Category Archives: U-18 Provincials

TEAM WAHL ADVANCES TO ASHAM U-18 WOMEN`S CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Posted on by
Reply

UPDATE: Friday 10:30PM) Altona’s Dayna Wahl team, already winners of Manitoba’s Canada Games berth, have advanced to the final of the Asham U-18 Championship being played in their hometown club.  By reaching the final, they have also won the first of two Manitoba  invitations to the U-18 nationals in Timmons, ON. In February.

Team Wahl defeated previously unbeaten Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) in the 1 vs 1 playoff game, scoring three on the seventh end and winning with a point on an extra end.

In the 2vs 2 playoff game, Shaela Hayward’s Carman team defeated Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) to advance to the Saturday morning semifinal against Beaudry.

The winner of the semi-final, by advancing to the final game, will win the second of two Manitoba entry in the national championship.

If you’re inclined to ask – so why play the final game? – the answer is quite simple. The Manitoba Championship is on the line. The champions go to Timmins as Team Manitoba while the loser will be identified as a Wild Card entry from Manitoba. For Team Wahl, there is also the quest to follow in the footsteps of another local team, the Mackenzie Zacharias team which won this same championship as a stepping stone in the ascent to the pinnacle of curling when they won the World Juniors a few short years later.

(Friday 4:30PM) PLAYOFFS SET IN ASHAM U-18 WOMEN`S CHAMPIONSHIP …….One unbeaten team and three with 3W-1L records will advance to the playoff round of the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women`s Championship in Altona.

One team with a 3W-1L record misses the playoffs based on the event`s accumulated pre-game draw-to-the-button scores, the now standard tie-breaker formula.

With a 4W-0L record, Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) has the only unbeaten team. In their final round robin game, the St. Vital team needed an extra end to beat Julia Van Ryssel (Springfield) who had scored three coming home to tie.

Beaudry is followed in second place by Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) with a 3W-1L record. Van Ryssel finshes with a 2W-2L record in third place in the group.

The other pool ended in a three way tie for first. The three teams with 3W-1L records were Dauphin`s Team Benson, (skipped by Cloe Halushak) who had a last round bye, Shaela Haywrd (Carman) and Dayna Wahl (Altona).

A last round win by Hayward over Wahl created the logjam. Wahl earns first place in the pool  with Hayward second and Benson third based on the tie-breaker process. 

In their final games of the event. Bethany Allan (Granite), with a win over Liv Leadbeater (Swan River), and Rylie Buchalter (Heather), with a win over Meghan Lagadi (Pembina) earned their first victories.

The four team playoff in a Page format, has Beaudry against Wahl in the 1 vs 1 game. The winner advances to the final and earns the first invitation to the nationals in Timmins, ON. In the Page 2 vs 2 game, Hayward will play Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) who had the last game bye and also finished at 3W-1L.

The first playoff round goes at 7:30pm Friday.

FREEMAN FINISHES FIRST; NORRIS-PETERSON SEMIFINAL IN U-18 MEN`S

Posted on by
Reply

Jace Freeman (Virden) and his team won a pair of games Friday to earn the first place bye to the final in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Men`s Championship in Altona.

The wins over Nash Sugden (Morden) and Zach Norris (Morris) gave the Freeman team, which has already earned the right to represent Manitoba in the Canada Winter Games, a final record of 5W-1L. Along with the bye to the final, they also earned the first of two available invitations to attend the nationals in Timmins, ON in early February.

Norris had earlier won over Nathan Poklar (East St. Paul) so their final 4W-2L record earned them a spot in the Saturday morning semifinal against Ronan Peterson (Heather).

Norris finishes with a 4W-2L record, tied with Ronan Peterson (Heather) who had a last round bye. Peterson and Norris will meet in the semi-final Saturday morning.

Peterson won over Luke Robins (West St. Paul) on the morning draw and had the afternoon bye to finish with a 4W-2L record as well.

Colton Olafson (Portage) had a morning bye and chance to move into the 4W-2L tie but lost 8-4 to Luke Robins (West St. Paul) and finished 3W-3L, out of the playoffs.

Nash Sugden (Morden) also had a playoff chance when the day began but had to win two games on the final day. The Morden team earned a split with the loss to Freeman and a win over Nathan Poklar (East St. Paul).

The semi-final is at 9AM and the final at 1PM Saturday.

SIX WOMEN’S TEAMS STILL IN THE U-18 CHASE WITH ONE GAME TO PLAY

Posted on by
Reply

The stage is set for a dramatic final round of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women’s Championship in Altona.

With a win and a bye today, Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) and Dayna Wahl (Altona) retained first place in the two pools with perfect 3W-0L records.

Two teams have completed their round robins with a pair of wins today. Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) and Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) have second place in their pools with 3W-1L records.

In third place in the two pools are Shaela Hayward (Carman) and Julia Van Ryssel (Springfield). Both won their single game today to hold down third place with 2W-1L records.

The Friday drama arises from the first vs third matchup in both pools Friday afternoon. Beaudry plays Karys Buchalter while Wahl plays Team Hayward.

No matter the result, Wahl and Beaudry have locked up a share of first place in their pools. Wins, and a 4W-0L record mean the teams advance to the Page Playoff 1-1 game. Losses mean a 3W-1L record and wins by Hayward &/or Buchalter mean they will also be at 3W-1L records. The tiebreaker formulas would then come into play to determine the top two teams in the pools.

Losses by Hayward &/or Buchalter mean they finish at 2W-2L and out of the playoffs.

LATE DRAW: A stolen extra end 7-6 win by Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) over Rylie Buchalter and a 6-5 win by Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) over Bethany Allen (Granite) gave the two winners 3W-1L records at the U18 championship in Altona.

NOON DRAW: Wins by Daya Wahl (Altona) and Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) on the noon draw at the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Championship have improved their group leading records to 3W-0L.  Dauphin’s Benson team (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) kept pace behind Walh while Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) is also at 2W-1L, as the two also won their noon draw games.

FOUR U-18 MEN’S TEAMS WITH THREE WINS WITH A DAY TO GO IN ALTONA

Posted on by
Reply

Jace Freeman (Virden) and Zach Norris (Morris) lead the way in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Championship underway in Altona. The two teams both had byes on Thursday. They’ll start the day Friday sharing first place with 3W-1L records.

Right behind are Colton Olafson (Portage) and Ronan Peterson (Heather with 3W-2L records and only one game left to play.

Team Olafson had the best day Thursday, winning a pair of games to force themselves in to the playoff picture. A morning 7-6 win over Freeman was critical to the playoff hopes of all of the three win teams.

The Norris team won their one game Thursday, 6-5 over Nash Sugden (Morden) while Team Peterson split, beating beating Nathon Poklar (East St. Paul) but losing to Freeman.

Sugden bounced back on the late afternoon draw, scoring two on the 7th end and stealing one coming home to beat Luke Robins (West St. Paul). Sugden stays in the playoff chase with a 2W-2L record and two games to play tomorrow. Robins, at 1W-3L, will need a pair of wins and a lot of help from other teams to make the playoff round.

Sugden`s games Friday are against Freeman and the still winless Poklar team. Norris plays Poklar in the morning and Freeman in the afternoon.

Olafson and Peterson both have their bye game Friday and the last game for each is against 1W-3L Robins.

After playing Sugden in the morning, the final round robin draw tomorrow has Freeman playing Norris. It could be a first place game with a bye to the final and an invitation to the nationals on the line.

FREEMAN, NORRIS, PETERSON ALL WITH TWO WINS AT U-18 MEN’S

Posted on by
Reply

Jace Freeman (Virden), Zach Norris (Morris) and Ronan Peterson (Heather) have all completed the second day of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Men’s Championship with a pair of victories.

Ronan Peterson

Freeman, who had a third round bye, leads the way with a perfect 2W-0L record. Norris and Peterson are both at 2W-1L after a third round game between the two, won by Peterson.

It was a critical win for Team Peterson, highly ranked coming into the event. They had lost their opener and needed to avoid a second loss this early in the event.

 Peterson’s early Wednesday win over Colton Olafson (Portage) set up an evening match with unbeaten Zach Norris (Morris). Norris opened with a deuce but gave up 6 points over the next four ends to trail 6-2 in a 9-5 win for Peterson.

Key to the championship aspirations of both Peterson and Norris is the fact that both have yet to play Freeman.

The U-18 Men’s playoff will see the first place team advance to the final with second and third meeting in the semifinal. The two finalists will each win an invitation to compete in the nationals.

WAHL, BEAUDRY TEAMS LEAD WITH TWO WINS EACH ON DAY OF U-18 WOMEN’S

Posted on by
Reply

After two games on the first day of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women’s Championship in Altona, the top two seeds have taken their expected place atop the two five-team pools.

Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) and Dayna Wahl (Altona) were the only teams to win their first two games.

Grace Beaudry delivers with sweepers Lauren Evason and Tessa Terrick

Beaudry defeated the teams skipped by Liv Leadbeater (Swan River) and Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) while Wahl’s wins came over Meghan Lagadi (Pembina) and Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak.

Two teams in each pool had first day splits and it should be noted two teams in each pool had first day byes but all four lost their opening games.

In their only game Thursday, Team Beaudry will play one of the 0W-1L teams, Bethany Allan’s Granite team. Team Beaudry also has a bye Thursday, playing their only game against Rylie Buchalter and her Heather team.

While the first day’s results are not a guarantee of final standings they are a strong indicator of the challenge faced by all of the teams in subsequent games as they strive to earn one of the two playoff spots available in each pool.

There is a huge advantage to finishing first in each pool as the Women’s event will play a Page Playoff with the two first place teams meeting  in the first round of playoffs. The winner goes to the final knowing they have already won one of two national invitations available. The loser has a second chance opportunity when they drop to the semifinal.

ALTONA HOST CURLMANITOBA U-18 CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGINNING TONIGHT

Posted on by
Reply

CurlManitoba’s U-18 Championships begin tonight in Altona – with 7 young men’s teams and 10 young women’s teams participating. The men play a 7 team, 6 game round robin while the women are split in two pools of five for a four game round robin.

It will be a first major test for the two teams which won the Canada Games Trials at Heather in November. Dayna Wahl’s Altona team and Jace Freeman’s Virden team will be out to prove it was no fluke that they earned the Canada Games berth and that they should be one of the two Manitoba teams at the Canadian U-18’s in early February in Timmins, ON as well.

In the Men’s U-18 Championship, Freeman and Elias Huminicki were on last year’s winning McDonald team and their lead, Jack Steski, was on the finalist team a year ago. The combined credentials identify them as the favorite. Rylan Graham, their fourth player, also played in this event a year ago. 

At Heather after winning the Canada Games Trials (front Altona’s Dayna Wahl, Piper Stoesz, Anna Marie Ginters, Gillian Hildebrand, Coach Keith Stoesz AND back Rylan Graham, Jack Steski, Elias Huminicki, Jace Freeman, Coach Graham Freeman)

Huminicki is already the leader in games played at the Manitoba U-18 Men’s Championship – having played 26 games in four previous appearances. He is poised to move ahead of his former skip, Jordon McDonald, into first place on the list of most games won. With 17 previous wins he is tied for second in that stats category, behind only McDonald who won 20 games out of 21 played as he skipped the 2019, 2020, and 2022 champion teams. (The event was cancelled due to covid in 2021).

Cameron Olafson, who was also on the winning McDonald team a year ago, is skipping his own Portage team this year. Two other members of the 2022 finalist Ryan Ostrowsky team are also playing this year. Luke Robins is skipping a West St. Paul team with Logan Strand at lead. They lost the Canada Games Trials semi-final. Finalist Ronan Peterson’s Heather team, the only team in the championship from inside the perimeter highway, is also competing in Altona.

In the Women’s U-18 Championship, Team Wahl (Piper Stoesz, Anna Marie Ginters, Gilian Hildebrand) topped their round robin pool in last year`s championship but lost in the semi-final to Grace Beaudry who went on to lose the final. Beaudry has recruited Cassidy Dundas and Tessa Terrick from last year`s champion team. With Lauren Evason rounding out the squad, the Wahl & Beaudry teams can be considered co-favourites this year. It is notable that Beaudry recently won a 2023 Scotties berth (with a different team).

Altona’s Mackenzie Zacharias teams won three consecutive U-18 titles in 2015-1026-2017. Tessa Terrick and Cassidy Dundas have each won 17 games in previous U-18 appearances, a number well behind the leading 38 games played by Meghan Walter in seven appearances at the event.

The Altona Curling Club hosts the championship action, beginning with an 8PM Men`s draw this evening and continuing to playoffs at 9AM and 1PM on Saturday.

MCDONALD, TERRICK WIN U-18 TITLES

Posted on by
Reply
Team McDonald

Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) and his second Elias Huminicki have won their second Manitoba curling championship of the season. Half of this year’s Manitoba Junior Men’s champion team, the pair teamed with Jace Freeman and Cam Olafson to win the U-18 Men’s championship today as well. Blaine Malo continues as the team’s coach.

Team McDonald won the Page 1-1 game early Sunday to earn a berth in the final, where they took on Ryan Ostrowsky (West St.Paul). Ostrowsky had won the afternoon semi-final 7-3 over Carter Marshall and his St Vital team.

Ryan Ostrowsky, Jack Steski, Luke Robins, Logan Strand, Coach Carlene Strand

Playing their third game of the day, the Ostrowsky team gave up a two and steal of four after McDonald blanked the first two ends. From there it was just a question of patience for the Deer Lodge foursome. They forced Ostrowsky to a single in the fifth…….

The good news for Team Ostrowsky is that Manitoba has two berths in the national U-18 event to be played in early May in Oakville, ON. so they had already earned the second berth by winning the semi-final.

Team Terrick

In the U-18 Women’s final, Page 1-1 winner Zoey Terrick and her Neepawa team (Cassidy Dundas, Tessa Terrick, Madison Sagert) stole victory from semi-final winner Grace Beaudry (St. Vital). Beaudry had reached the final with an afternoon 5-4 win over Dayna Wahl (Altona).

In the final, Team Beaudry scored singles on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ends to lead 3-1 at the mid-game break. After a blanked fifth end, Terrick was forced to take a single on the sixth and then built a steal of one on the 7th to be tied coming home 3-3.

Grace Beaudry, Arianne Courcelles, Jensen Letham, Chelsea Swaile, Coach Guy Beaudry

A long centre guard and a close centre guard by lead Madison Sagert set the stage for the stolen victory. With her last stone to come, and only one rock out of play, Beaudry had nothing but an attempted double raise to pick out the Terrick shot stone buried biting the back of the four foot. By the time the rocks stopped rolling, Terrick had stolen two for a 5-3 victory.

McDonald and Terrick will wear Manitoba colours at the national U-18 Championship. Like Ostrowky, Team Beaudry also earns Manitoba’s second U-18 National berth.

**

Zoey Terrick

(5PM: Sunday, March 10) TERRICK, MCDONALD ADVANCE TO U-18 FINALS Zoey Terrick’s Neepawa team and Manitoba Junior Champion Jordon McDonald’s Deer Lodge foursome won the morning Page 1-1 Playoff games to advance to the Manitoba U-18 Championship final games. Those games are set to go at Heather at 6PM.

IN the U-18 Women’s final, Team Terrick will play the winner of the afternoon semi-final between Dayna Wahl (Altona) and Grace Beaudry (St. Vital).

Earlier today, Terrick defeated Wahl 7-2 in the Page 1-1 Playoff game while Beaudry was a 7-4 winner over Emily Ogg (AMCC) in the elimination game.

In the U-18 Men’s, Team McDonald awaits the winner of the semi-final between Carter Marshall (St. Vital) and Ryan Ostrowsky (West St. Paul). In the first playoff round, Team McDonald was an 8-1 winner over Marshall and Ostrowsky eliminated Ronan Peterson (Fort Rouge) in a 7-4 game.

Ryan Ostrowsky with sweepers Luke Robins (l) and Logan Strand (r)

FINALS DAY FOR U-18’S & MASTERS WOMEN

Posted on by
Reply

Three Manitoba curling championships will wrap up today: the Masters Women at Assiniboine Memorial (final at 4PM) and the U-18 Men & Women at Heather (finals at 6PM).

At Heather, the Page Playoff draws are set for 9AM with semi-finals at 2PM. The U-18 Women’s draw features a pair of unbeaten rural teams in the 1V1 game (winner to the final, loser to the semi-final). Dayna Wahl (Altona) and Zoey Terrick (Neepawa) advanced with perfect 4W-0L records. In the Page bottom side elimination game, Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) will play Emily Ogg (AMCC). Both teams advanced with 3W-1L records.

In the U-18 Men’s championship, no team survived round robin play unbeaten. All four playoff teams advanced with single losses, the only teams with only one loss on their record. Provincial Junior Champion Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) meets Carter Marshall (St. Vital) in the Page top-side game with the winner advancing to the final. In the bottom side elimination game Ronan Peterson (Ft. Rouge) plays Ryan Ostrowsky (West St. Paul).

At Assiniboine Memorial, the top three teams all finished with 3W-1L records. Judy Colwell (East St. Paul), Laurie Deprez (Stonewall) and Sandra Cowling (Hamiota) all beat each other in the round robin. As a result of the last-shot draw ‘contest’, Colwell’s team was awarded the bye to the final game where the East St. Paul skip will try to win her first provincial championship. Deprez and Cowling, both former Senior Women’s champions, will meet in the semi-final.

In the Masters Men’s, the playoff picture is simple but the last two teams will be determined in head-to-head games on the last round-robin draws. Murray Warren (6W-0L) will advance to the Page 1-1 game. Second place will go to the winner of a game between Gord McTavish (Pembina) and Dale Brooks (Hamiota). Brooks is at 4W-2L while McTavish is 5W-1L. If both finish 5W-2L, Brooks will advance thanks to the win. If McTavish wins, his team gets seconds place due to the earlier loss to Brandon’s Warren team.

In the other pool, Greg McGibbon (Granite) is the unbeaten team at 6W-0L and will finish first. Jim Renwick (Brandon) and Mark Franklin (Granite), both with 5W-1L records, will face off at 12:30 Sunday with the winner earning the second playoff berth from the group.