Roaring game exploits acknowledged

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This article was published 01/02/2024 (796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ken Tresoor is best remembered for playing third on Jeff Stoughton’s mighty foursome that won the 1996 World Curling Championship.

The funny thing about that team is their incredible run almost never happened as they didn’t qualify for Manitoba provincials until the last minute.

“Back then there weren’t any exemptions for top teams and we lost out in our zones. And then because of that, we went to Brandon for a berth spiel, and we didn’t get a spot through there either,” said Treesor with a laugh. “I actually remember in Brandon when we got knocked out, we hit the bar after, like curlers often do. After a few drinks, we were talking and I don’t know if we had a strong feeling or what, but we said we just got to get into provincials and good things will happen. And they certainly did.”

They earned their way to the Manitoba tournament with a strong showing at the MCA Bonspiel and the rest, as they say, is history. The group, which also featured second Gary Vandenberghe and lead Steve Gould, was inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in 2002.

Now Tresoor is going in again, this time as an individual, as he’s part of the 2024 induction class that was announced by the HOF late Wednesday.

Sam Antila and Bill Biehl are being recognized in the builder category, while Cathy Overton 1989, Jennifer Jones 1994, and Chris Galbraith 1995 round out the class as the three teams going into the hall. The induction dinner takes place May 5 at CanadInn’s Polo Park.

“I never really expected to get inducted as an individual. It’s a great honour,” said Tresoor, 57.

Tresoor played in 22 Manitoba championship events in his career — two junior, 16 men’s, and four mixed —before hanging up the broom in 2012. He captured two mixed titles in the province (one with Howard Restall in 1990 before winning another in 1994 with Stoughton) and took the men’s title for the first time in 1991 shortly after joining forces with Stoughton.

At the 1996 Brier, the boys in the Buffalo jackets won an all-time classic in the final with an 8-7 extra-end victory over Alberta’s Kevin Martin.

They steamrolled the competition in Hamilton at the world championship and finished things off with a 6-2 win over Scotland for gold.

“I still have vivid memories of the last few shots of the final against Kevin Martin. We actually had to steal to win,” said Tresoor.

For Overton-Clapham, who now lives in Calgary and works with USA Curling, the induction will reunite her and junior teammates Tracy Baldwin, Carol Harvey, and Tracy Bush.

“I can’t even remember the last time the four of us were all together. We’re going to make a weekend out of it in Winnipeg,” said Overton-Clapham, 54, who was inducted as an individual in 2006.

“It’s pretty special. We had a pretty successful junior career so I’m super happy for the girls as well to be inducted and for us to do it all together. It was a long time ago, so, it brought back some memories.”

They won junior nationals and claimed bronze at worlds all without leaving the province. The Canadian tournament took place at their home rink, the Heather Club, while the worlds were held in Portage la Prairie. They lost the semi-final 8-7 to Sweden before responding with a convncing 8-1 result over Switzlerland to find their way onto the podium.

“The support we had was amazing,” said Overton-Clapham.

“You felt like you got more wins just being at home and having that support.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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