(CurlManitoba Release) With a pair of wins on Monday, Robyn Henry and Rob Gordon (Deer Lodge) have won CurlManitoba’s Dynasty Mixed Doubles Championship.
The final game was a 6-4 win over Katie McKenzie & Thomas Dunlop (Stonewall). A stolen single point in the second end proved to be a key to the victory as Henry & Gordon led 5-4 coming home with last rock.
Henry/Gordon were “A” Event qualifiers and had earned a bye to the semi-finals. In that semi-final game, they had defeated Mikaylah and William Lyburn 7-6 to advance to the final game. Lyburn & Lyburn had beaten Darcy Robertson & James Kirkness (Assiniboine Memorial) 7-6 in their quarter-final match.
McKenzie & Dunlop had qualified through the “B” Event and won a quarter-final 7-3 over Mackenzie Arbuckle & Aaron Macdonell (St. Vital) before defeating Roxie Trembath & Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) 7-6 in their semi-final match.
Rob Gordon is a former Manitoba and Canadian Junior champion and World Bronze Medalist. Robyn Henry (Njegovan) is a two-time Manitoba junior champion..
(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.
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.
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.
There are provincial champions and provincial U-18 & U21 competitors scattered all through the 16 teams competing in CurlManitoba’s first U-20 Mixed Doubles Provincial Championship which gets underway today at the Charleswood Curling Club.
The Dynasty U-20 Mixed Doubles features 16 teams playing in round-robin format, pools of four teams with each pool playing four round robin games against teams from a different pool
The first two round-robin draws will take place at 5:30pm and 8:30pm Friday (March 8). There will be five round-robin draws scheduled all day Saturday, beginning at 8:30am.
“We are excited about hosting our first Dynasty U20 Mixed Doubles Championship,” says CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker. “The young athletes competing in the event are some of the finest young curlers in the province, we think it is very important to give them this chance to expand their competitive experience and opportunities.”
The field of competitors includes: ** Keira Krahn (2024 Manitoba & Canadian U-18 champion, 2024 Manitoba Junior champion) partnered with Joshua Evans. ** Jensen Letham (2023 Manitoba junior champion, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Jace Freeman (2023 Manitoba U-18 champion, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) ** Nick Senff (2024 Manitoba U-18 champion, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Ella Robins ** Rylan Graham (2023 Manitoba U-18 Champion, 2024 Manitoba U-18 champion) partnered with Julie Magnusson ** Rylan Campbell (2024 Manitoba U-18 champion) partnered with Lauren Evason (2023 Manitoba U-18 Finalist) ** Jack Steski (2023 Manitoba U-18 Champion) partnered with Shyla Johnson ** Zoey Terrick (2023 Manitoba junior champion, 2022 Manitoba U-18 champion, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Tanner Graham ** Tessa Terrick (2023 Manitoba Junior champion, 2022 Manitoba U-18 champion, 2023 Manitoba U-18 Finalist, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Ethan Brandt ** Piper Stoesz (2023 Manitoba U-18 champion) partnered with Nolan Ross ** Cassidy Dundas (2023 Manitoba Junior champion, 2022 Manitoba U-18 champion, 2023 Manitoba U-18 Finalist, 2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Hunter Dundas ** Ryan Ostrowsky (2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Emily Ostrowsky ** Luke Robins (2024 Manitoba Junior Finalist) partnered with Rylie Buchalter
The other teams, with less gaudy credentials but plenty of championship experience include Logan Strand/Samantha Eagles, Karys Buchalter/Hudson Strand, Ryan Hoplock/Olivia Hoplock, and Anabelle Lanthier/Colton Graham.
Two teams from each pool will advance to the 8-team playoff which begins at 10am on Sunday at Charleswood.
With a 5W-2L record, Manitoba’s Mixed Doubles Champions have advanced to the playoff round of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in Sudbury. They will play an elimination game Saturday morning against Lisa Weagle and John Epping with the winner advancing to a quarter-final game against Jennifer Jones & Brent Laing.
Kadriana and Colton Lott opened the competition with a pair of wins before losing to Jones/Laing who finished the round robin undefeated (7W-0L). They ran off three more victories before losing their final game to Tracey Fleury and Jacob Horgan. Jones/Laing at 7W-0L will advance to the quarterfinals. Lott/Lott at 5W-2L tied for second in the pool with Weagle/Epping but rank ahead of them as they defeated Weagle/Epping in their first round game.
A pre-event Curling Canada news release describes the playoff plan: “teams will play a seven-game round robin within their pools Tuesday through Friday, with 12 teams advancing to the single-knockout playoffs, which begin Saturday. The four pool winners will get byes directly into the quarter-finals, which take place Saturday at 7 p.m., while the teams with the next eight best records overall, regardless of the pool they’re in, will be matched up in the playoff opener at 1 p.m. Saturday.”
Three of the pool winners, Jones/Laing, Laura Walker & Kirk Muyres, Jocelyn Peterman & Brett Gallant, were unbeaten in seven games, and Chaelynn Kitz & Brayden Stewart won their pool with a 6W-1L record. The other eight teams include two with 6W-1L records and six with 5W-2L records.
Colton & Kadriana Lott (Winnipeg Beach) have won the 2023 CurlManitoba Dynasty Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. The couple, who had previously won the Manitoba Mixed Doubles title in 2018, defeated Lisa McLeod & Lyall Hudson (Pembina) Monday afternoon at St. Vital Curling Club to complete an undefeated run thorough the championship.
Kadriana & Colton Lott with Dynasty rep Aaron Tycoles
For Colton Lott, this year’s second Mixed Doubles victory is a second provincial championship of the season and his sixth lifetime Manitoba curling title. He won the 2023 Viterra Men’s Championship at second for the Matt Dunstone team and previously won Manitoba Junior Men’s titles in 2012, 2013, and 2016. For Kadriana Lott (as Sahaidak) the only previous championship was the 2018 Mixed Doubles.
After opening the games with single steals in each of the first two ends, Colton Lott’s big weight hit ability paid dividends with a slash double to remove a buried McLeod-Hudson shot stone. McLeod’s draw was behind the button and Kadriana’s last shot draw was good enough for a single point. They stole two deuces in the next two ends.
Trailing 5-2 after five ends, McLeod-Hudson used their power play on the sixth. It worked to produce a two to pull them within one point. Lott-Lott used their power play on the seventh and ended the game when they were able to put a five on the scoreboard.
Lott-Lott were unbeaten “A” qualifiers to advance to the playoffs and were riding a five game winning streak going into the final game. McLeod-Hudson had reached the final as “C” qualifiers with five wins in their first seven games.
In the Sunday afternoon semi-finals, McLeod-Hudson defeated Thomas Dunlop & Katie McKenzie (Stonewall) while Lott-Lott ousted Mikaylah & William Lyburn (Granite).
The four playoff qualifiers who were eliminated in the first round Sunday were Sarah-Jane Sass & Lucas Van Den Bosch (Granite), Stacey & Steve Irwin (Brandon), Lauren Rajala & Cyrus Brandt (St. Vital), and Janelle Lach & Corey Chambers (Fort Garry).
A total of 20 teams participated in the triple knock-out championship attempting to advance to the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in Sudbury, ON in lat March.
While the Manitoba Stick Curling Association’s SunLife Financial Open & Women’s Championships presented by Jim Anton are underway in Morris, at St. Vital, CurlManitoba’s Dynasty Mixed Doubles Championship has attracted 20 teams. While most of the teams are from the younger curling demographic, there are recognizable Scotties and Viterra Championship names included among the eight teams which have reached “A” Side semi-finals.
In the triple elimination event, three rural teams (from Brandon, Winnipeg Beach, and Stonewall), two teams from Granite, and one each for Fort Garry, Pemina and the host St. Vital club will play at 5:30PM or 8:30PM Saturday to determine the teams who will be in the first two qualifying games at 9:00AM Sunday.
Those match-ups include Colton & Kadriana Lott (Winnipeg Beach) vs Sarah-Jane Sass & Lucas Van Den Bosch (Granite); Steve & Stacey Irwin (Brandon) vs Thomas Dunlop & Katie macKenzie (Stonewall); and Corey Chambers & Janelle Lach (Fort Garry) vs Lyall Hudson & Lisa McLeod (Pembina) at 5:30PM. Cyrus Brandt & Lauren Rajala (St. Vital) vs Bryce McEwen & Roxie Trembath (Granite) is scheduled for 8:30PM.
The original 20 teams will play down to eight teams in the knockout playoff round on Monday.
(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.
The playoffs are set in CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Mixed Doubles Trials at the Heather Curling Club. As the only undefeated (4W-0L) team in round robin play, the St. Vital duo of Mackenzie Arbuckle and Aaron Macdonell have been seeded #1 in the playoff round and have earned a bye to the semifinals.
Lauren Rajala & Ryan Ostrowsky (Granite) finished second in their pool, behind Arbuckle-Macdonell, with a 3W-1L record.
Three other teams, two pools, Mikaylah Lyburn – Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge), Samantha Eagles – Logan Strand (Granite) and Katie Lukowich – Thomas McGillivary (Granite), also all had 3W-1L records. Based on their pre-game last stone draws, Lyburn – McDonald were made #2 seed and also earn a bye to the semi-final.
Four teams finished with 2W-2L records but only one could advance to the six team playoff round, again based on their pre-game last stone draws. The nod went to Lauren Evason – Rylan Campbell (East St. Paul).
The quarterfinal games at 9AM Sunday will feature Eagles – Strand VS Lukowich – McGillivary AND Rajala -Ostrowsky (Granite) VS Evason – Campbell (East St. Paul).
The winners advance to the semifinals at 12:30PM with medal games scheduled for 4PM.
(CurlManitoba Release)CANADA GAMES MIXED DOUBLES TRIALS THIS WEEKEND Thirty of Manitoba’s most accomplished U20 curlers will compete in CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Trials this weekend at the Heather Curling Club.
The 2-person teams competing at Heather will play in three pools of five. Two teams in each pool will advance to a straight knockout playoff with the top two teams earning a bye to the semi-finals.
While very few of the team combinations have competed often in Mixed Doubles competition, many of the individuals playing this weekend have had the opportunity to play Mixed Doubles Tour and other events in the past two years.
The field features several players with proven track records and national competition experience with their four-person teams. These include:
** Zoey Terrick and Cassidy Dundas, who were teammates on the 2022 Manitoba U18 Women’s Champion team. Terrick will partner with Tanner Graham on a Heather team. Dundas will partner with her brother Hunter Dundas, playing out of Neepawa.
** Jordon McDonald and Cameron Olafson, who were teammates on the 2022 Manitoba U18 Men’s Champion team. McDonald also won the 2019 and 2022 U18 Championship and the 2022 U21 Men’s Championship. McDonald will partner with Mikaylah Lyburn on a Deer Lodge team.
** Luke Robins, who was a member of Ryan Ostrowsky’s Manitoba #2 team at the 2022 U18 national championship. He will partner with Rylie Buchalter on a West St. Paul team.
** Katy Lukowich, who skippd Northern Ontario to an overall 7-3 record at the 2022 U21 nationals, including a first place round robin record in her pool. She will partner with Thomas McGillivary on a Granite team.
CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Trials at the Heather will feature draws at 2PM and 6PM, Friday; 10AM, 2PM, and 6PM, Saturday and playoffs on Sunday.
For the first time, Mixed Doubles curling has been included in the Canada Games and this weekend event is designed to identify the final members of Manitoba’s curling contingent. Earlier this month,
Team Dayna Wahl (Altona) and Team Jace Freeman (Virden) earned the opportunity to represent Manitoba in the Women’s and Men’s competitions respectively at the Canada Games in Prince Edward Island in February.
(Curling Canada Release) With the inaugural Wheelchair Curling Mixed Doubles World Championship just days away, Canada’s athletes don’t really know what to expect.
Canadian Wheelchair Mixed Doubles team in a recent training camp session at Fort Rouge.
“I think it will be great,” said Jamie Anseeuw (Winnipeg). “There are no expectations, because it’s the first one.”
Anseeuw, along with partner Marie Wright were selected from the National Team Program to act as Canada’s representatives for the first mixed doubles wheelchair event, starting Saturday in Lohja, Finland. The 18-team event is split into two pools of nine, and will require an eight-game round robin before the playoff teams are decided.
As a new discipline, even the athletes aren’t sure how the first championship will unfold.
“Some of the European teams have actually been playing a lot of mixed doubles over there,” said Wright (Moose Jaw, Sask.). “We’ll come up against some pretty good teams for sure.”
“There’s pressure because Canada is always one of the strongest countries in the world of curling,” said Answeeuw. “But at the same time, because there are no expectations from prior championships, it takes some of that pressure away.”
Instead of worrying about what they don’t know, coach Dana Ferguson (Edmonton) has been working with the pair to make sure they focus on what they can control.
“They’ve worked really hard,” she said. “Every time we got together, they put the work in. They put the practice in. They’re doing all the stuff off the ice, which is all we can really ask for.”
Ferguson, a Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion in 2019 with Chelsea Carey, is in her first season as coach of the wheelchair team. She admits there’s been some on-the-job learning.
“Mixed doubles, even able bodied, is something that I don’t think people have mastered yet,” said Ferguson. “Adding in wheelchair mixed doubles – it’s a little bit different. So every practice we talk, we learn, and that’s all we can really do. So, the plan is to keep learning and use what we know to our advantage.”
“For Dana to say she’s new at this and doesn’t know much – I don’t buy that” says Wright. “She’s taught us a lot. We’ve learned a lot from her, specifically about strategy and tolerances.”
“We talk a lot about tolerance,” said Ferguson. “We know when a shot needs to be played, and what you can’t do, and what’s okay. We’ve given that a lot of thought, so we know we can get something out of every shot. We know that if we stay within our tolerance, we’ll get better success. Does that mean we’re going to win every game? No. It just gives us something to focus on.”
The pair of athletes, along with Ferguson and team leader Wayne Kiel arrived in Finland on Monday after a long journey from their training camp in Winnipeg.
“It was nice to have the opportunity to get together and practice,” said Wright “It’s given us a really good opportunity to read each other’s rocks, and see how we throw. I think that’s going to help too.”
The team had a practice in Lohja on Wednesday, and will open the tournament on Saturday against Latvia. The Canadians are anxious to get started.
“I think because it’s the first world championship,” said Anseuw, “the whole country is waiting to see how we come out of it. There’s a bit of pressure there, but I think it’s good pressure. We’re a solid team from a solid country so I expect good things.” “Anytime you can put the Maple Leaf on your back and represent your country, it’s an honour,” said Wright. “I’m really happy to have the privilege once again.”
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