(CurlManitoba Release) Stolen three-enders on the fifth ends were keys to the final result of both Co-ops of Manitoba Junior Championships final games in Morris Sunday afternoon.

Evan Boutet and his Heather team (Luc Cormier, Bryce Buchel, Quinn Lagace, Coach Blaine Malo) have won their second Manitoba championship of the 2025-26 curling season. The recently crowned Manitoba U-18 champions made it two for two this afternoon in Morris with a victory over Nash Sugden (Morden) in the final game of the Co-ops of Manitoba Junior Men’s Championship.

Boutet’s stolen three on the fifth gave them a 6-1 lead enroute to a 7-4 victory.

Sugden (Tyler Fehr, Tanner Treichel, Ryan Thiessen, Coach Lorne Hamblin) posted a 6-5 win over Boutet in the Page 1v2 game Sunday morning before the Heather team bounced back for a 5-4 victory over Blake Good (West St. Paul), in the semi-final. The Good foursome had eliminated Rylan Campbell (Heather) in the Page 3v4 game.

Sugden and his team had run through the round robin with a 5W-2L record. Boutet, Campbell, and Good had equal 4W-3L records with Team Boutet earning second place on tiebreakers.

Both teams will go to the national championship in Sudbury, March 28 to April 4, 2026. Team Boutet, as provincial champion, will wear the Manitoba #1 label with Team Sugden as Manitoba #2. The second berth is awarded annually based on the performance of the provincial champion team.

The last team to skip the Manitoba U-18 and U-20 champions in the same year was skipped by Carman’s Shaela Hayward in 2024.

Hayward’s team (Keira Krahn, India Young, Dayna Wahl, Coach Ron Westcott) won the Co-ops of Manitoba Junior Women’s championship for third year in a row (for Hayward and Krahn and two in 3 years for Young). They will be the sole Manitoba Junior Women’s team at the nationals.

Team Hayward defeate­d Cassidy Dundas and her Heather team (Lauren Evason, Eryn Czirfusz, Tessa Terrick, Coach Craig Terrick) 6-5 in the Sunday afternoon final.

Hayward’s stolen three on the fifth end gave them a 5-2 lead but Dundas fought back to tie 5-5 coming home. A challenging last stone in-turn tap by Dundas didn’t curl quite enough to navigate a narrow port, leaving Hayward’s buried shot stone in the four foot circle as the winning point.

Dundas and her team had lost the Page 1v1 game Saturday evening to Hayward (6-3) but bounced back in the Sunday semi-final to defeat Bethany Allan (Granite) by the identical score. Allan had beaten Samantha Eagles 6-4 in the Page 2-2 game.

Hayward and Dundas both had 5W-0L records in the preliminary round-robin. Eagles had a 4w-1L record and Allan was at 3W-2L.