Some of Saskatchewan’s future curling stars were in Estevan on the weekend for the first CurlSask junior men’s qualifying bonspiel of the season.
Sixteen teams from across the province were entered. They played a triple knockout elimination event, with the winner of the A event, B event and two C events punching their tickets for the provincial tournament that starts Dec. 27 in Saskatoon.
The Rylan Kleiter rink out of Saskatoon won the top qualifying birth, defeating Kronau’s Brecklin Gervais 9-6 in the A event final. Team Kleiter went 4-0 on the weekend, and outscored their opponents 41-15 in those games.
The Gervais rink dropped down to the B event, but they didn’t fare any better as they lost 9-1 to another Saskatoon rink, Cody Sutherland.
In one of the C finals, the Gervais rink recovered to defeat Weyburn’s Hunter Labbie 8-2 in a battle of southeast rinks. The other C final was a much closer battle, as Saskatoon’s Daymond Bernath edged Regina’s Joshua Bryden 8-7 in an extra end. Bernath led 3-0 after the first end, but was down 7-5 entering the 10th and final end before scoring two to force an extra end, and then stole one in the 11th.
