(CurlManitoba Release: Saturday, February 7) Manitoba will have a new Men’s curling champion when the Bunge Championship final game ends on Sunday in Selkirk.

Defending champion, and #1 seed, Reid Carruthers and his Granite team were eliminated from the competition Saturday afternoon by Kelly Marnoch and his Carberry foursome. Although there are members of the three remaining teams who have won Manitoba championships at the Mixed, U-18 and Junior Men’s levels, to date none of the remaining competitors have earned a trip to the Canadian Men’s Championship Brier.

Those three remaining teams include Braden Calvert-Heather (Corey Chambers, Kyle Kurz, Brendan Bilawka, Alternate Rob Gordon), Jordon McDonald-Assiniboine Memorial (Jacques Gauthier, Elias Huminicki, Cam Olafson,  Coach Bryan Miki), and Brett Walter-Assiniboine Memorial  (Julien Leduc, Graham McFarlane, Hugh McFarlane). 

Calvert won the Page 1-2 playoff game 8-7 Saturday evening over McDonald. The previously undefeated McDonald foursome led 5-3 at the mid-game break but gave up five points over the next four ends to trail 8-6 coming home. Facing a McDonald stone on the button, Calvert made a near perfect freeze with his final stone on the home end. McDonald was unable to do anything with it and scored just a single point.

Team Calvert advances to Sunday’s 3PM Bunge Championship final.

Team McDonald drops into the 9:30AM semi-final against Team Walter who ousted Kelly Marnoch-Carberry in the Page 3-4 game when the Winnipeg team ran them out of stones in the tenth end for a final 8-6 score.

The Marnoch foursome earned their spot in the Saturday evening game with their win over Carruthers. Team Walter’s Page 3-4 game berth came from a Saturday afternoon victory over Steve Irwin-Brandon.

(Friday, February 6) MCDONALD VS CALVERT IN BUNGE CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE 1-2 GAME: The first playoff games were played in the 2026 Bunge Championship Friday evening in Selkirk with the winners, Jordon McDonald-Assiniboine Memorial and Braden Calvert-Heather, advancing to meet Saturday evening at 7:00PM in the Page 1-2 Playoff game.

The second-seeded Team McDonald (Jacques Gauthier, Elias Huminicki, Cam Olafson, Coach Bryan Miki) handed the defending champion Reid Carruthers-Granite team their second loss of the day, a 6-2 McDonald win. Team Carruthers  (BJ Neufeld, Catlin Schneider, Connor Njegovan, Alternate Kyle Doering, Coach Rob Meakin) had earlier lost their A-qualifier game to Brett Walter-Assiniboine Memorial before winning a B-qualifier over Steve Irwin (Brandon).

The third-seeded Team Calvert (Corey Chambers, Kyle Kurz, Brendan Bilawka, Alternate Rob Gordon), playing their third game of the day, were 10-4 winners over fourth-seed Walter (Julien Leduc, Graham McFarlane, Hugh McFarlane). Earlier, Team Calvert had lost an A-qualifier game to McDonald before winning a B-qualifier over Jace Freeman (Virden).

The winner of the Saturday evening McDonald vs Calvert match-up will go direct to the Sunday afternoon final game. The loser will have a second chance in the Sunday morning semi-final.

Meanwhile, the final two playoff qualifiers will be identified Saturday morning at 9:00AM in Selkirk. The C-Side Qualifying games will feature #5 seed Tanner Lott (Fort Rouge) playing Steve Irwin (Brandon) and Freeman against Kelly Marnoch (Carberry).

On the late draw Friday, Irwin advanced with a win over Daniel Birchard (Pembina), Freeman eliminated Cale Dunbar (Brandon) and Marnoch handed a third loss to the Deer Lodge Sean Grassie team (skipped by Justin Richter).

(Thursday, February 5) TOP FOUR SEEDS ADVANCE TO A-SIDE QUALIFYING GAMES: The top four seeds have advanced to play the first two playoff qualifier games in the triple knock-out CurlManitoba Bunge Provincial Men’s Championship underway in Selkirk. The four have won their first two games in the competition. A Reid Carruthers (Granite) vs Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) game and a Jordon McDonald (Assiniboine Memorial) vs Braden Calvert (Heather) match-up will be the feature attractions on the Friday 8:30AM draw. The winners will be the first qualifiers into the six-team playoff round.

Top-seeded Reid Carruthers (BJ Neufeld, Catlin Schneider, Connor Njegovan, Alternate Kyle Doering, Coach Rob Meakin) advanced with an extra end win over Andrew Wickman (Fort Rouge) and a last stone four-foot draw win over Jace Freeman (Virden).

Second-seed Jordon McDonald – Assiniboine Memorial (Jacques Gauthier, Elias Huminicki, Cam Olafson, Coach Bryan Miki) posted preliminary wins over Derrick Anderson (Gimli) and  Kelly Marnoch (Carberry).

The first two wins for third-seed Braden Calvert (Corey Chambers, Kyle Kurz, Brendan Bilawka, Alternate Rob Gordon) came over Stefan Gudmundson (Steinbach) and Steve Irwin (Brandon).

Fourth-seed Brett Walter (Julien Leduc, Graham McFarlane, Hugh McFarlane) had their two victories over Marcus Titchkosky (Morden) and #5 seed Tanner Lott (Fort Rouge).

The losers of the Carruthers-Walter and McDonald-Calvert games will drop into B-Side qualifying games at 4PM Friday. The four other teams still alive on that B-Side are Irwin, Marnoch, Freeman, and Lott.

Eight teams will also play Friday in C-Side elimination games.  The first four teams eliminated from the new triple knock-out event on Thursday were Gudmundson, Ryan Hyde and Brett Moxham (Portage), and Cory Naharnie (Granite).