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Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

The Persinger family was well represented at the Fairbanks Curling Club this weekend as six of the eight curlers on the championship rinks had the same last name during the 73rd annual International Bonspiel.

Ken Persinger and Kelly Snider successfully defended their championships as the curling season came to a close on Sunday afternoon. Both rinks were impressive as they won the titles by going undefeated in the four-day curling extravaganza.

“It’s very rewarding and exciting,” said Snider, who skipped the women’s championship rink that included Vicky Persinger, Tina Persinger and Lacy Birklid.

“We curled well,” Snider said. “We missed some shots, but we definitely curled an A game, that’s for sure. This is really cool.”

Many curlers never win an International title, but at the age of 12, Tina Persinger already has two titles under her belt. She was the youngest International champion at age 11 when the Snider rink won the 2007 crown.

Snider defeated the Kaye Hufman rink of Fairbanks in the championship match. Hufman’s rinkmates included Danielle Hufman, Christin Glaser and Jenn Harmon.

The all-Persinger men’s rink consisted of Ken, his brother Mike and Mike’s sons Chad and Greg.

“Originally, we weren’t going to curl together, but I really wanted to curl with my brother again,” Ken Persinger said. “We wound up getting the same team together, so it’s a pretty neat deal for all of us.”

The Persinger rink defeated the Doug Hamilton rink of Whitehorse, Yukon, in the championship match. Persinger led 8-3 when Hamilton conceded after the sixth end.

“It could have gone either way, but we seemed to get all the breaks,” Ken Persinger said. “I think we curled a touch better than they did, but it really could have gone either way in each end.”

Ken Persinger said the team started slowly and built momentum as the weekend continued.

“We didn’t curl too well in the beginning, but Greg always curls well so we made him throw last rocks,” Ken Persinger said.

The Persingers dedicated the bonspiel to the memory of Gary Birklid, a longtime Fairbanks curler who passed away earlier this year.

“We dedicated this to Gary, who taught Mike and I how to curl competitively,” Ken Persinger said. “He was our ghost coach this weekend, or maybe just our coach, period.”