A pair of undefeated teams met in the 2023 CurlManitoba Chicken Chef Mixed Provincial Championship final game with Kyle Kurz and his Fort Rouge team (Beth Peterson, Ian McMillan Melissa Gordon-Kurz) emerging as the victors.
The 8-1 championship win at the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club came over defending champion Corey Chambers and his Fort Garry team (Lisa McLeod, Julien Leduc, Jolene Callum).
Kyle Kurz, Beth Peterson, and Melissa Gordon-Kurz are all former Manitoba Mixed champions, having won in 2020 with Braden Calvert, as well as being former Manitoba Junior champions. It was the first Manitoba title for Ian McMillan.
The Kurz and Chambers teams were the two “A” side qualifiers for the playoff round and both had won their semi-final games to reach the championship game undefeated.
In the semi-finals, Team Kurz eliminated Hayden Forrester (East St. Paul) in a 7-2 game. Forrester advanced with a quarter-final win over Ryan Wiebe and a Gimli team which included four-time Canadian Scotties champion Kerri Einarson & Kyle Einarson, who won the Manitoba Mixed title together with different skips in each of the 2013, 2015, and 2017 seasons. A five coming home gave Forrester the 8-6 win.
Defending champion Corey Chambers’ semi-final win (5-4) came over Zach Wasylik (Stonewall) who had bested former champion Braden Calvert in a 7-6 extra end quarterfinal.
Fifteen teams from across Manitoba competed in the 2023 championship.
The new Chicken Chef Mixed champions will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Mixed in November 2023.
