The game went down to the last rock, but Solvest pulled it out in the end, 5-4.

Balsam third Anderson said it was a good game.

“It was close both ways. The score was indicative of how close the game was. Neither team curled their best, but we’re curling one of the top players in Canada (Scoffin). Anytime we can be as close as we were, we’re excited.”

Scoffin said, “It was a great game, a great event. The boys played amazing.”

Scoffin said he wasn’t there for the whole event.

“I was down with sickness for a full day, but the boys battled hard without me. Patty Wallingham spared and played awesome for us. We’re lucky to have her.”

Scoffin said the rest of the tournament was a “blast.

“We just came in here, wanted to have a good time and we did that for sure.”

The Scoffin rink went undefeated during the bonspiel.

“Lots of close games, played against some really good teams. Really impressed and proud of how these guys played.”

Scoffin, of course, played in the Montana’s Brier in Regina in early March, finishing with a 2-6 record while playing some very competitive games along the way.

His team at the Brier consisted of lead Evan Latos, second Joe Wallingham, and third Jensen Trygg.

“It’s always fun. It’s always a challenge. We were happy to have a strong start and a strong finish to our week. I think we have more in the tank, so we’re pretty motivated. We want to come back and we want to continue to improve on what we’ve done so far. But all in all, it was a good week for us.”

Scoffin acknowledged that having a fun tournament after the intensity of the Brier was a key to winning the International.

“We just played free and easy. The whole goal of this weekend was to have fun and enjoy it.

“The guys played amazing and my life was easy, so it was a lot of fun.”

Other results in the International Bonspiel included:

B - Final: Team “Will Power” 7, Team “Zealand” 4

D - Final: Team “slhackers” 6, Team Carcross 5

E - Final: Team “That is Good Enough” 7, Team “Hog Masters” 6

See related story on C final on p. 33.