Author Archives: Resby Coutts

SIX OF TOP EIGHT SEEDS STILL PERFECT AT VITERRA

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The 32-team field has been cut in half. Sixteen teams have survived the first two days of play in the 2025 Viterra Championship and the first four qualifiers to the second round of play, the playoff round, will be determined on the morning draw Friday.

The top five seeds and one of the next three seeds are so far unbeaten. They’ll play in the Friday morning qualifying game. Sixth seed Riley Smith (East St. Paul) was eliminated on the first day of play while #8 seed Jordan Peters (Fort Rouge) lost Thursday afternoon to Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) to drop to the “B” side of the opening round. On the late draw Thursday, the Peters team bounced back to stay alive with an 8-4 win over Ryan Ostrowsky (Granite).

Coach Kerri Einarson with some advice for Beausejour skip Justin Richter

The eight “A” side teams playing for those first four playoff round berths are top seed Reid Carruthers (Granite) who will play Stewart’s Gladstone team Friday morning; second-seeded Jordon McDonald (Assiniboine Memorial) who will take on the seventh seed, Steve Irwin (Brandon); third-seeded Braden Calvert (Fort Rouge) who will play the veteran Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge), a former provincial finalist; and fourth seed Jacques Gauthier (West St. Paul) who will play fifth seed Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) in the fourth Friday morning game.

Gauthier, playing with a three-man team comprising Derek Samagalski and Tanner Lott, came closest to tasting defeat among the eight two-game winners, trailing Justin Richter (Beausejour) 9-6 after seven ends before scoring a three and two deuces for victory.

The eight surviving teams on the “B” side of the draw, after Thursday evening’s late draw are Ed Barr and Kelly Marnoch (Carberry), Jace Freeman (Virden), Justin Richter (Beausejour), Marcus Titchkosky (Morden), Jordan Peters (Fort Rouge), Devon Wiebe (Charleswood), and Daniel Birchard (Pembina).

These eight must win two games Friday to advance to the playoff round.

#6 SEED SMITH TEAM OUSTED ON DAY ONE OF THE VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP

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Opening day of the 100th Manitoba Men’s Curling Championship, the 2025 Viterra Championship at Stride Place, Portage la Prairie, like most opening days went mainly according to the form chart as determined by the pre-event seeding by the teams.

The opening draws pit the top seeded teams, the favorites to win the championship, against the lower seeded teams, often teams with little or no experience playing in championship arena ice conditions which are significantly different from the club ice conditions they normally play. It is unlikely in the first games for the top eight seeds that there will be an upset win by the lower-ranked teams.

Local fans went home disappointed Wednesday evening when Gladstone’s Jeff Stewart executed this angle raise takeout for four on the ninth end to go up three enroute to victory at Stride Place Arena.

When the Carberry team skipped by Rob Van Kommer, with Ed Barr throwing fourth, went on the ice at noon Wednesday against #6 seed Riley Smith and his East St. Paul team, the betting odds would have favoured the Smith foursome. Authoring the first upset of the week, Barr hit for three on the ninth to go three up and then made a double kill with his last coming home for an 8-5 win.

Top-seeded Reid Carruthers and his Granite team, along with the other six among the top eight seeds, won by concession before the full ten ends were complete.

At the end of the competitive spectrum, the 32-team draw format dictates that four games on the late draw of opening day will see the first four eliminations from the “B” side of the double-knock-out opening round.

A disappointing second loss ended the Smith foursome’s short stay at the championship. Marcus Titchkosky and his young Morden team stole two on the ninth end in their late draw game with the Smith team then stole again to eliminate them 9-6. Robin Nelson (Granite), Travis Gregory (Hamiota), and Grant Brown (Burntwood) were the other first day two-loss eliminations.

The 2025 Viterra Championship opened with a Reunion of Champions celebration banquet Tuesday evening with 43 champions from across the four Men’s Championship sponsorship eras on attendance sharing stories of their glory days with today’s young competitors.

British Consols champion Dave Romano, a 1972 World champion, was joined by six other champions from the 1970’s; 1981 Labatt Tankard champion Kerry Burtnyk, whose five Manitoba titles also included 1995 when he won the first Safeway Select enroute to a world title, headlined the 18 Labatt and 16 Safeway champions in attendance; and the six past Viterra champions in attendance included Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, and Connor Njegovan who are competing this week in Portage. Safeway champions Bob Scales (2003 with John Bubbs) and Greg Melnichuk (2005)

FATHER-DAUGHTER INDUCTION HIGHLIGHT OF MANITOBA CURLING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE ANNOUNCEMENT

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The Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum has announced its 2025 Inductee Class, a group which includes a dedicated curling volunteer, three accomplished athletes and three champion teams.

The announcement, made Tuesday evening, February 4th, at CurlManitoba’s Reunion of Champions Opening Banquet at the 2025 Viterra Championship, includes the rare father-daughter induction of Ron Westcott and his daughter Raunora.

Curlers Raunora Westcott, Dan Carey, and Dawn McEwen will be joined by Builder Darren Oryniak, as well as the champion teams of Ron Westcott (Canadian Masters (2015), Randy Neufeld (Canadian Seniors 2015), and the dominant Mike McEwen team of 2008 to 2018 which won Manitoba titles in 2016 & 2017.

World Senior Silver Medalists (l-r) Dale Michie, Peter Nicholls, Dean Moxham, and Randy Neufeld – one of three teams, 3, curlers and a builder announced for induction into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in May, 2025.

The formal induction ceremony will take place at Winnipeg’s Victoria Inn on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Ticket information is currently being finalized. Those interested in attending, to support a specific inductee OR to celebrate the end of another great curling season and some of the greats in the game, are invited to contact the committee at mbcurlmuseum@gmail.com.

Media are invited to contact MCHoF&M President Peter Nicholls (204-391-5041) for more information and for inductee contact information.

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BUILDER: Darren Oryniak
<> Curling Canada Governor (2020-2024)
<> CurlManitoba Director (2014-2020), President (2018-19 & 2019-20)
<> Coach/Instructor, Certified NCCP Level III (beginning 2008)
<> Vice-Chair (Facilities) 2013 Roar of the Rings

CURLER: Dan Carey
<> Manitoba and Canadian Men’s Champion (1992)
<> World Championship Semi-finalist (1992)
<> Manitoba Men’s Champion (1993 & 1997)
** Previously inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Vic Peters 1992 & 1993 team.

CURLER: Dawn McEwen
<> Olympic Gold Medalist (2014)
<> World Champion (2008 & 2018)
<> Canadian Women’s Champion (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015 & 2018)
<> Manitoba Women’s Champion (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 & 2018)
** Previously inducted in to the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame as a member of the 2014 Olympic Gold Medal Jennifer Jones team

CURLER: Raunora Westcott
<> Manitoba Junior Women’s Champion (1996)
<> Manitoba Women’s Champion (2010, 2011 & 2017)
<> Canadian Women’s Finalist (2017)

TEAM: Mike McEwen – BJ Neufeld – Matt Wozniak – Denni Neufeld – Coach Chris Neufeld (Fort Rouge CC)
<> 11 consecutive years Manitoba Men’s Championship final four, 10 consecutive years CTRS top-7 ranking, CTRS #1 (2014-15)
<> Eight Manitoba Men’s final game appearances
<> Manitoba Men’s Champion (2016 & 2017), Canadian Men’s Bronze Medallist (2017)
<> Winner of seven Grand Slam events
** Coach Neufeld was previously inducted as a curler in 2020 and with the Vic Peters 1992 Canadian Champion team in 2005

TEAM: Randy Neufeld – Dean Moxham – Peter Nicholls – Dale Michie (LaSalle CC)
<> Five-time Manitoba Senior Men’s Champions (2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2024
<>  Canadian Senior Men’s Champion – 2015
<> World Senior Men’s Silver Medalist – 2016
<> Canadian Senior Men’s Finalist – 2016
** Nicholls was previously inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame as a Curler.

TEAM: Ron Westcott – Ken Dusablon – Bob Boughey – Howard Restall (Fort Rouge CC)
<>  Manitoba and Canadian Masters Champions – 2015
<>  Undefeated at the 2015 Canadian Championship
** Westcott and Boughey were previously inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame – Boughey as a Curler-Builder in 2014, Westcott as a Curler in 2016.

WORLD, CANADIAN, AND MANITOBA CHAMPIONS COMING TO CURLMANITOBA’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION OF CHAMPIONS

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With the RME Women of the Rings completed Sunday in Pilot Mound, the Manitoba championship focus now turns to Stride Place in Portage la Prairie as that community gets set to host the 2025 Viterra Men’s Championship.

Thirty-two teams from across Manitoba will compete in the February 4-9 event with, depending on the team, the goal or the dream of joining 99 previous teams in the Manitoba curling history book.

To wish them all good luck, and to re-live their glory days, about 45 past Manitoba champions will be in attendance at the opening banquet as part of a CurlManitoba Reunion of Champions. These “alumni-champions” represent all four of Manitoba curling’s men’s championship sponsorship eras.  In addition, many of them will return for the evening draws where they will be recognized during the pre-game team introductions.

The “alumni-champions” will include over a dozen Canadian champions as well as nine World champions: Don Duguid (1970, 1971), Dave Romano (1972), Kerry Burtnyk-Jeff Ryan-Rob Meakin-Keith Fenton (1995), Ken Tresoor (1996), Reid Carruthers-Garth Smith (2011)

Eight British Consols era champions, led by the legendary two-time world champion Don Duguid, who won his first Manitoba championship in 1957 (68 years ago) playing second for Howie Wood Jr., will be on hand to greet this year’s competitors at the opening banquet. Most of them will return to be a part of the Wednesday evening championship opening ceremony.

Seventeen Labatt Tankard era champions, seventeen Safeway Select/Championship era, and six past Viterra champions will be at the Reunion of Champion banquet. Those numbers include four champions who won two different championship trophies (John Usackis – British Consols & Labatt Tankard, Kerry Burtnyk – Labatt Tankard and Safeway Select, Ken Tresoor – Labatt Tankard and Safeway Select, Reid Carruthers – Safeway & Viterra Championships).

The Labatt Tankard champions will also be part of the Thursday evening pre-game ceremony while the Safeway and Viterra past champions have been invited to be part of the Friday evening pre-game acknowledgements.

Eleven-time Manitoba champion Jeff Stoughton unfortunately has a schedule conflict for the Tuesday banquet but will be among the Safeway champions attending the Friday evening draw.

The group of six past Viterra champions includes three (Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, Connor Njegovan) who will compete in this year’s Viterra championship. Carruthers, who also won four Safeway Championships, will be coached this year by two-time Safeway Select champion Rob Meakin. Greg Melnichuk, a 2005 Safeway Champion, will compete as one of the final Manitoba Open qualifiers.

This year’s Reunion of Champions and Viterra Championship celebrations will also include the announcement of the 2025 Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame induction class. With the support of the Portage Host Committee, Stride Place  will host the unveiling of a new mobile Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame display which incorporates all 250+ individuals and teams who have been inducted to date. There will also be a museum display including many unique items from the Manitoba Curling Museum available for the viewing of curling fans at the championship.

Tickets for the 2025 Viterra Championship, Manitoba’s 100th Men’s Curling Championship, are available on-line at https://specialevents.strideplace.com/

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The complete 2025 Viterra Championship team list is available at https://curlmanitoba.org/viterra-championship/team-personnel/

CAMERON WINS RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS

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(CurlManitoba Release) DAY 5 SUMMARY: CURLMANITOBA RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS PRESENTED BY CASE IH: It took the last rock in the tenth to determine the outcome as Kate Cameron and her Heather team (Taylor McDonald, Allison Flaxey, Mackenzie Elias, Brianna Cullen) won the 2025 RME Women of the Rings Championship presented by Case IH.

Manitoba 2025 champions: (l-r) Mackenzie Elias, Kate Cameron, Taylor McDonald, Allison Flaxey,
Brianna Cullen (CurlManitoba photo)

Tied 6-6 coming home, Beth Peterson’s Assiniboine Memorial team (Kelsey Calvert, Meghan Walter, Melissa Kurz, Katherine Remillard) forced Cameron to hit with her final stone but she didn’t have to stick her shooter. Cameron made the hit for a 7-6 win.

It is a second Manitoba women’s title for Kate Cameron who was at third for Michelle Englot in 2017. Cameron and Taylor McDonald won Alberta women’s titles in 2020, 2021, and 2022 with Laura Walker. Allison Flaxey, who won the Manitoba and Canadian Mixed in 2009 with Sean Grassie, won the Ontario women’s title in 2014. It is a first women’s championship win for Mackenzie Elias and Brianna Cullen. (Flaxey was a substitution in the line-up as Cullen was away at the start of the week, competing in the World University Championship where her U of Alberta team, skipped by Sera Grey-Withers won the bronze medal.)

The Cameron team will wear the Manitoba colours at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts February 14-23, in Thunder Bay.

To reach the Sunday afternoon final, Peterson had defeated 3-time former champion Darcy Robertson and her Assiniboine Memorial team (Rhonda Varnes, Brooklyn Meiklejohn, Kylie Lippens, Erika Campbell) in the Sunday morning semifinal.

The two finalists were both a single loss away from not playing Sunday.

Cameron finished the preliminary round of play with a 3W-2L record, to be ranked third in the Asham Pool and earn the last spot from that group in the championship round. The Heather team won all three of their championship round games for a 6W-2L record and the playoff round bye to the final game.

The Peterson team had finished the preliminary round with a 4W-1L record to advance to the championship round as the second ranked team in the Asham Ultra Force but won only one of the championship round games to finish at 5W-3L. That put her in a tiebreaker game Saturday evening needing a win over Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa) to play in the Sunday playoffs.

CURLMANITOBA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO RIVERS

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(CurlManitoba Release) CurlManitoba has announced that the 2026 RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH will be played in the Riverdale Community Centre, in the western Manitoba community of Rivers, during the week of January 6-11, 2025

The 2026 RME Women of the Rings will be the second Manitoba Women’s Championship played in the arena in Rivers. Previously, when the event was still called the Scotties, Gimli’s Kerri Einarson and her team (Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, Briane Harris) won the 2020 Women’s championship and went on to win the first of their four consecutive Canadian championships.

The Rivers Host committee will be co-chaired by Justin Gerrard and Les Wedderburn.

“We look forward to a return to Rivers,” says CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker. “They presented a very ambitious plan to host our junior provincials in the Riverdale Community Centre a few years ago and created a memorable and successful event.”

The Riverdale Community Centre hosted CurlManitoba’s 2016 Junior Women’s and Junior Men’s championships. The 2016 championship is believed to have been the first junior championship event in Canada, and likely the world, to have been played in an arena setting. Prior to that, Rivers had hosted the 2007 Manitoba Junior Men’s in their old curling club.

The 2016 Junior Women’s event was won by Abby Ackland, Robyn Njegovan, Melissa Gordon, and Sara Oliver with Jack Gordon as coach.  That Rivers event was also a stepping stone to success for the Junior Men’s champions that year: Matt Dunstone, Colton Lott, Kyle Doering, and Rob Gordon. They were coached by Calvin Edie.

Co-chair Les Wedderburn, who chaired the 2016 Junior Championship committee, knows there is a real possibility that many of the competitors that week will be among the players who return to compete in the Manitoba Women’s championship.

“Really, it will be exciting to see how many of those young women return to compete in a women’s championship, nine years after they played here as juniors. We know they enjoyed their week here then and we promise them an equally memorable week next year,” says Wedderburn

Co-chair Justin Gerard sees the potential for another great champion to come out of the Riverdale Community Centre event. “We’ve been watching the CurlManitoba livestream this week and we can see there is great Manitoba talent just waiting to break through. Maybe Kerri Einarson’s first win in Rivers, and her subsequent great success, can be an inspiration,” Gerrard says.

While there is no guarantee a year out who will be competing in Rivers, the co-chairs do offer one absolute guarantee – they promise there will be great hospitality at next year’s RME Championship. That starts with continuation of a tradition that began at earlier championship events – the coffee is always on and it is always free at a curling championship event in Rivers!

CAMERON, ROBERTSON, PETERSON THROUGH TO SUNDAY PLAYOFFS

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 (CurlManitoba Release) DAY 4 SUMMARY: CURLMANITOBA RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS PRESENTED BY CASE IH: A pair of wins Saturday by top-seeded Kate Cameron (Heather) and 3-time champion Darcy Robertson (Assiniboine Memorial) have earned the teams first and second place, respectively, in the Sunday playoffs at the RME Women of the Rings Championship presented by Case IH.

Both had 6W-2L records after the championship round but Cameron was awarded the bye to the final game Sunday afternoon in Pilot Mound, thanks to her team’s championship round win over Robertson.

Robertson will play the Sunday morning semi-final against Beth Peterson (Assiniboine Memorial), winner of a Saturday evening tiebreaker game over Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa). The tiebreaker win was also Peterson’s second win of the day.

Peterson, McFarlane and Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) had all finished the championship round with 5W-3L records. The three had beaten each other in their championship round games so, per competition rules, the two teams which advanced to the tiebreaker game were the two with the best Last Stone Draw totals for the week (total of the 2 draws thrown before each of the 8 games to determine last stone in the game).

Cameron and her team were the only one of the six teams to win all three of their championship round games while Robertson, McFarlane, and Watling each won two of their three championship round games.

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND STANDINGS
6W-2L   Kate Cameron (Heather)
6W-2L   Darcy Robertson (Assiniboine Memorial)
5W-3L   Beth Peterson (Assiniboine Memorial)
5W-3L   Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa)
5W-3L   Kristy Watling (East St. Paul)
4W-4L   Lisa McLeod (Pembina)

NEEPAWA’S MCFARLANE LEADS THE RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS

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Team McFarlane, at 5W-1L, is the big surprise of the championship (Photo: CurlManitoba/Big Day Media)

(CurlManitoba Release) DAY 3 SUMMARY: CURLMANITOBA RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS PRESENTED BY CASE IH: Hailey McFarlane and her team from Neepawa are alone in first place in the standings after the first round of play in the championship round of the RME Women of the Rings Championship presented by Case IH.

McFarlane’s 9-8 win over Beth Peterson Friday evening in Pilot Mound gave her a 5W-1L record, a win ahead of the other five teams who share second place in the standings with 4W-2L records. The Kate Cameron and Kristy Watling teams came into the second round of play with 3W-2L records. Cameron defeated Darcy Robertson and Watling was victorious over Lisa McLeod to create the 5-team tie.

Three teams from each of the two pools advanced from the preliminary round into the championship round where they play three cross-over games against the teams from the other pool. Three teams will advance to the Sunday playoffs.

The top teams in the Asham Pool were Lisa McLeod (Pembina) and Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa), both with 4W-1L records. McLeod was awarded the #1 ranking in the group thanks to a win over McFarlane on the opening draw of the competition Wednesday morning. Top seed Kate Cameron (Heather) missed her chance at the top ranking with an 8-7 extra end loss Friday to McLeod.

The top teams in the Asham Ultra Force Pool were three-time former champion Darcy Robertson and #2 seed Beth Peterson (both Assiniboine Memorial) who also had 4W-1L records. Robertson got the #1 rank in the group because she beat Peterson on Wednesday evening in a game in which her team came back from four down twice. Third seed Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) finished third in the pool with a 3W-2L record.

The teams will play two games Saturday, at 10AM and 4PM, to determine the playoff positions. If necessary, one tiebreaker game will be played Saturday evening. The playoffs are scheduled for 9:30AM and 2:00PM Sunday.

NONE UNBEATEN IN PILOT MOUND

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(CURLMANITOBA RELEASE) DAY 2 SUMMARY: CURLMANITOBA RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS PRESENTED BY CASE IH: There are no unbeaten teams left in the 12-team RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH, the Manitoba Women’s Curling Championship underway in Pilot Mound.

The last unbeaten, Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) lost 7-4 on the late draw Thursday to Darcy Robertson (Assiniboine Memorial) to finish day two with a 3W-1L record. Robertson, who had lost earlier in the day, improved to an identical 3W-1L record with the win.

With two wins Thursday, Beth Peterson also ends day two with a 3W-1L record in the Asham Ultra Force pool.

Alyssa Calvert (Carberry), who also won two on Thursday, has a 2W-2L record and still has a chance to advance.

Top seeded Kate Cameron (Heather) and #4 seed Lisa McLeod (Pembina) both lost their first game of the day Thursday but bounced back with later victories. Cameron, McLeod, and Hailey McFarlane, who handed Cameron that first lost, all sit atop the Asham Pool with 3W-1L records.

Sarah-Jane Sass (Granite), who lost to McLeod in their second game of the day, split on the day to stay close to the leader group with a 2W-2L record.

Final standings in both pools will be determined by the results of Friday’s 9am and 1pm DRAWS. The top three teams in each pool will advance to the championship round where they will play the three teams from the other pool – with the first round records carrying forward. Three teams will advance from that group of six into Sunday’s playoffs.

SEEDS #1, #3, #4 WIN TWO ON OPENING DAY IN PILOT MOUND

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(CurlManitoba Release) DAY 1 SUMMARY: CURLMANITOBA RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS PRESENTED BY CASE IH: Three of the top four seeds at CurlManitoba’s 2025 Women’s Championship, the RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH, completed the opening day of the championship in Pilot Mound with a pair of victories.

Kate Cameron and Taylor McDonald contemplate the next shot in their opening round match in Pilot Mound (photo courtesy CurlManitoba/Big Day Media)

#1 seed, Kate Cameron (Heather), put nine on the scoreboard in both of her team’s victories on opening day at the championship in Pilot Mound, winning 9-5 over Cheyenne Ehnes (Manitoba) and 9-2 over Sarah-Jane Sass (Granite)

#2 seed, Beth Peterson (Assiniboine Memorial), started the day Wednesday with a 5-4 win over Alyssa Calvert (Carberry) but gave up a steal coming home to lose 10-9 to three-time former champion Darcy Robertson on the late draw. Twice in the game, Robertson trailed by four but both times came back to tie, setting up the final end steal. Robertson also ended Day One with a pair of victories.

#3 seed, Kristy Watling (East St. Paul), needed an extra end to win her opener, a 7-6 extra end win over Cassidy Dundas (Heather) but then had a seven-end win over Alyssa Calvert on the late draw.

#4 seed Lisa McLeod (Pembina), with wins over Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa) and Cheyenn Ehnes (Manitou) also ended the opening day with a pair of victories.

Sarah-Jane Sass (Granite) and Hailey McFarlane (Neepawa), in the Asham pool, and Peterson and Cassidy Dundas (Heather), in the Asham Ultra Force Pool, ended the day with 1W-1L records.

The RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH will continue Thursday in Pilot Mound with draws scheduled for 8:30AM, 12:15PM, 4:00PM, and 7:45PM. One game on each draw will be livestreamed on the CurlManitoba YouTube channel.