The Brent Gedak rink had a tough weekend at the SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championships in Whitewood.
The Gedak rink, curling out of the Power Dodge Curling Centre, went 0-3 at the Tankard, and was among the first teams eliminated.
Gedak opened with a 12-4 loss to Scott Comfort on Wednesday, and then dropped a 10-3 decision to Rylan Keitler Thursday, and an 8-4 match to Ryan Deis Friday in the triple knockout elimination draw.
“I think we only had … two points (in an end) twice throughout all three games,” said Gedak. “We just never really got on the offence. We were playing defensively from the first end. It’s a new team this year, so the dynamics of playing from behind are a little more difficult when you haven’t played together a lot.”
They’ve been good when they grab an early lead, he said, but they started without the hammer, and usually gave up points early.
“It was just chase, chase all game, and we couldn’t seem to catch up,” he said.
The game against Comfort was close early, with Gedak scoring two in the second and stealing one in the third to lead 3-2.
But Comfort scored two in the fourth to take the lead, and then stole one in the fifth and three in the sixth to lead 8-3.
Gedak scored one in the seventh, but then Comfort took one in the eighth and stole three in the ninth to finish the game.
It’s a game in which Gedak said they might have been overconfident, as they had been Comfort a few times this season.
Kleiter scored three in the second for a 3-0 advantage, and while Gedak hung around and made it a 4-3 game after five ends, Kleiter ended it in the following end by scoring six.
Deis scored twice in the first to lead 2-0, and added another in the second for a three-point lead.
After Gedak scored one in the third and the fifth, and Deis had one in the fourth, the Deis rink scored three in the sixth for a 7-2 advantage.
Gedak and Deis scored single points in the seventh and eighth ends, respectively, and after Gedak only had one in the ninth, the two teams shook hands.
“It seemed like every team we played curled 100 per cent against us, and it’s tough when you’re not executing at the same level as they are,” said Gedak.
Other members of the Gedak rink were third Jason Ackerman, second Derek Owens and lead Curtis Horwath.
“Our lead played pretty well … but the rest of us, we all took our turns (struggling),” said Gedak. “I struggled the first game, and … we weren’t executing, and I guess maybe we weren’t prepared.”
He hopes they can remain together for next year, as they are good friends who have been able to balance curling with work and family commitments.
