The Estevan Curling Club will be represented at the upcoming SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championships in Melville.
The Brent Gedak rink qualified for provincials by claiming one of the four available spots through the Canadian Team Rankings System (CTRS). Teams earned points for the CTRS based on how they finished in tournaments throughout the season.
There are multiple ways to qualify for provincials, including winning a Saskatchewan Curling Tour (SCT) event, claiming one of the available spots through the CTRS or being the top curler on the SCT who didn’t qualify through one of the other methods. Had he not made it through the CTRS, Grdak still would have qualified, thanks to being first on the SCT this season.
Other members of the Gedak rink are third Jason Ackerman, second Derek Owens and lead Curtis Horwath.
The other way to make it to provincials would be through the southern or northern men’s playdowns, which took place this weekend. Three qualifying spots were available through each tournament.
Southerns were in Swift Current this weekend, and the Estevan Curling Club had two teams entered the triple knockout elimination event. A team skipped by Shawn Meyer – which also included third Kris Keating, second Austin Williamson and lead Marcus Lau – went 3-3 at the tournament.
Their first game was a 7-2, eight-end loss to Yorkton’s Kent Zuravloff, who scored three in the eighth to put the game away.
Meyer then rattled off three straight wins in the B event. The team defeated Dustin Woloschuk of Regina’s Callie Curling Club 9-2 in seven ends. The Meyer rink scored two in the first and stole one in the second, and then when it was 5-2 through six ends, the Meyer rink put it away with four in the seventh.
Their next game was another 9-2 win over Scott Comfort of the Wadena Curling Club, this time in six ends. Meyer stole four in the sixth end.
Then they avenged their earlier loss to Zuravloff, beating that team 8-7. Zuravloff led 5-1 through six ends, but Meyer scored two in the seventh and stole three in the eighth to lead 6-5. Zuravloff responded with two in the ninth, and then Meyer scored two more in the 10th to reach the B final.
The winning streak ended in an 8-6 loss to Josh Heidt. Heidt took control early with four in the first, but Meyer responded with two in the second. The two teams went back and forth with each team scoring or stealing single points, but Meyer never drew closer than one.
Their final game was another loss to Zuravloff, this time 9-6 in six ends. Zuravloff scored three times in the first and twice in the second to lead 5-0, but Meyer responded with four in the third. Zuravloff added three more in the fourth and stole one in the fifth, and Meyer scored two in the sixth to finish the scoring.
The other local entry was the Tye Olson rink, which also included third Allan Walter, second Jess Olson and lead Tyler Corbin.
They opened with a 12-6 loss in nine ends to Langenburg’s Jeff Hartung. Olson was down 5-4 through six ends, but Hartung scored three in the seventh, and after Olson had two in the eighth, Hartung added four in the ninth.
Their next game was a 7-6 win over Brett Behm of Moose Jaw. Behm led 5-3 after six ends, but a score of two in the seventh and a steal of one in the eighth gave Olson the lead. The teams traded points in the final two ends, with Olson getting the winning point in the 10th.
Their third game was an 8-5, nine-end loss to Zuravloff. Zuravloff scored three in the third and stole three in the fifth for a 7-1 advantage. Olson fought back with four unanswered points to make it 7-5 through eight, but Zuravloff scored one in the ninth to finish the scoring.
Olson’s tournament ended in an 11-2 loss in five ends to Comfort. It was 6-0 for Comfort through three ends, and after Olson scored two in the fourth, Comfort scored five in the fifth to win.
The Tankard will be Jan. 29-Feb. 2 in Melville.
