A pair of rural Manitoba based teams have won the first Coops of Manitoba Provincial Junior Curling Championships. Shaela Hayward’s Carman team and Virden’s Jace Freeman foursome will have their names added to the record books as the Juniors champions for 2025.
For Hayward and her second Keira Krahn, it is the second consecutive Manitoba U-21 Junior Championship.
Top seeded Cassidy Dundas and her Heather team (Lauren Evason, Eryn Czirfusz, Tessa Terrick, Coach Craig Terrick) and second seeded Shaela Hayward, and her Carman team (Keira Krahn, Grace Beaudry, Emily Ostrowsky, Coach Ron Westcott) met in the Women’s final. Hayward had won the morning Page 1-2 Playoff to earn the spot in the final. The Dundas team had to defeat the Julia Van Ryssel (Springfield) team to earn the spot in the final.
Hayward led by three after seven ends but Dundas scored a two and stole two more to lead 7-6 coming home. Facing two, Dundas made the best shot she could make, burying a draw for shot stone. Hayward, the defending champion skip, showed the composure of a champion, throwing an angled double raise takeout and sticking in the rings for two and an 8-7 win.
In the men’s final, Jace Freeman’s Virden team (Timothy Marin, Nick Senff, Luke Robins, Coach Graham Freeman) and Nash Sugden’s Morden team (Tyler Fehr, Tanner Treichel, Ryan Thiessen, alternate Quinn Lagace, Coach Gord Titchkosky) were tied 4-4 coming home. Freeman had blanked the ninth end to retain the hammer on the tenth.
Freeman was laying two after a double kill but Sugden had a chance to draw behind one of them to be shot stone. His draw over-curled slightly and rubbed the Freeman stone in the top 12 foot circle leaving the Virden team the 6-4 win without throwing their final stone.
Freeman and his team had finished first in the round robin with a bye to the final. To earn their spot in the final game, the Sugden foursome had defeated Zach Norris and his Morris team in the semi-final.
The Freeman and Hayward teams will go to the national U-21 championships as the Manitoba champions, Manitoba #1, while the finalist Sugden and Dundas teams will join them as the Manitoba #2 teams.
