The top junior curlers in Saskatchewan took over the Estevan Power Dodge Curling Centre on the weekend.
Fifteen teams from across the province travelled to the Energy City for the Friday-to-Sunday CurlSask Junior Men’s Qualifying Bonspiel. The Q-Spiel was the first of three that are held over the month of November with the top four teams from each event earning a berth in the provincial Jiffy Lube Junior Men’s Curling Championship that is held in Melfort from Jan. 4 to 8.
Team Vereschagin, which includes skip Shawn Vereschagin, third Gavin Steckler, second Caid Brossart and lead Reid Pilkey, was the final group of curlers to leave the ice late Sunday evening having just beaten Team Tokarz 7-6 in an extra end for the last provincial spot that was up for grabs. The Saskatoon-based group didn’t take the easy route to the win falling behind 2-0 after two ends only to come back and grab a 6-4 lead by the beginning of the ninth and second-last stanza.
“We did have a couple of missed shots, but we kind of got lucky in the ninth end there,” said Vereschagin. “They shot for three and they only ended up with one and then the 10th end it was just a matter of execution on a couple shots, but we had a chance and my runback just missed by a millimeter. So, it was a really close game and we were very confident going into the last three ends that we would be able to pull it out.”
Team Vereschagin had their first opportunity to punch their ticket to the provincial championship on Saturday night in the A-event final against Saskatoon’s Team Stewart, which includes skip Brayden Stewart, third Tony Nevfeld, second Jared Latos and lead Andrew Hodgson, but fell 6-1 in six sets. The Bridge City’s Team Dales, with skip Mitchell Dales, third Dustin Mikush, second Mitchell Schmidt and lead Braden Fleischaacker, captured the second spot on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 six-end win over Team Ackerman.
Lumsden’s Team Wills picked up the third qualifying berth with a 9-3 victory over Team Ackerman on Sunday night on the sheet of ice next to the one featuring Team Vereschagin and Team Tokarz.
Skip Sam Wills, whose teammates include third Parker Kentz, second Cole Regush and lead Riley Lloyd, said they got off to a good start against Team Ackerman scoring five points in the second end where they made a few good shots to put their competition in some tough situations. He said the match was their seventh of the weekend and third on Sunday, so it was nice to get the lead allowing them to play a cleaner and less tiring game.
“Once you get to the early lead and you’re throwing less draws and more hits there is less sweeping involved,” said Wills. “You save a lot of energy.”
Wills said they didn’t earn a provincial berth until the third Q-Spiel last year and getting the spot on the first weekend this time around means they’ll have to endure less travelling and less pressure in the lead up to the championships.
“We played well and we got a trip to provincials, so that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “That’s why we all came here.”
