Author Archives: Resby Coutts

FORMER CHAMPS WIN SEAGRAM’S WHISKY CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Former champion teams from La Salle and Pembina have won the Seagram’s Whisky Manitoba Curling Club Championships.

Deb McCreanor and her La Salle team (Trisha Hill, Michelle Buchanan, Jennifer Cawson) won their third Manitoba Curling Clubs Championship with a 5-4 win Jennifer Clark-Rouire and her Fort Garry team (Karen Klein, Amanda Hickey, Kristie Moroz) Sunday afternoon in Gimli.

Deb McCreanor, Trisha Hill, Michelle Buchanan, Jennifer Cawson with sponsor rep Dean Clayton

The McCreanor and Clark-Rouire teams had both finished with 4W-1L records in the same round-robin pool. McCreanor’s semi-final with Alyssa Calvert (Carberry) was a re-match of the only game the La Salle team had lost in the round-robin. The La Salle team won that second meeting 6-1. Clark-Rouire and her team, who had lost in the round-robin to McCreanor, won the quarter-final 8-5 over Joelle Brown (Fort Rouge) and the semi-final 6-3 over former champion Marlene Lang (St. Vital).

It was the third curling clubs championship for a team from La Salle Curling Club. McCreanor, with this same line-up, had previously won the event in 2018 and 2021.

In the men’s event, Zach Wasylik and his Pembina team (Jack Hykaway, Josh Harding, Graham Normand, Andrew Peck) needed an extra end to win 8-7 over Corey Chambers and his Fort Garry team (Ian Fordyce, Michael Martin, Brent McCrea, Dan Bender).

Zach Wasylik, Jack Hykaway, Josh Harding, Graham Normand with sponsor rep Dean Clayton

Wasylik’s team was the only foursome to run undefeated to the final in the two events. They had a 5W-0L record in the round-robin and defeated Kyle Foster (Arborg) in the Sunday afternoon semi-final. Chambers opened the round-robin with a pair of losses, including an 8-7 loss to Wasylik. The Fort Garry team rebounded to win five in a row, including the quarterfinal (3-2 over Kyle Einarson-Gimli) and the semi-final (5-3 over Ryan Hyde-Portage).

It was the second curling clubs championship for a team from Pembina Curling Club. Wasylik, with this same line-up, had previously won the event in 2022.

The two teams earned the opportunity to represent Manitoba in the fall of 2024 at the national championships in Barrie, ON.

PEMBINA, FT ROUGE, AMCC TEAMS WIN CITY DAYTIME CHAMPIONSHIPS

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This year’s WCCA Daytime champions were determined Friday at Fort Rouge – the best, for this year, among eight men’s teams, seven Women’s, and eight 2-person stick teams.

Ray Gislason’s Pembina team (Key Boyd, Stan Struthers, Les Newman, and Rick Sproule) took the trophy in the men’s competition. Betty Van Walleghem’s Fort Rouge team (Lorraine Laporte, Brenda Frank, and Sharon Biehl) topped the women’s division. Rob Lacombe and Ralph Nespor’s Assinboine Memorial duo won the 2-person stick competition.

Ray Gislason, Key Boyd, Stan Struthers, Les Newman, Rick Sproule
Betty Van Walleghem, Lorraine Laporte, Brenda Frank, Sharon Biehl
Rob Lacombe and Ralph Nespor

CLUBS CHAMPIONSHIPS UNDERWAY IN GIMLI

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Eighteen different curling clubs from across Manitoba will be represented when the Seagram’s Whisky Curling Club Championships take place at Gimli Curling Club this weekend (April 4-7, 2024). The women’s first games are scheduled for 11:30AM, today with the men starting on the 2:30PM draw.

Twelve teams will compete in a round-robin with pools of six teams in each of the two championships. The first-place team in each pool advances to the semifinals while the second and third place teams will meet in a crossover play-in game. All playoff games are scheduled for Sunday, April 7 with the two finals at 5:00PM.

Three former champion teams return to the competitions with the same line-up which won in past years while one other Clubs Champion skip and a number of other champion skips from other competitions will also be vying for the titles.

In the Seagram’s Whisky Women’s Club Championship, 2020 champion Marlene Lang’s St. Vital team (Pamela Kok, Jackie Hendrickson, Megan Pauls) and 2018 champion Deb McCreanor’s La Salle team (Trisha Hill, Michelle Buchanan. Jen Cawson) will both be trying to win their second Clubs Championship. Both have the same line-up which won that previous championship. Former Senior Women’s champion skips Terry Ursel (Neepawa) and Joelle Brown (Fort Rouge) and this year’s Manitoba and Canadian Mixed Doubles champion Kadriana Lott (Gimli) are among the highly regarded challengers.

In the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s Club Championship, 2022 champion Zachary Wasylik and his Pembina team (Jack Hykaway, Josh Harding, Graham Normand) will attempt to win their second championship together. The 2019 Clubs champion skip, Derek Blanchard (Assiniboine Memorial) returns with a different team but it is the team which competed in the 2024 Viterra Championship. Former Mixed champion skip Corey Chambers also will contend with his Fort Garry team.

As the host club, Gimli is represented by Kadriana Lott’s team in the Seagram’s Whisky Women’s Club Championship while Kyle Einarson will skip the host entry in the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s Club Championship.

Five other Manitoba clubs; Burntwood, Carberry, La Salle, East St. Paul, and Fort Garry, will have teams competing in both the men’s and women’s events.

Beausejour, Brandon, Fort Rouge, Granite, Neepawa, and St. Vital are represented in the Women’s championship while Arborg, Assiniboine Memorial, Charleswood, Gilbert Plains, Pembina, and Portage are represented in the Men’s championship.

The champions will represent Manitoba at the national championship next fall in Barrie, ON.

WELLINGTON-ALTUS NEW CURLING HALL OF FAME DINNER SPONSOR

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Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum President Peter Nicholls is pleased to announce that Wellington-Altus will be the Presenting Sponsor of the 2024 Induction Banquet when it returns to Winnipeg’s CanadInns Destination Centre Polo Park on May 5, 2024.

“We very much appreciate the support of Wellington-Altus in our efforts to celebrate the three champion teams, the curler, and the two builders who will be honoured at our 2024 Induction Dinner,” Nicholls said. “I am also delighted to report that Wellington-Altus will be with us as our Presenting Sponsor not only this year but for the next two years as well.”

The 2024 inductees will include:
TEAM:             Cathy Overton (Heather) – 1989 Canadian Junior Champions
TEAM:             Jennifer Jones (St. Vital) – 1994 Canadian Junior Champions
TEAM:             Chris Galbraith (Fort Rouge) – 1995 Canadian Junior Champions
CURLER:        Ken Tresoor
BUILDER:       Bill Biehl
BUILDER:       Sam Antila

The sponsorship by Wellington-Altus expands their support of curling in Manitoba which has included various team sponsorships, the CurlManitoba Pat Spiring Award at the Viterra Championship, and the Manitoba Stick Curling Tour.

“Over the years, we have been proud to sponsor the teams of such great Manitoba curlers and Hall of Famers as Kerry Burtnyk and Jennifer Jones among many others,’” says Wellington-Altus Chair Charlie Spiring. “We are pleased now to be able to support the efforts of the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum to celebrate Manitoba’s great curlers as well as to preserve the heritage of the sport of curling in Manitoba.”

The May 5 Induction and Fund-raising Dinner will begin with a reception at 4:30PM and dinner at 5:30PM. Ticket ($100) can be purchased through the CurlManitoba office: mca@curlmanitoba.org OR talk to Tracy (204) 925-5723.

BRONZE FOR FREEMAN TEAM AT CANADIAN JUNIORS

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An extra end win to end the week at the Canadian Juniors gave Jace Freeman and his Virden team the bronze medal as Manitoba teams continue to fall short of the gold medals last accomplished by Manitobans Mackenzie Zacharias and Jacques Gauthier in 2020.

(l-r) Jace Freeman, Ryan Ostrowsky, Nick Senff, Luke Robins, Coach Graham Freeman Curling Canada/Brodie Evans photo

Three of four Manitoba teams reached the playoffs at the 2024 Canadian Juniors. Shaela Hayward, attempting to win a second championship to match the U-18 title won earlier, dropped out in the first round of playoffs. Jordon McDonald was beaten by Freeman – also in the first round of the playoffs.

In pool play, McDonald finished 7-1, in second place. while Freeman finished 6-2 in third place in the other pool. That put the two teams into the 2-3 crossover game which Freeman won 6-5.

In the semi-final, Team Freeman lost 7-5 to eventual; champion Kenan Wipf (Alberta) who they had beaten 8-3 in round-robin play. In an extra end, the Manitobans beat Dylan Derksen (Saskatchewan) 7-5.

In the Junior Women’s, Team Hayward’s 5-3 round-robin record earned them third place in the pool. They lost the 2-3 crossover 9-3 to former Manitoban Grace Beaudry, who skipped and threw second stones for the team shown as Alberta’s Claire Booth entry on the Curling Canada scores website. Tessa Terrick’s second Manitoba team finished with a 2-6 record.

Nova Scotia’s Allyson MacNutt team won the Junior women’s gold medal undefeated.

FIFTH MANITOBA SENIORS TITLE FOR TEAM NEUFELD

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(CurlManitoba Release) Randy Neufeld and his La Salle team have won Manitoba’s Strathcona Senior Men’s Championship, with a 7-2 victory Monday afternoon at Heather Curling Club over Dave Boehmer – Petersfield. It is a record setting fifth championship for Neufeld and three of his La Salle teammates Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls and Dale Michie.

(l-r) Darren Oryniak, Dale Michie, Peter Nicholls, Dean Moxham, Randy Neufeld, Bob Scales – Strathcona Trust rep

They had previously shared the record with Boehmer (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023) and Lloyd Gunnlaugson who is still the only skip to win four consecutive senior titles (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985).

Boehmer and his lead George Hacking were attempting to win their fifth senior title while Dale Lott, Sean Bracken, and alternate Scott Szydlik were trying for their second consecutive.

The two teams had met earlier in the Page 1-1 Playoff game when Neufeld defeated the defending champion to drop them into the Monday morning semi-final. Boehmer readily won that semi-final over Dean Dunstone’s Granite foursome to set up the re-match.

The final was all-Neufeld for the first four ends with his team scoring four consecutive singles. Boehmer manufactured a deuce but Neufeld  put three more on the board with the hammer on the sixth end and the Boehmer team conceded.

In the preliminary round, Boehmer was undefeated (7W-0L) while Neufeld lost one one game (6W-1L).

Behind Neufeld in the Asham pool, Murray Warren – Brandon also had a 6W-1L record while Mike Mahon – Granite was awarded third place on the basis of the tiebreaker, which is the total of the best 12 draws thrown before the round-robin games to determine who will have last stone in the games.

Behind Boehmer in the Asham Ultra Force pool, Paul Scinocca – Charleswood and Dunstone both had 5W-2L records. Scinocca was awarded second place based on his round robin win over Dunstone.

Dunstone beat Warren and Mahon beat Scinocca in the crossover qualifier games which were followed by a Dunstone win over Mahon to reach the semifinal against Boehmer.

Neufeld and his team won the Strathcona Senior Men’s in 2015 and 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019. They won the Canadian title and the World Silver medal in 2015. Along with alternate Darren Oryniak,  Team Neufeld also has a 17W-2L record in winning the last two Manitoba Masters championships.

The Everest Canadian National Senior Championship will be played in Moncton, NB in December, 2024.

HAMIOTA TEAM WINS PHARMASAVE SENIOR WOMEN’S

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Kathy Isaac (Hamiota) has won the Pharmasave Senior Women’s Championship with a 6-5 extra end win today at Heather Curling Club over Kim Link (East St. Paul).

(L-R) Kathy Isaac, Lynn Sandercock, Sheila Gregory, Sandra Cowling

Link appeared to take control of the game with a two in the sixth end to lead 5-2. The East St. Paul team had a two point lead coming home after Isaac had three stones in a heavily guarded four foot circle in the seventh but could score only one.

Isaac’s final stone draw on the eighth was near buried in the front four foot, forcing Link to play a runback which over curled. A stolen two tied the game.  On the extra end, Isaac’s last stone guard left her shot stone partially open up the centre line but Link’s hit attempt didn’t curl up quite enough. It rubbed the shot stone but didn’t remove it, giving up the steal and an 6-5 win for Isaac.

It is the first Manitoba Senior Women’s championship for Kathy Isaac and a second for each of her Hamiota teammates. Third Lynn Sandercock won in 2012 with Lois Fowler while and Sandra Cowling skipped and Sheila Gregory was at third in winning the title in 2016.

The Sunday afternoon final game was a re-match of yesterday’s Page 1-1 Playoff game which Link had won 7-5.

The two teams had earned the entry into the playoffs with perfect 4W-0L records in the ten-team championship which was played in a round-robin, two pools of five format.

Second place in each pool was determined via the tiebreaker process of “who beat who”. 

In Link’s Asham Ultra Force Pool, Laurie Deprez (Stonewall) and Deb McCreanor (Ft. Rouge) both finished with 2W-2L records. As Deprez had beaten McCreanor in their preliminary game, Deprez advanced.

In Isaac’s Asham Pool, Marlene Lang (St. Vital) and 2023 champion Joelle Brown (Ft. Rouge) had also tied with 2W-2L records but Lang advanced on the basis of a round-robin victory.

Lang defeated Deprez (11-2) in the Page 2-2 Playoff but lost the Sunday morning semi-final to Isaac (8-2).

The Link/Isaac foursome will represent Manitoba at the Canadian National Seniors Championship in Moncton, NB in December 2024.

MANITOBA’S LOTTS WIN CANADIAN MIXED DOUBLES

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(Curling Canada Release) It couldn’t have been much closer.  When two undefeated teams meet in a championship final, and that game is decided by a measurement following the last shot in the eighth end – and even that measurement was close enough to do twice – it’s obvious that there wasn’t much separating gold from silver.  

Such was the case at the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship at Fredericton, N.B., where Gimli, Manitoba’s Kadriana and Colton Lott defeated Edmonton’s Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres 7-5 to claim the national title for the first time.  

Kadriana & Colton Lott (Curling Canada/Rob Blanchard Photo)

After Walker’s last shot, an attempt at a triple takeout, just missed the mark, the remaining stones were measured twice, giving the Lotts the win, if only by a millimeter.  

“Before he put the stick to it, I was pretty confident,” said Colton Lott. “But then he put the stick to it, and it was really close. I thought it was us, but just barely… by less than a tick. I looked at Kadriana and gave her the ‘I think it’s us’ look – and then he went around again.”  

“I couldn’t even look,” said Kadriana. “I was standing back trying to keep myself busy. I didn’t even want to look at his expression. You’re either playing another end, or you’re winning.”  

As it turned out, they were winning.  

Walker and Muyres opened the game with two steals, jumping to a 3-0 lead. The Manitoba champs came back with a three-point end in the third, and then put together a great chance to steal in the fourth.  

“Being down three is okay in mixed doubles,” said Kadriana. “It’s mixed doubles, anything can happen. You’re always still in it. You can steal, you can score a bundle, you can tally up five. I knew we just had to stay in it and focus on making the shots.”  

After looking at what could have been a steal of two in the fourth end, Walker made an incredible runback double takeout to score a single. After trading singles in the fifth and sixth, Team Manitoba put the power play to good use in the seventh end and scored two, giving them a 6-5 lead.  

After Walker’s last triple attempt just missed in the eighth end, the measurement confirmed the victory for the Lotts; their first championship in their third trip to the national championship final.  

“This is an unbelievable feeling,” said Colton “To do it with Kadriana is just really special. Having falling short a couple times in the finals… It’s just special.”  

The win comes with a $35,000 payday and a trip to the World Championship in Ostersund, Sweden next month as Team Canada. The last time the Lott duo wore the Maple Leaf, they won the World Cup of Curling event, which was also held in Sweden.  

Walker and Muyres, who beat the Lotts in the final of the 2018 championship, took home $20,000 for their silver medal finish. Both teams, and bronze medalists Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, will qualify for the Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials, which will crown Canada’s 2026 Olympic team. 

HAYWARD MAKES MANITOBA CURLING HISTORY WITH MIXED WIN

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Carman’s Shaela Hayward made Manitoba curling history as third for Ryan Wiebe’s Fort Rouge team when they won the Chicken Chef Mixed last weekend in Neepawa.

(l-r) Ryan Wiebe, Shaela Hayward, Ty Dilello, Jennifer Clark-Rouire (CurlManitoba photo)

Hayward became the first person in Manitoba’s long curling history to win THREE Manitoba championships in the same curling season. Earlier, she had skipped her teams to the Manitoba U-18 Women’s and U-21 Women’s titles.

The young Carman curler added to this year’s championships total by winning Curling Canada’s U-18 Championship and she can add to the total again when she competes in the U-21 Nationals, March 24-31, in Fort McMurray.

Team Wiebe (Shaela Hayward, Ty Dilello, Jennifer Clark-Rouire) had a 6W-2L record in the Neepawa event. They lost “A” and “B” qualifiers to former champions Braden Calvert (Carberry) and Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) respectively. They won their “C” qualifier with a win over Michael Siwicki (Granite) to advance to the Page Playoff 3-4 game.

In the playoff round they had a 7-3 win over Kevin Paramor (Arden) and then defeated Grassie 6-3 in the semi-final and Calvert 4-3 in the final.

The Fort Rouge team will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Mixed in November of 2024.

Prior to winning her third championship of the season, Hayward had been one of only 20 Manitoba curlers to have won a pair of titles in a single season. The first to accomplish the feat was Lloyd Gunnlaugson who won the Men’s and Seniors Men’s in 1983. Most recent to do it was Rylan Campbell who won this year’s U-20 Mixed Doubles after earlier winning the U-18 Men’s.

The complete list includes:

1983 Lloyd Gunnlaugson (Men, Senior Men)
1986 Barb Spencer (Women, Mixed)
1986 Darcy Robertson (Women, Mixed)
1991 Jeff Stoughton (Men, Mixed)
2001 Winston Warren (Sr. Men, Masters)
2002 Elaine Jones (Sr. Women, Masters)
2003 Elaine Jones  (Sr. Women, Masters)
2003 Ruth Wiebe  (Sr. Women, Masters)
2014 Kyle Kurz (Jr. Men, Mixed Doubles)
2017 Gwen Wooley  (Sr. Women, Masters)
2022 Elias Huminicki (U18, Jr. Men)
2022 Jordon McDonald  (U18, Jr. Men)
2023 Colton Lott (Men, Mixed Doubles)
2023 Deb McCreanor  (Sr. Women, Masters)
2023 Elias Huminicki  (U18, Jr. Men)
2024 Shaela Hayward (U18, Jr. Women, Mixed)
2024 Keira Krahn  (U18, Jr. Women)
2024 India Young  (U18, Jr. Women)
2024 Rylie Cox  (U18, Jr. Women)
2024 Rylan Campbell (U18, U20 Mixed Doubles)

EVASON & CAMPBELL WIN MANITOBA U-20 MIXED DOUBLES

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The 16-team Dynasty U-20 Mixed Doubles Championship wrapped up Sunday with Lauren Evason and Rylan Campbell winning the first Manitoba U-20 Mixed Doubles. The game was proof of the dramatic ebbs & flows of fortune inherent in Mixed Doubles curling.

Evason & Campbell

Facing Zoey Terrick & Tanner Graham in the final, Evason and Campbell controlled the game with well placed draws and guards end after end. They scored singles on the first and fourth ends and stole single points on each of the second, fifth and sixth ends to lead 5-1 with two ends to play.

A Terrick-Graham “power-play” on the seventh end resulted in a two and was followed by a steal of two when a last stone Evason takeout jammed to create a 5-5 tie and force an extra end.

The ninth end was played in the four foot circle with Graham making the first key shot, a tap to sit shot stone buried. Campbell followed with a draw which didn’t curl up quite enough and was second shot stone on the teeline in the four foot. With the last stone of the end, Terrick made a well placed guard leaving Evason nothing but an angled double tap to the button.

Just hit the outside of the blue stone onto the red stone – the other red stone will stop it! It did for one and victory.

The shot was made, stopping against the third shot stone behind the button, to seal the victory.

With the title, Campbell becomes the 20th curler in Manitoba curling history to win a second championship in the same season. Earlier this season, he skipped the Manitoba U-18 Men’s team. It is a first championship for Evason, who was a finalist in the 2023 U-18 championship.

Evason & Campbell had a record of 5W-1L going in to the final. They had lost their opening game to Terrick & Graham and then won five in a row. In the semi-final, they were tied 3-3 with Cassidy & Hunter Dundas before jumping out to an 8-3 lead coming home.

Terrick & Graham were undefeated going into the final, with a 4W-0L round-robin record and a pair of playoff victories. In the semi-final, they had defeated Terrick’s junior teammate, Jensen Letham and her partner Jace Freeman. They led 9-4 after five ends and 9-8 coming home in the semi-final.

There is currently no national championship in U-20 Mixed Doubles.