Dexterity games balance the brash inexperience of the young against the arthritic flickers of their elders. But that hasn't stopped Dolan from winning three times.	I can't see what the problem was with scheduling Elchfest in the same room with Automobile. Whatsa matter Maly - not a nature lover?

These young pups got no respect for their elders. Why, when I was a young moose I ran miles to school every day through four feet of snow.	Brandon Bernard on his way to his second ELC title. Andrew Emerick won two titles this week but he couldn't handle the pressure of a real man's game. Did that sound like Dan?

Grand Strategy Worthy of a Legacy

No Four-Time Winners Yet ...

The waters were rough for the premier flicking event at WBC with a move to a new room and some older tables upsetting the less hardened bulls. There was an outcry about the rough surface but it was quickly quashed by the veterans who realize one must be ready whatever the conditions if they want to lead the herd.

The early rounds again culled the weaker players from the hunt but there were several minor upsets in the first opening rounds. Seventh ranked Josh Githens was knocked out early and two-time Junior Champion Brett Fox proved not quite ready for prime time, ushered out in the third round.

Round 4 found three previous champions still in the hunt and experience would not be denied as the higher ranked players prevailed. This year's six laurel earners would already be included in the top 12. Ain't no luck in flicking.

Three-time champion Dave Meyaard beat young Anna Rinko
9th ranked Jim Carvin took out Pat Gallagher
2009 champion Brandon Bernard defeated 13th ranked Alexandra Henning
8th ranked Dan Dolan Jr won over Drew Duboff

But then came the biggest upset of the week when 12th ranked Jon Gemmell took down the defending champion and top-ranked Dan Dolan Sr as a hush fell over the herd. The three-time head elk had fallen.

That left just five lusting after the most prestigious title in all of WBC. A play-in match was hatched by random draw to obtain the final four. That pit the head elk slayer Gemmell against the vengeful Dolan The Younger. Alas, the Hollywood ending got lost in the translation and the younger Dolan failed to avenge his father as Gemmell added another Dolan pelt to his collection.

And so the semifinals were set: 2nd-ranked Dave Meyaard facing Dolan-killer
Gemmell and 6th-ranked Brandon Bernard facing off against Jim Carvin. The tension proved too much for the challengers as they found out what it's like to be playing for all the marbles against two of the game's greats.

So now it was up to Brandon Bernard to deny Meyaard's attempt to become the first four-time winner. The title match proved surprisingly one-sided with Brandon earning his second title in two straight sets with none of the normal best two-of-three suspense. All hail a deserving king of the forest.

It was a good year for Elk. A veritable explosion of 40 Elk calves tried to cross the river under the harried watch of GM Scott Sunderlin. The six fastest were:

1st: Brett Fox who repeated as champion

2nd: Sean Duffy

3rd: Tessa Lytle

4th: Caitlyn Rau

5th: Lucas Holmquist who improved from 6th last year

6th: Sophia Holmquist