Author Archives: Resby Coutts

VITERRA REGIONALS IDENTIFY 18 TEAMS TO COMPETE IN NEEPAWA

Posted on by
Reply
TANNER LOTT TEAM

(CurlManitoba Release) Regional curling competitions across Manitoba on the past weekend have earned 18 teams an invitation to compete in the Manitoba Men’s Viterra Championship in Neepawa, February 7-12, 2023. The teams are from 15 different communities and curling clubs.

Assiniboine Memorial (Brett Walter & JT Ryan), Fort Rouge (Tanner Lott & Jordan Peters), and Beausejour (Wayne Ewasko & Justin Richter) Curling Clubs each won two regional playoff berths.

Single berths were captured by teams from Baldur (Grant Shewfelt), Burntwood (Tuffy Seguin), Deer Lodge (Sean Grassie), Carberry (Rob Van Kommer), Gladstone (Jeff Stewart), Granite (Mark Franklin), Morris (David Hamblin), Pembina (Daniel Birchard), Pilot Mound (Steve Pauls), Portage (Ryan Hyde), Riverview (Cale Dunbar), and Virden (Jace Freeman)

JORDAN PETERS TEAM
MARK FRANKLIN TEAM
DANIEL BIRCHARD TEAM
ROB VAN KOMMER TEAM WITH RIVERS CC PRESIDENT DAVE FALKEVITCH

Forty teams representing 28 Manitoba communities and curling clubs entered regional Viterra Championship playoffs. They were competing to join the 10 teams already pre-identified for the 2023 championship in Neepawa.

The pre-qualified teams were Braden Calvert (Deer Lodge), who earned the Canadian Team Ranking (CTRS) berth awarded at the end of last season and the top three Manitoba teams on the CTRS on November 22, 2022 skipped by Matt Dunstone (Fort Rouge), Reid Carruthers (Morris), and Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge). In addition, the four Manitoba Curling Tour (MCT) berth teams are skipped by Steve Irwin (Brandon), Riley Smith (Thistle), Steen Sigurdson (AMCC), and Corey Chambers (Fort Garry).

Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) and Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) won the Minnedosa Viterra Berth bonspiel invitations earlier this season.

The final four entries in the Neepawa Viterra Championship will be berth winners in the Brandon (1 berth) and Manitoba Open (3 berths) Bonspiels in early January.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF QUALIFIED TEAMS TO DATE IS:
2021-22 SEASON CTRS: Braden Calvert (Deer Lodge)
2022 MCT CHAMPION: Steve Irwin (Brandon)
2022 MCT POINTS: Riley Smith (Thistle)
2022 MCT POINTS: Steen Sigurdson (AMCC)
2022 MCT POINTS: Corey Chambers (Fort Garry)
NOVEMBER 22, 2022 CTRS: Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge)
NOVEMBER 22, 2022 Matt Dunstone (Fort Rouge)
NOVEMBER 22, 2022 Reid Carruthers (Morris)
BERTH: Kelly Marnoch (Carberry)
BERTH Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge)
NORTH REGIONAL:  Tuffy Seguin – Burntwood
WEST 1 REGIONAL: Jeff Stewart (Gladstone)
WEST 2 REGIONAL:  Cale Dunbar (Riverview)
WEST 2 REGIONAL:  Jace Freeman (Virden)
WEST 2 REGIONAL: Rob Van Kommer (Carberry)
SOUTH 1 REGIONAL:  Ryan Hyde – Portage
SOUTH 1 REGIONAL: Steve Pauls (Pilot Mound)
SOUTH 1 REGIONAL: Grant Shewfelt (Baldur)
SOUTH 2 REGIONAL: David Hamblin (Morris)
EAST REGIONAL: Justin Richter (Beausejour)
EAST REGIONAL: Wayne Ewasko (Beausejour)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL:  Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL:  Tanner Lott (Fort Rouge)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL:  Brett Walter (AMCC)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL:  JT Ryan (AMCC)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL: Mark Franklin (Granite)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL: Daniel Birchard (Pembina)
WINNIPEG REGIONAL: Jordan Peters (Fort Rouge)
MANITOBA OPEN: TBD
MANITOBA OPEN: TBD
MANITOBA OPEN: TBD
BRANDON SPIEL: TBD

ROBERTSON, BEAUDRY WIN FINAL SCOTTIES BERTHS

Posted on by
Reply

Darcy Robertson’s AMCC team (Gaetanne Gauthier, Rachel Kaatz, Kadriana Lott, Coach Cathy Gauthier) AND Grace Beaudry’s St. Vital junior team (Emily Ogg, Madelyn Hollins, Mackenzie Arbuckle, Alternate Shaela Hayward, Coach Cal Edie) have won the final two entries into the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in East St. Paul.

Beaudry defeated the Manitoba Club champions skipped by Lisa Birchard (Pembina) while Robertson ousted another junior team skipped by Tansy Tober (Ft Garry) in the final berth games Sunday at Deer Lodge.

(December 17, 11PM) CAREY JOINS JONES, LAWES IN MANITOBA SCOTTIES ….With the exception of the absent Kerri Einarson Team Canada, ALL of Manitoba’s elite women’s teams have now qualified for the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts at East St. Paul, January 24-29, 2023.

Former champion Chelsea Carey, returning to Manitoba competition this season, was the first regional qualifier Saturday, December 17. Her East St. Paul team joins the defending champion Mackenzie Zacharias team, now lined up with Jennifer Jones, and Kaitlyn Lawes whose team had pre-qualified on CTRS points. They will be joined by the best young teams on the Manitoba scene.

Kristy Watling, Abby Ackland, and Beth Peterson (all in the CTRS top 30) were also pre-qualified prior to regionals. Watling (CTRS points 2021-22), Peterson (Minnedosa Berth Bonspiel), and Ackland (MCT points) were joined by MCT Champion Lisa McLeod in advance qualifying – leaving six regional berths to be played for this weekend.

In Western Manitoba, Alyssa Calvert-Carberry won a best of three series with Seniors Champion Terry Ursel to earn a Scotties berth. Joining Team Carey as Winnipeg regional berth winners on the Saturday evening draw were teams skipped by Katy Lukowich-Granite and Emma Jensen-Heather.

Lukowich fought from behind to tie 6-6 after five ends then stole the sixth for a one point lead. After trading deuces with veteran Darcy Robertson, Lukowich led by one, without hammer, playing the ninth and final end. The key shot of the end was draw by third Lauren Rajala who drew past a centre guard to be fully buried just short of the four foot circle – the eventual winning point.

For Jensen, it was a more dominating effort. The Heather team led 6-3 after five ends but ended the game with some great shotmaking, aided by timely misses, to score four on the sixth end.

The final two Scotties berths will be determined Sunday on a Noon draw at Deer Lodge when the crests will be handed to the winners of Lisa Birchard, Pembina vs Grace Beaudry, St. Vital AND Darcy Robertson, AMCC vs Tansy Tober, Fort Garry.

SCOTTIES QUALIFIED TEAMS:
CHAMP: Jones/Zacharias – St. Vital/Altona
CTRS 2021: Kristy Watling
BERTH BONSPIEL: Beth Peterson
MCT Champion: Lisa McLeod
MCT Points Berth: Abby Ackland
CTRS Nov 22, 2022: Kaitlyn Lawes
Westman Alyssa Calvert – Carberry
Winnipeg Chelsea Carey – East St. Paul
Winnipeg Katy Lukowich – Granite
Winnipeg Emma Jensen – Heather
Winnipeg Regional – Darcy Robertson – AMCC
Winnipeg Regional – Grace Beaudry – St. Vital

WARREN, NEUFELD TEAMS HEAD ENTRY LIST FOR SENIORS & MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Posted on by
Reply

(CurlManitoba Release) Murray Warren’s Brandon team and Randy Neufeld’s La Salle team, reigning Manitoba’s Credit Unions Masters Men’s and Strathcona Trust Senior Men’s champions respectively, will play in both Manitoba championship events this season.

With last year’s Manitoba title, both earned the champion’s invitation to compete again this year. Both teams have also won qualifying berths to compete in the second event this season and will attempt to win these two titles – a feat which has never before been accomplished in the same year. 

The teams captured the Canadian bronze medals in their attempts to win their national titles in recent weeks. Team Neufeld had an 11W-1L record at the Everest Canadian Seniors last week in Yarmouth Nova Scotia. Team Warren compiled a 9W-3L record at the Canadian Masters at Pembina in November.

The Warren team (brothers Murray, Terry, Reg Warren, Brian Barker & alternate Gary Barker) will play intact in the two events while the Neufeld team has one change. Neufeld’s Senior Men’s line-up (Photo: Curling Canada/Clifton Saulnier) includes Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls and Dale Michie while his Masters berth winning team has Darren Oryniak replacing Moxham.

Four other skips will also attempt to win both championships. Butch Mouck – Minnedosa, Allan Gitzel – Altona & Miami, Mike Mahon – Granite, and Sam Antila – Burntwood (Thompson) are those four skips although, like Neufeld, none of them will play the two events with the same teams.

Regional playoffs to qualify for the provincial championships in both Senior and Masters Men’s wrapped up Wednesday, December 13. In the Masters competition, 25 teams entered regional playoffs across the province to earn 13 playoff berths while 24 teams entered Senior regionals to earn 11 playoff berths.

The parallel Masters and Senior Women’s championships are both played in open-entry formats. The entry deadline for the Senior Women’s event is February 23 while the deadline for entering the Masters Women’s is January 26.

The Manitoba’s Credit Unions Masters Men’s & Women’s Championship will be played in Thompson, March 8-13, 2023. The Strathcona Trust Senior Men’s and CurlManitoba Senior Women’s Championships will be played in Dauphin, March 22-27, 2023.

With Brandon Bonspiel berths yet to be awarded in both Senior Men’s and Masters Men’s Championships, the teams competing will be:

STRATHCONA TRUST SENIOR MEN’S
Randy Neufeld – La Salle (Champion’s Berth)
Dean North – Carman (Morden Bonspiel)
Paul Scinocca – Charleswood (Granite Bonspiel)
Richard Muntain – Granite (Regional Berth)
Mike Mahon – Granite (Regional Berth)
Cory Anderson – Thistle (Regional Berth)
Neil Okumura – Pembina (Regional Berth)
Dave Boehmer – Petersfield (Regional Berth)
Lawrie Hogg – Stonewall (Regional Berth)
Allan Gitzel – Altona (Regional Berth)
Kevin Paramor – Arden/Lansdowne (Regional Berth)
Butch Mouck – Minnedosa (Regional Berth)
Brad Edwards – Carberry (Regional Berth)
Murray Warren – Brandon (Regional Berth)
Sam Antila – Burntwood (Regional Berth)
TBD – Brandon Bonspiel Berth Winner

MANITOBA’S CREDIT UNIONS MASTERS MEN’S
Murray Warren – Brandon (Champion’s Berth)
Randy Neufeld – La Salle (Fort Rouge Bonspiel)
Joe Fouasse – Fort Garry (Regional Berth)
John Norget – Pembina (Regional Berth)
Mike Mahon – Granite (Regional Berth)
Allan Gitzel – Miami (Regional Berth)
Neil Schmidt – East St. Paul (Regional Berth)
Len Loewen – Riverton (Regional Berth)
Butch Mouck – Minnedosa (Regional Berth)
Lawrence Daniel – Hamiota (Regional Berth)
Dale Brooks – Hamiota (Regional Berth)
Ray Baker – Dauphin (Regional Berth)
Jim Renwick – Brandon (Regional Berth)
Gerry Haight – Brandon (Regional Berth)
Sam Antila – Burntwood (Regional Berth)
TBD – Brandon Bonspiel Berth Winner

WIN TICKETS FOR MANITOBA/CANADA CHAMPIONSHIP CURLING EVENTS

Posted on by
Reply

The Board of Directors of the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum has announced details of a fund-raising raffle in cooperation with CurlManitoba.

First prize is the winner’s choice of a pair of full-event tickets for the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier (London, Ontario) OR 2023 BKT Tires/OK Tire World Men’s (Ottawa, Ontario). The prize includes $500 cash toward travel expenses. Second prize is a set of four of Asham’s new Ultra force brushes to equip your team. The draw will be made on February 12, 2023 and the winners announced during the final game of Manitoba’s Viterra Championship in Neepawa.

The early-bird prize is a pair of full event tickets for the Manitoba Scotties (East St. Paul) AND the Viterra Championship (Neepawa). This winner will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Manitoba Open Bonspiel on January 12, 2023.

Proceeds of the raffle will be shared equally the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum for continued development of the Virtual Museum website and the CurlManitoba Development Fund, whose proceeds go to support CurlManitoba’s various development programs.

Tickets are priced at 10 for $20, 4 for $10, and 1 for $5. Only Manitoba residents over 18 are eligible to win.

For on-line ticket purchase or for more complete details go to https://www.fundingchange.ca/curlmanitoba/

BOB PICKEN LEGACY AWARD JUNIOR GRANTS ANNOUNCED

Posted on by
Reply

Bob Picken Legacy Fund grants to three Manitoba junior curling programs have been announced by organizers of the annual Bob Picken-Valour Road Masters Bonspiel.

The grants of $500 each are being awarded to support the high school curling program in Carman, a junior curling program in Swan River, and a new Junior Development league in Western Manitoba.

The Westman Development League grant will be made through the Virden Curling Club whose volunteers have undertaken to establish a new league involving several clubs in the Westman and south-east Saskatchewan region.

The league aspires to be an instructional-developmental league where young curlers, aged 9-15, can learn the game, have fun, and meet other young people from other clubs.

In Swan River, the Junior curling program combines structured instruction with fun event nights, game play and season ending fun bonspiel. The $500 grant is a significant contribution to a fund-raising initiative needed to acquire training aids and equipment required for an effective program in a community where distance limits access to services and programs more readily available in other parts of the province.

In Carman, the target audience is a group of high school curlers with a longer-term aim of establishing a high-school league. Key to initial success will be providing a high level of instruction, funded in part by the Legacy Fund grant.

The three $500 grants bring the amount of Bob Picken Legacy Fund support for junior curling province wide to $4,500 since the Bonspiel was established four years ago as a tribute to the memory of legendary curling (and multi-sport) broadcaster Bob Picken.

In his competitive years, Bob Picken wore the Valour Road colours with pride, hence the Bonspiel name.  With the exception of one Covid-cancellation year, the event has been an annual affair at the Thistle Curling Club. It will continue in the fall of 2023 as an early season competition opportunity for Masters-age curlers.

11W-1L AND SENIOR MEN’S BRONZE MEDAL FOR MANITOBANS

Posted on by
Reply

(December 10, 2022: 7PM) Disappointment for Randy Neufeld’s Team Manitoba as they lost their semi-final game at the Everest Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, giving up a two coming home to lose 4-3 to Alberta. They bounced back in the Bronze Medal game, scoring a three and a four in the first two ends enroute to a 10-7 victory over Nova Scotia.

In the Gold Medal game, Ontario defeated the Albertans, 7-6.

In the Senior Women’s, Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson won the semi-final (7-4 over Nova Scotia) and the final (7-3 over Quebec). It was the fifth consecutive Canadian Senior Women’s title for Anderson’s Saskatchewan team.

(December 9 , 2022: 11PM) 10W-0L MANITOBAN’S ADVANCE TO PLAYOFFS … Repeat headline – TWO MORE WINS: NEUFELD STILL PERFECT – as Randy Neufeld and his Manitobans (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) wrapped up the championship qualifying round with two more wins. On the early draw they beat BC 7-3 and then, with first place on the line, they defeated Nova Scotia.

Seeded first in playoffs, Team Neufeld will play Alberta’s Pahl team on the early morning draw Saturday – hoping to advance to the gold medal game at 12:30 (10:30 CST). Nova Scotia will play Ontario in the other semi-final.

In the Women’s championship, Nova Scotia earned the #1 seed with a 9W-1L record and they`ll play Saskatchewan (7W-3L). Quebec (also 9W-1L) will play Ontario (also 7W-3L) in the second semi-final.

(December 8, 2022: 9PM) TWO MORE WINS; NEUFELD STILL PERFECT … Thursday started slow for Randy Neufeld’s Team Manitoba with Howard Rajala’s Ontario team scoring three consecutive singles to start their first game of the day. Neufeld scored a three on the fourth end to tie and went on to a 7-4 win.

A 10-3 victory over Quebec followed on the late draw and and the Manitobans had improved to a perfect 8W-0L. They are now guaranteed a spot in the final four playoffs.

At 8W-0L, Neufeld’s La Salle team leads the way – ahead of Nova Scotia (7W-1L), Ontario (6W-2L), and both Alberta and Saskatchewan who are tied at 5W-3L. They wrap the championship round on Friday with games against BC’s Wes Craig (4W-4L) and Glen MacLeod’s Nova Scotians.

Even with two losses, a worst case scenario, Manitoba will finish 8W-2L and no worse than second place seeding going into the semi-finals.

(December 7, 2022: 8PM) NEUFELD UNDEFEATED INTO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND … Randy Neufeld’s LaSalle team (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) haver completed the preliminary round of play at the Everest Canadian Senior Championships with a perfect 6W-1L record. The Manitobans now advance to the second round, the championship round.

Right behind the Neufeld team in the standings are Howard Rajala (Ontario) and Glen MacLeod (Nova Scotia) with 5W-1L records. The two teams both advanced from the other pool so Neufeld must yet play both. Their game with Rajala opens the championship round on the morning draw Thursday while they’ll finish on Friday afternoon against MacLeod.

Their other two games will be against British Columbia and Quebec. The top four teams overall advance to the playoffs.

In the women’s championship, Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson team is the lone unbeaten team as they continue a quest to win a fifth consecutive title. After opening with split of their first two games Manitoba’s Terry Ursel has lost four in a row and finished the preliminary round with a 1W-5L record.

(December 5, 2022) CANADIAN SENIORS UNDERWAY … Manitoba’s Terry Ursel and Randy Neufeld teams have begun their quest for the national Senior championships. Neufeld and his team opened play with a win over Alberta’s James Pahl while Ursel’s first game was a loss to Ontario’s JoAnne Rizzo.

Both teams won their second games. Neufeld defeated Keith Ryan (Nfld/Labrador) while Ursel defeated Sandy Comeau (New Brunswick). The teams play in two pools of seven for a six-game preliminary round. The top four teams will advance to a second championship round for four more games against teams crossing over from the other pool. Four teams then advance to a knockout playoff.

Neufeld (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) won gold and silver in back to back years in 2015 & 2016 along with a world seniors silver medal in their Canadian championship year. Former Brier & world champion Al Hackner, fresh off his Masters victory at Pembina a couple of weeks ago, won the 2006 Canadian Seniors – the only other former champion skip in the field.

Ursel (Wanda Rainka, Brenda Walker, Tracy Igonia, Alternate Chris Hamblin, Coach Lorne Hamblin) reached the bronze medal game in 2019. The favorite is no doubt Saskatchewan Sherry Anderson, attempting to win a fifth consecutive title. Alberta’s Diane Foster won the Canadian and world titles in 2008.

Photos: Curling Canada/Malcolm Seaboyer

DUNSTONE, ACKLAND WIN DEKALB SUPERSPIELS

Posted on by
Reply

Manitoba teams skipped by Matt Dunstone-Fort Rouge and Abby Ackland-Assiniboine Memorial have won their respective halves of the 15th annual DEKALB SuperSpiel in Morris.

Dunstone with BJ Neufeld, Ryan Harnden, and Colton Lott (pictured with Kevin Chevalier-DEKALB (l) and Jack Maendel-Ecopoxy) had an undefeated run through the bonspiel, winning six games over all Manitoba teams.

Dunstone qualified through the “A” event with wins over Jordan Peters-Morris (8-2) Braden Calvert-Deer Lodge (4-2), and Ryan Wiebe-Fort Rouge (6-4). In the playoffs, the Dunstone foursome won re-matches with Calvert (6-2) and Wiebe (7-3) before playing Reid Carruthers -Morris in the final.

The final game, projected by many as a possible preview of a provincial final in February in Neepawa, saw Dunstone jump in front with a three on the second end in a 7-2 win.

Carruthers had a much different route to the final – never playing a Manitoba team until the final. Along the way they had a pair of wins over Tommy Sullivan (NB) by scores of 4-3 and 9-3; a 7-3 win over Ryan Kleiter (Saskatoon) a loss (8-2); and a win (5-4) in games with US Olympic gold medalist John Shuster.

Like Carruthers, Ackland with Meghan Walter, Sara Oliver, Mackenzie Elias (pictured with Leon Friesen-Meridian) did not play a Manitoba opponent in their 7W-1L run to the title. Preliminary round wins over Kim Rhyme (MN) 9-2; Corryn Brown (BC) 8-4; Andrea Kelly (NB) 7-5; and Christine McMakin (ND) 9-1 followed a first game loss to Delaney Strouse (MN) 7-4. Playoff wins over Casey Scheidegger (AB) 7-0 and Clancy Grandy (BC) 8-7 preceded 7-3 final game win over Nancy Martin (Saskatoon).

Martin had defeated the Jennifer Jones-Mackenzie Zacharias team by a 6-4 score.

Photos: Connie Norris

THOMSON, NEUFELD SHARE ACCESS CREDIT UNION SUPERLEAGUE LEAD

Posted on by
Reply

With one round-robin game left to play, Randy Neufeld (La Salle) and Ryan Thomson (Morden) share first place in the six-team Access Credit Union Super League in south-central Manitoba. The two teams have both won three games out of their first four.

The final round is tentatively scheduled to be played December 15th in Portage, if ice is available, as a tune-up for Regional playoffs. When that final round-robin game is played, the standings board to start looks like this:
*3W-1L: Ryan Thomson (Morden)
*3W-1L: Randy Neufeld (La Salle)
2W-2L: Keaton Bachalo (Portage)
1W-2L: David Hamblin (Morris)
1W-2L: Ryan Hyde (Portage)
1W-3L: Dean North (Carman)

Pending the outcome of the final round-robin games, Thomson is ranked above Neufeld based on a 6-5 victory two weeks ago in Carman.

The championship round, to be scheduled in January, will be played in Morris with the top two teams in the round-robin earning byes to the semi-finals. League prize money payout will be a total of $6,800 with the champion earning $2,500 and the finalist receiving $1,500. Third place pays $1,000 with $800-$600-$400 for 4th, 5th, and 6th final placing respectively. That’s on top of $200 per round-robin win – making the league’s total prize pool $9,800.

In addition, the league has continued a long-standing policy of renting the ice they play on, at $100 per sheet – a total contribution of $3,600 to the clubs. The league has continued a tradition of playing at least one game in each team’s home club.

League organizers acknowledge the significant sponsorship contribution of Access Credit Union in enabling the league to continue operating. While the league had larger numbers in earlier years, it continues to provide important early season competition for the teams as well as the noted financial support of the participating clubs.

ARBUCKLE-MACDONELL WIN CANADA GAMES TRIALS

Posted on by
Reply

(CurlManitoba Release) Mackenzie Arbuckle and Aaron Macdonell (St. Vital) have gone undefeated through CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Mixed Doubles Trials at Heather Curling Club and will represent Manitoba in Mixed Doubles Curling at the 2023 Canada Games in Prince Edward Island in February.

The Sunday evening gold medal game was the team’s seventh consecutive victory.

In that gold medal final, Arbuckle-Macdonell (Coach Tim Arbuckle) needed an extra end to defeat Katy Lukowich and Thomas McGillivray (Granite). The Granite team had trailed 5-1 at the break but a dramatic four-ender changed the momentum and Lukowich-McGillivray led 6-5 after six ends. A three for the St. Vital duo followed by a Lukowich clutch draw for two coming home set up the extra end.

Except for the two high-scoring power-play ends (#6 & #7), the entire game including the extra end was played with multiple rockso in the four-foot circle. On that extra end, an Arbuckle-Macdonell guard left nothing but a last stone runback attempt by Lukowich to try to contact their own stone in the top four foot and push it in but the shot over-curled. Arbuckle did not have to throw her final stone of the end in the 10-8 victory.

To reach the gold medal game, Arbucke-Macdonell were not seriously challenged in their 6-end semi-final game with Lauren Evason and Rylan Campbell (East St. Paul). The win meant they reached the final undefeated.

In their semi-final win, Lukowich-McGillivray (Coach Mark Lukowich) held off a comeback by Mikaylah Lyburn and Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge). Lukowich-McGillivray dominated the game early and led by three after three ends. Lyburn-McDonald scored a three to be tied at the break and led 6-4 after scoring another three on the 6th end. Lukowich-McGillivray tied the game with two on the seventh end and controlled the centre line through the final end. With a counter in the four foot, a last stone guard by Lukowich wasn’t perfect but proved good enough as Lyburn-McDonald missed on a last stone attempt to remove the partially buried counter.

In the bronze medal game, Lyburn-McDonald (Coach William Lyburn) were up six on Evason and Rylan Campbell (Coach Cal Edie) after two ends thanks to a steal of four on the second end.

Lauren Rajala & Ryan Ostrowsky and Samantha Eagles & Logan Strand (both of Granite) were the other two playoff qualifiers, ousted in the Sunday morning quarter-finals.

Arbucke-Macdonell will join the two U18 teams to make up the Manitoba curling portion of Manitoba’s Canada Winter Games team in Summerside, Prince Edward Island on February.

Dayna Wahl and her Altona team (Piper Stoesz, Anna Marie Ginters, Gillian Hildebrand and Coach Keith Stoesz) and Virden’s Jace Foreman team (Elias Huminicki, Jack Steski, Rylan Graham, and Coach Graham Freeman) won the U18 Women’s and Men’s Canada Games Trials earlier this season.

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MANITOBA TEAMS IN EDMONTON

Posted on by
Reply

Manitoba’s teams at the Everest Club Championships in Edmonton will come home empty handed. Both Jack Hykaway’s men’s team and Lisa Birchard’s women’s team advanced to the playoff round as the top team in their preliminary round pools but both lost knock-out games late Friday to be eliminated.

Team Hykaway ran off 7 straight wins but lost back-to-back Friday, first losing 9-6 to Northern Ontario and then11-2 to Alberta. Team Birchard lost their opening playoff game, rebounded to win their second but lost the elimination game 5-3 to Quebec.

Semi-finals go at 11AM (Mtn) with the medal games at 4PM.

(Friday 5:30PM) MANITOBA TEAMS POST PLAYOFF WINS EDMONTON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Manitoba’s Jack Hykaway team went though the preliminary round with a perfect 6W-0L record and have posted their first win in the modified double knockout playoff round. The Pembina team defeated BC’s Ron Schmidt 6-5 in an extra end in their first playoff game. Next up (at 6PM Mtn) is a re-match with Northern Ontario’s Ben Mikkelsen, who Manitoba has already beaten in the round robin.

The Mikkelsen team includes second Mark Blanchard, who won Manitoba in 2016 with Andrew Wickman.

Lis Birchard and her Women’s team advanced to the playoffs after finishing first in their pool with a 4W-1L record. They were ambushed in their first playoff game, losing 9-1 to Ontario’s Chrissy Cadorin team. However, the Pembina women bounced back in their second playoff game, defeating Kimberley Dennis and her BC champions. Now in a must-win situation, Team Birchard has a re-match on the late draw Friday against Team Ontario, who lost their second game to drop to the playoffs “B” Side.

(Wednesday: Nov 23 6PM) MANITOBA TEAMS UNBEATEN IN EDMONTON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Manitoba’s teams at the Everest Club Championships in Edmonton are off to a great start – both the Lisa Birchard and Zach Wasylik teams have posted three wins and sit with perfect 3W-0L records at start of play Wednesday.

The men are playing in a pool of seven so have 3 games to go in preliminary round play while the women are in a pool of six so they have two games remaining in preliminary round play. Team Birchard wraps up its preliminary round on the Thursday 1:30pm draw while Team Wasylik finishes on the 8:30pm draw tomorrow. (Photos: Curling Canada-Jake Walker)

After the round robin, the top three teams in each pool will advance to a modified double-knockout playoffs, which begin Friday, Nov. 25, and conclude with the gold- and bronze-medal games on Saturday, Nov. 26.