Wiebe weaving magic

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This article was published 08/02/2020 (2078 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A show of hands from those who had Ryan Wiebe’s junior squad as the first to roll into the playoffs of the Viterra provincial men’s curling championship?

Indeed, an unlikely scenario, beyond the wishful thinking of some proud family members.

Yet, the young foursome from St. Vital, easily the surprise of the five-day event, cracked the ‘Final Eight’ at Eric Coy Arena in convincing fashion Friday morning.

Wiebe, with third Carter Watkins and twin brothers Sean and Adam Flatt on the front end, turned in the first major upset of the championship, blasting No. 2-seed Jason Gunnlaugson 8-2 in just seven ends. They’re still around today and, quite possibly, beyond — even after suffering a 9-8 defeat in extra ends to Steve Irwin’s veteran team from Brandon to begin the playoffs Friday night.

Irwin ran the table with a trio of victories on Day 3 of the event to set up a clash with Gunnlaugson.

Gunnlaugson regrouped nicely, knocking off J.T. Ryan of Assiniboine Memorial 9-5 in the afternoon and third-seed Tanner Horgan of Winnipeg Beach 9-7 in an extra end in the evening.

Defending champion Mike McEwen from West St. Paul upended Jacques Gauthier of Assiniboine Memorial 10-7 for the heavy favourite’s fourth straight win.

Sean Grassie of Deer Lodge hung a three on the board in the ninth end and then stole the winning point in the 10th for a 5-4 victory against William Lyburn, setting up a morning meeting with McEwen, a three-time winner.

Four of the eight make the championship round, beginning tonight at 6 p.m. The Viterra semifinal is set for Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and the final goes at 2:30 p.m. Both are televised on Sportsnet.

Wiebe and his teammates, all university students, are missing classes this week but receiving some quality on-ice education as they make their Viterra debuts under the tutelage of nationally renowned coach Tom Clasper. And they’re doling out a few lessons of their own.

“They’re very good. They’re coached by one of the greatest coaches in Manitoba history. He’s had success everywhere he’s coached,” Gunnlaugson said. “He’s got them doing what they need to do to play well, and if we’re gonna give them that many chances, they’re gonna beat us easy.”

That’s precisely how the clash on Sheet C unfolded, as the 19-year-old skip earned the hammer over Gunnlaugson in the pre-game draw to the button, immediately posted a score of two and then applied sustained pressure. All the while, Wiebe and Watkins, 21, wearing his ball cap backward, maintained their grins and exchanged chuckles as they discussed strategy and the outcomes.

“We try to stay loose. It’s our first men’s provincial and we’re still kind of under the radar. We get to kind of relax a bit and be the underdogs out there. It’s nice to be able to relax and just play the game that we know how to play,” said Wiebe, a science major at the University of Manitoba.

“We’ve settled in pretty good and we’re just playing with our hearts and staying focused. The nerves go away after a bit. It’s pretty cool. It’s nice to be performing well and it’s a good time for us.”

The Flatts had their game faces on and did a solid job of orchestrating ends. The 19-year-olds aren’t identical — Sean is a few minutes older and blonder, and Adam is taller — unlike their cousins, the Bohn brothers, David and Dennis, perennial Viterra competiitors and mirror images of one another.

Wiebe’s crew isn’t without credentials. In fact, it did more than just rub shoulders with many of the province’s best men’s teams in early December at the Manitoba Curling Tour Championship, it won the thing. A month later, they were back playing against their peers at the Manitoba junior men’s championship in Dauphin but lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Brett Walter of Assiniboine Memorial.

Because of that success, the close-knit group adopted a cautiously optimistic approach to the Viterra, said Sean.

“We’re going into game with open minds, not looking at anyone as superior to us. Just going in like it’s all tied up at the start of the game and just give it our best,” he said.

Clasper, who worked with former Canadian women’s champion Connie Laliberte in the 1990s and several high-profile junior teams, such as Braden Calvert’s world championship foursome (2015), said he’s impressed with the work ethic of many of the province’s top young teams.

“The junior teams tend to work more at practising and they do curl a little bit more than some of the men’s teams that are here,” said Clasper. “Not necessarily the top guys, but they play more than a lot of these teams. They’re in a position in their life where they can throw more rocks. They don’t have kids to worry about and all that kind of stuff.”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell