Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) and Zoey Terrick (Heather) and their teams have won CurlManitoba’s TELUS Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s championships. The events wrapped up Saturday at the Portage Curling Club.
In the Junior Men’s, McDonald with Reece Hamm, Elias Huminicki, Cam Olafson, and Coach Blaine Malo had been seeded #1 going into the championships. They went undefeated through the competition, winning their four round robin games and defeating Jace Freeman’s Virden team (with Thomas McGillivray, Ryan Ostrowsky, Aaron Macdonell, 5th Alex Fontaine and Coach Graham Freeman) twice in the playoffs, first in the Page 1 vs 1 playoff game and then in the final.
With the victory, McDonald, Hamm and Huminicki were able to defend the title they won a year ago.
In the Junior Women’s, Terrick, with older sister Jaycee and younger sister Tessa, as well as Jensen Letham, 5th Cassidy Dundas and Coach Clint Cullen, had been seeded #2 entering the competition. They were the unbeaten “A” playoff qualifiers in the triple knockout championship. After losing the Page 1 vs 2 playoff game to Grace Beaudry’s St. Vital team (with Emily Ogg, Madelyn Hollins, Mackenzie Arbuckle, 5th Julia Milan and Coach Calvin Edie), they beat Cheyenne Ehnes (Pembina) in the semi-final and defeated Team Beaudry in the final game.
Team Terrick, the first three-sisters team to win a Manitoba Championship since Connie Laliberte’s 1984 World Champion team, trailed Team Beaudry 5-1 after three ends but rebounded to lead 8-7 coming home. They forced a single on the home end and won on an extra end with a last stone draw which had to be in the eight foot circle but bit the button.
The Terrick and McDonald teams will go to the New Holland Canadian Junior Championships in late March in Quebec as Team Manitoba. The finalist Freeman and Beaudry teams will also both go to the nationals as Manitoba #2 teams. Manitoba has two entries in both the national Men’s & Women’s Junior championships thanks to the performance of past teams at the national event.
The trips earned Saturday in Portage by the four teams represent remarkable youth curling accomplishments for several of the players involved, as many of then will now participate in multiple national events this season (Canada Games, U18, U21).
Provincial level competition will continue for three of the four teams. The Beaudry team has qualified to compete in the Manitoba Scotties presented by RME, next week at East St. Paul. The McDonald and Freeman teams will compete in the Viterra championship in Neepawa in February.
PLAYOFFS RECAP – JUNIOR MEN: Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) and Jace Freeman (Virden) had been the two top seeded teams entering the competition and they went undefeated (4W-0L) through the round robin to meet in the Page Playoff 1 vs 1 game. After McDonald sent Freeman to the semi-final, the Virden team rebounded with a 7-2 win over Ronan Peterson (Heather) to set up the re-match final game. Peterson had won the Page Playoff 3 vs 4 game over Colton Olafson (Portage). The final game went down to last stone on the tenth end – facing two Freeman counters, McDonald had to draw to the eight foot circle to win the game 8-7.
PLAYOFFS RECAP – JUNIOR WOMEN: Zoey Terrick (Heather) and Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) entered the event as the #2 and #3 seeds respectively. In the triple knockout competition, Terrick was the unbeaten “A” qualifier while Beaudry was the “B” qualifier. They met in the Page 1 vs 2 game with Beaudry winning on a dramatic last shot takeout thrown through a very narrow centre line port in a game which was tied 6-6 coming home. Terrick rebounded in the semi-final with a win over Cheyenne Ehnes (Pembina), who had beaten defending champion skip Tansy Tober (Fort Garry) in an extra end in the Page 3 vs 4 game. Down 5-1 after three ends in the final, the Terrick team led 8-7 coming home. A Terrick guard on a stone in the four foot circle overcurled, leaving Beaudry a hit for one to force the extra end. Successfully using the difficult tick shot to remove well placed guards, the Terrick team was able to keep the front clear and won the game with a last rock draw to the edge of the button.
