A pair of Manitoba curling championship trophies were handed out Sunday evening at the Pembina Curling Club. Colin Kurz and his Deer Lodge team took home the CurlManitoba Chicken Chef Mixed trophy while the Pembina duo of Eva Le Heiget & Quinn Lagace earned the trophy in the Dynasty U-20 Mixed Doubles presented by Access Credit Union.
For Colin Kurz and his team (Meghan Walter, Brendan Bilawka, Sara Krym (Oliver)) it was their second Manitoba Mixed title. The foursome, this year aided by Kyle Kurz as alternate, won the 2019 championship and went on to win the Canadian and World Mixed Championships.
That 2019 run ended November 19, 2019 in Aberdeen, Scotland when the Manitobans beat Germany to complete an undefeated 11W-0L week. It was the last time they played together. First Covid, and then life in general, got in the way. Until this week, when they posted another unbeaten 6W-0L record to win Manitoba again.
The Deer Lodge team defeated Austin Pearson and his Rivers team (Janelle Lach, Justin Gerrard, Hallie McCannell) in the Sunday evening final at Pembina CC. The Pearson team had a 5W-1L record going into the final.
To reach the final, Kurz had beaten former champion Corey Chambers (Pembina) while Pearson had beaten Brett Walter (AMCC).
Team Kurz will represent Manitoba at the 2026 Canadian Mixed Championship in Prince Edward Island.
While it was over six years between victories for the Mixed champions, success for U-20 Mixed Doubles champions Le Heiget & Lagace has been much more recent. They also won the Manitoba Games Mixed Doubles in Thompson, just over five weeks ago.
The U-20 Mixed Doubles final was, in fact, a rematch of that Manitoba Games final. Le Heiget/Lagace (& coach Rej Lagace) took on Sierra Smith & Jake Kowalchuk (Gimli) in both finals, winning 8-3 in Thompson and 7-4 this week at Pembina CC.
Like Team Kurz in the Mixed, Le Heiget/Lagace had an unbeaten 6W-0L record. Like Team Pearson, Kowalchuk/Smith finished with a 5W-2L record.
To reach the final, Le Heiget/Lagace had beaten Tyler Graham/Addison Connon (East St. Paul) in the semifinal while Kowalchuk/Smith had beaten Tiernan Bertrand-Meadows/Ainslee Card (Pembina) in the other semifinal.
The 2027 Canada Games will begin in late February 2027 in Quebec City.
It is noteworthy that the U-20 Mixed Doubles Championship is the third Manitoba championship won this season by Quinn Lagace. He previously won the U-18 Junior men’s and the U-20 Junior Men’s titles, both as a member of the Evan Boutet team.
