Young guns shooting down stars

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This article was published 06/02/2020 (2270 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Promising young teams are everywhere at the Viterra Championship this week and Thursday afternoon it was Ryan Wiebe’s turn to flash into prominence.  

The fuzzy-cheeked St. Vital skip rattled off a 9-5 win over Assiniboine Memorial’s J.T. Ryan, a former three-time provincial junior champ, to set up an A-side qualifer against No. 2 seed Jason Gunnlaugson of Morris at 8:30 this morning.

Gunnlaugson, on the other hand, avoided an early roadblock by eking out a 7-6 win over Assiniboine Memorial’s Brett Walter at Eric Coy Arena.

Wiebe, 19, seemed unfazed by the magnitude of the moment with consecutive wins to open his first appearance at the provincial men’s curling champioship.

Lead Adam Flatt and second Sean Flatt, 19-year-old twins, and 21-year-old third Carter Watkins are also Viterra rookies.

“It’s really exciting for us,” said Wiebe, whose team is seeded 10th. “We had a little bit of a rough go at the junior provincials, but we were psyched to come for the men’s provincials. We’re going to give it our best go. I’m really proud of the boys so far. We’re playing really smooth so far.”

After some early nerves, Wiebe felt confident about his squad’s chances.

“I think once we settle into the ice and once we get our groove and we start playing the highest level that I know that we can play, I think we’re right in with the top teams and we’ll see what the rest of the week has in store for us,” said Wiebe.

In a field that also includes prominent young skips such as Ryan, Walters, reigning Canadian junior champ Jacques Gauthier, Braden Calvert of Assiniboine Memorial and Winnipeg Beach’s Tanner Horgan, Wiebe was asked if he envisioned himself as a professional curler in the mould of defending provincial champion Mike McEwen some day. 

“I’ve got a long way to go before I associate myself with Mike McEwen,” said Wiebe, grinning. “Maybe one day, but we’re just going to keep playing the game we love and working hard.”

Gunnlaugson, meanwhile, welcomed the back-and-forth grind with Walter.

“The crowd was getting pretty big here and it was fun,” said Gunnlaugson. “You want to, obviously, do everything and I missed a few shots badly but we got the ‘W’ and we got to feel what it’s going to feel like coming into the weekend… We haven’t always started events super hot this year… and we know now we can get on a big roll here.

“I would’ve hated to go into Saturday without having a game like this.”

Today’s other A-side qualifiers at 8:30 a.m. include: West St. Paul’s McEwen vs. Deer Lodge’s Sean Grassie; No. 4 Calvert vs. No. 5 William Lyburn of the Granite; and third-seeded Tanner Horgan of Winnipeg Beach vs. sixth-seeded Corey Chambers of the Thistle, 

While Gunnlaugson put himself in danger, McEwen breezed to his second consecutive win, an 8-2 decision in six ends over Jordan Smith of Deer Lodge.

“We capitalized on a couple of misses I think because we picked up on the ice conditions a little bit better than the first two teams that we’ve played against and that’s equated to a couple more points on the board,” said McEwen third Reid Carruthers.

Team McEwen’s experience at high-profile events almost certainly provided an edge. 

“I think we’ve adjusted to the ice,” said Carruthers, who is playing in his 15th provincial championship.”The ice is great, it’s quick. We’re getting lots of curl, so we’ve been trying to iron out some of the things we’ve been working on in practice and getting used to that. It feels really good out there.”

The McEwen team is staying in a rented house for the event, hoping to recreate the close team atmosphere they enjoy on the road.

Carruthers was impressed with the level of competition and the pressure young teams are putting on more established squads. 

“Great teams,” said Carruthers. “Look at what Gauthier did. We sent two teams to the Canadian national (junior) championships and I think both of them could’ve won,” said Carruthers. “There’s some good strength coming up through the junior ranks and early in men’s, which is great to see… Competition makes us all better.” 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14