It’s Friesen out there

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This article was published 20/01/2020 (2251 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 224 teams had played nearly 1,000 games, Josh Friesen and his team from the Stonewall Curling Club were officially crowned winners of the Manitoba Open curling bonspiel.

In the 132nd edition of the event, Friesen and third Emerson Klimpke, second Troy Kemball and lead Reece Hamm took home the top prize in the full bonspiel — the Asham Curling Supplies trophy.

The young squad fresh from the junior curling ranks capped off a perfect week with a 5-1 victory over St. Vital Curling Club’s Paul Scinocca in the championship game at the Deer Lodge Curling Club. Friesen’s team is the youngest to ever win the Manitoba Open. Prior to the annual bonspiel, they already had a spot at the Viterra Manitoba Men’s Provincial Curling Championship secured as they won a three-game qualifier in Selkirk. With a berth already in their back pocket, the plan was to use this week as a way to get some extra practice in before provincials. It’s safe to say they got more than what they asked for.

“You know, we played a couple of pretty good teams that have been to the men’s provincials a couple times… We played a couple good games and we had a better end than them in a few of them and we just came out on top,” said Klimpke, who threw last rocks all week. “Aside from that, it felt pretty good to win this one. To be the 132nd Open champion, that’s quite the title to own.”

The Friesen rink has only played 11 games as a unit since they came together after their junior careers came to a close last month. In two weeks, the young group will play in their first men’s provincial event when it kicks off at the Eric Coy Arena and Charleswood Curling Club on Feb. 5.

“It definitely puts a little bit of wind in our sails to carry this on and keep going on to provincials,” Klimpke said. “I’m just proud of how the boys played in front of me and it made my job a lot easier in the back end to throw those last two.”

Despite falling in the final, Scinocca’s strong week at the Open has earned him and his team, which includes third Ed Barr, second Tim Loeb, lead Justin Hartloper and fifth Dan Lagace, a spot at provincials. After years of curling at the Manitoba Open, this is the first time they’ve booked their tickets to provincials. Scinocca, a real estate agent for Royal LePage, said his team has won the Charleswood and St. Vital club championships in the past two years, but qualifying for the Viterra is their biggest win to date.

“Those aspirations weren’t really there for us,” said Scinocca on aiming to pick up one of the three provincial berths that were up for grabs this week. “I mean, it’s always nice to dream. I guess that’s a goal for everybody, but we’re really just club curlers that got on a hot streak.”

While playing in the Viterra wasn’t on their minds, Scinocca said the team is ecstatic to be going.

‘It definitely puts a little bit of wind in our sails to carry this on and keep going on to provincials’- Emerson Klimpke, third on Team Friesen, on what winning the Open means 

“It’s really special. It’s something that we’ve all talked about over the years,” said Scinocca. “We’ve all kind of dreamed about playing the big guys. Now we get a chance. I love the fact that we get an opportunity to play these guys. For us, it’s a special moment and we’re going to relish this one.”

In the second event, William Lyburn beat Corey Boisvert 8-1 for the Free Press trophy. Similar to Friesen, Lyburn and his team of Daly Peters at third, second Kennedy Bird and lead Wade Ford, used the Open as a tune-up for the Viterra as they’re already in it. Lyburn fell 5-3 to Reid Carruthers in last year’s provincial final and this year, they’re hoping to finish on top and advance to the Brier for the first time.

“Obviously, it’s a lifelong dream of mine (to play in the Brier),” said Lyburn, who had his 16-year-old daughter Mikaylah play on his team for a game this week. “That’s why we put all the hours and effort into the game.”

With Friesen and Lyburn not needing them, both teams in the Nott Autocorp final were guaranteed the last two berths. But the Nott trophy was still on the line and Charleswood’s Darren Perche beat Gimli’s Steen Sigurdson 8-3 to take it home. It’s the second straight year Perche has qualified for the Viterra at the Open.

The half bonspiel featured 64 teams and in the end, the Doering family came out on top. Walter, his sons Grant and Craig, and grandson Kyle defeated Mark Franklin in Sunday’s final.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31