The 16-team Dynasty U-20 Mixed Doubles Championship wrapped up Sunday with Lauren Evason and Rylan Campbell winning the first Manitoba U-20 Mixed Doubles. The game was proof of the dramatic ebbs & flows of fortune inherent in Mixed Doubles curling.
Facing Zoey Terrick & Tanner Graham in the final, Evason and Campbell controlled the game with well placed draws and guards end after end. They scored singles on the first and fourth ends and stole single points on each of the second, fifth and sixth ends to lead 5-1 with two ends to play.
A Terrick-Graham “power-play” on the seventh end resulted in a two and was followed by a steal of two when a last stone Evason takeout jammed to create a 5-5 tie and force an extra end.
The ninth end was played in the four foot circle with Graham making the first key shot, a tap to sit shot stone buried. Campbell followed with a draw which didn’t curl up quite enough and was second shot stone on the teeline in the four foot. With the last stone of the end, Terrick made a well placed guard leaving Evason nothing but an angled double tap to the button.
The shot was made, stopping against the third shot stone behind the button, to seal the victory.
With the title, Campbell becomes the 20th curler in Manitoba curling history to win a second championship in the same season. (**click here to see attached list) Earlier this season, he skipped the Manitoba U-18 Men’s team. It is a first championship for Evason, who was a finalist in the 2023 U-18 championship.
Evason & Campbell had a record of 5W-1L going in to the final. They had lost their opening game to Terrick & Graham and then won five in a row. In the semi-final, they were tied 3-3 with Cassidy & Hunter Dundas before jumping out to an 8-3 lead coming home.
Terrick & Graham were undefeated going into the final, with a 4W-0L round-robin record and a pair of playoff victories. In the semi-final, they had defeated Terrick’s junior teammate, Jensen Letham and her partner Jace Freeman. They led 9-4 after five ends and 9-8 coming home in the semi-final.
There is currently no national championship in U-20 Mixed Doubles.
