(9:30PM: December 6) Jason Gunnlaugson and his Manitoba team have won the men’s division of the 14th annual DEKALB SuperSpiel. The Manitobans defeated Karsten Sturmay and his Alberta team 5-3 in the Monday evening final to earn the $11,000 champions’ cheque.
Team Gunnlaugson, which calls the Morris Curling Club and its Cargill Curling Training Centre their home club, curled for most of the weekend with three players. Adam Casey, the usual third was absent and Alex Forrest subbed in on the weekend but the three day Monday playoff run was accomplished with just three – Gunnlaugson, Matt Wozniak and Connor Njegovan.
The sixth end was the key to the game. Team Sturmay was trailing 3-2 but lying four when Gunnlaugson went to the hack to throw his final stone. Gunnlaugson’s draw around a pair of guards and a Sturmay rock in the front four foot was prefect, biting the button fully buried. Sturmay’s only option was to attempt to come around the centre line side of the guards and tap his own stone onto the new Gunnlaugson counter. He curled up, but not quite enough, and rubbed the stone across the top of the counter. A steal of one instead of a possibly game-ending score of five.
The Gunnlaugson team’s hitting ability kept things clean from there out although Sturmay did score one on the seventh end when he stayed in the rings on an attempted cross house double kill.
It was a first DEKALB victory for Gunnlaugson and Njegovan but a fourth for Wozniak who won twice with Mike McEwen and once with Matt Dunstone.
(6PM: December 6) TEAM HOLLAND WINS WOMEN’S DEKALB SUPERSPIEL ….Amber Holland’s Kronau, SK team has won the DEKALB SuperSpiel in Morris with a 6-4 victory over Kayla McMillan (BC).
Holland led McMillan 3-1 after three ends but gave up two singles, including a steal of one when she missed on a difficult double kill attempt on the fifth end.
It was the sixth end which determined the final result. McMillan had a counter buried biting the top of the four foot but Holland cleared two guards with her first stone. A McMillan guard attempt was left long and Holland was able to navigate past the guard to tap out the McMillan stone and count a pair to lead 5-3.
A steal in end seven gave the team from Saskatchewan a 6-3 lead coming home. McMillan had a very difficult shot for a possible tie but wrecked on a guard leaving Team Holland in possession of the $7,500 winner’s cheque.
The men’s semi-finals, played at the same time, were won by Karsten Sturmay (Alberta) and Jason Gunnlaugson (Manitoba). They’ll meet in the men’s final at 7PM.
(3PM December 6) MCMILLAN-HOLLAND FINAL IN WOMEN’S DEKALB SUPERSPIEL … Kayla McMillan and her BC team will play former Canadian champion Amber Holland and her team from Kronau, SK in the DEKALB SuperSpiel final with a $7,500 payday on the line.
McMillan defeated Chelsea Carey (SK) in the noon draw semi-final. Up two coming home, with her first stone, McMillan faced a pair of Chelsea counters on the centre line in the rings, behind a centre guard about half-way to the hogline. McMillan ran the guard through, killing both and rolling wide open. Carey put her last rock in the rings but McMillan had the wide open last shot hit for victory.
Holland defeated Rachel Workin (Fargo, ND) in the other semi-final.
In the men’s semi-finals, Tanner Horgan (Ontario) defeated the Colton Lott skipped Manitoba team which Horgan skipped two years ago when they won the DEKALB SuperSpiel together. Team Horgan will play local favourite Jason Gunnlaugson after the Morris team beat Luc Violette (USA) in their quarter-final. In the other men’s semi-final, Karsten Sturmay (Alberta) will play Andrin Schnider (Switzerland).
Schnider defeated Kody Hartung (SK) while Sturmay beat Daniel Casper (USA) in the quarterfinals.
(3PM: December 6) MANITOBANS OUT OF WOMEN’S DEKALB SUPERSPIEL … Manitoba teams skipped by Darcy Robertson and Beth Peterson advanced to the DEKALB SuperSpiel playoffs but both lost their quarterfinal games Monday morning.
Team Robertson lost to Kayla MacMillan (BC) while Peterson lost to Rachel Workin (Fargo, ND). Workin is the last ‘international’ in the bonspiel as Irene Schori (Switzerland) lost to Amber Holland (Sask). Former Manitoba champion Chelsea Carey (also Sask) also advanced, with a win over Hollie Duncan (Ontario).
Of the semi-finalists, only Carey is a former DEKALB SuperSpiel champion. She won the bonspiel in 2011.
The DEKALB Men’s quarter-finals, at noon Monday, feature Jason Gunnlaugson (Manitoba) vs Luc Violette (USA); Colton Lott (Manitoba) vs Tanner Horgan (Ontario); Kody Hartung (Saskatchewan) vs Andrin Schnider (Switzerland); and Daniel Casper (USA) vs Karsten Sturmay (Alberta).
(December 5) FINAL QUALIFIERS AT MORRIS DEKALB ‘SPIEL FROM LATE DRAW SUNDAY … final four Men’s playoff qualifiers and two Women’s playoff qualifiers will be determined on the late draw Sunday in Morris.
Earlier Sunday, former Manitoba champion Chelsea Carey (Saskatchewan), Rachel Workin (Fargo, ND), and Winnipegger Beth Peterson qualified for the playoffs through the “B” Event and Irene Schori (Switzerland) qualified through the “C” Event.
The two remaining “C” qualifiers will come from the 9POM draw when Darcy Robertson takes on Meghan Walter and Mackenzie Zacharias plays Hollis Duncan (Ontario).
In the Men’s event, Luc Violette (Minnesota) and Karsten Strumay (Alberta) qualified from the “B” event earlier today, as did Tanner Horgan (Ontario) form the “C”.
The final three Men’s qualifier5s will be the winners of the 9PM games: Daniel Casper (Minnesota)) vs Tyler Tardi (BC), Jordon McDonald vs Andrin Schnider (Switzerland) and Jacques Gauthier vs Jason Gunnlaugson.
(dECEMBER 5) LOTT BROTHERS ADVANCE TO DEKALB PLAYOFFS … The team formerly skipped by Pat Simmons (Tanner & Colton Lott, Kyle Doering, Emerson Klimpke) has qualified for the playoff round at the DEKALB SuperSpiel. The team, with Tanner Lott skipping and throwing third stones while Colton throws fourth stones, bested Karsten Sturmay`s Alberta team, 7-4 on the 6PM draw Saturday to advance to the Monday playoff round.
The Lott Brothers and Doering are defending champions, having won the DEKALB SuperSpiel in 2019 with Tanner Horgan.
In the women`s draw, the first two qualifiers also came from the 6PM draw. Amber Holland and her Saskatchewan team were 7-1 winners over Meghan Walter`s Manitobans. Kayla MacMillan, from Vancouver, got the better of the Swiss team skipped by Irene Schori. The Swiss scored three on the seventh to tie the game but MacMillan scored coming home to win.
(6PM: December 4) Q-GAMES BEGIN AT DEKALB SUPERSPIEL!!! …. The first of the four “A” side qualifying games was on the ice at the DEKALB SuperSpiel in Morris during the 3PM draw. Tanner Horgan and his Ontario team, fresh from the important experience of the Canadian Olympic Trials, was matched against Kody Hartung (Saskatchewan). A close game, tied 5-5 coming home, and Hartung, as the winner is the first team to advance to the playoff round of the men’s event.
The Men’s DEKALB SuperSpiel will pay an $11,000 first prize and $36,000 in prize money, including $5,000 paid out at $100/win.
The Pat Simmons entry (skipped by Tanner Lott) will play Karsten Sturmay (Alberta) in the other “A” Qualifier. That game is set for 6PM Saturday.
In the Women’s DEKALB SuerSpiel, two “A” Qualifiers will go on the ice at 6PM.Irene Schori (Switzerland) will play Kayla MacMillan (BC) and Amber Holland (Saskatchewan) will play the young Manitoba team skipped by Meghan Walter.
(See below: Two more pairs of day passes are available for Sunday or Monday at the DEKAALB SuperSpiel)
(December 2) WIN A PAIR OF DAY-PASSES FOR THE DEKALB SUPERSPIEL!!! … Compliments of the Morris Host Committee, thecurler.com is pleased to give-away FIVE pairs of day-passes to watch the curling at what has become Manitoba’s premier competitive bonspiel event the DEKALB SuperSpiel.
The rules are simple. There is only one – no individual will be awarded more than one pair of tickets. Well, I guess there are two – you must be double vaxxed to be eligible. I won’t be checking but the folks at the curling club surely will!
The entry process is really simple. All you have to do is send me an email to …… thecurlerdotcom@gmail.com . The first five received will be awarded the tickets.
The ticket delivery process is equally simple. You will get an email confirmation that you ‘won’. I’ll advise the host committee of your name – and you can pick up the tickets at the door of the Morris Curling Club, on any of the four days of the DEKALB SuperSpiel.
** See the earlier post below for details on the great international competition you’ll be watching when you win! An electronic version of the program is included.
DEKALB SUPERSPIEL DRAW SET
International curling returns to Manitoba next weekend when the Morris World/Manitoba Curling Tour event, the DEKALB SuperSpiel, takes over the curling club. “The DEKALB” has become Manitoba’s premier competitive curling event.
There will be 16 women’s teams, including Irene Schori from Switzerland; Rachel Workin from Fego, ND, and Madison Bear from Wisconsin. On the Men’s side, 24 teams include Andrin Schnider from Switzerland, Luc Violette, Jed Brundidge and Danny Clasper from Chaska, MN and Scott Dunham from Philadelphia PA.
In the men’s event, Jason Gunnlaugson heads the list of Canadian teams which includes 15 Manitoba entries and one each from Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. There are Manitoba Curling Tour ‘points’ berths to be assigned after the DEKALB so lots of incentive for the Manitoba teams to be at their best.
In the women’s event, challenging the internationals are no fewer that eight of the teams who will compete in Carberry in the Manitoba Scotties in mid-December. Every one of them realizes the chance of winning the Scotties improved today with Jennifer Jones winning the Olympic Trials as the multiple former champion team will be replaced in the draw. Playing well in the DEKALB will set the tone for a big week in Carberry.
As an added feature, the host committee has announced there will be live streaming of 9 round robin games of the DEKALB SuperSpiel — plus all 4 playoff draws on Monday. On Championship Monday, December 6, –the women will play 9 A.M. , noon and 3:30. The men will play at noon, 3:30 and 7 P.M.
To review the DEKALB SUPERSPIEL Program, clink on the front page below.
thecurler.com 