Calvert on verge of repeat

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This article was published 31/01/2015 (4138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carberry’s Braden Calvert is one win away from repeating as the Canadian junior men’s curling champion.

Calvert and his Winnipeg-based team of Kyle Kurz, Lucas Van Den Bosch and Brendan Wilson finished atop the M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior men’s standings with a 9-1 mark after defeating Alberta’s Karsten Sturmay 7-3 in Friday’s round-robin finale in Corner Brook, N.L.

Finishing first gives Calvert and company a bye into Sunday’s final (5:30 p.m., TSN) against the semifinal winner. New Brunswick’s Rene Comeau will meet the winner of a tiebreaker between Saskatchewan’s Jacob Hersikorn and Quebec’s Felix Asselin in the semifinal.

“It’s pretty amazing to think that we can win another national championship,” said Calvert, who beat Comeau 7-5 in last year’s final.

“We’re pretty excited to go represent the Buffalo and see if we can get another one for them.

“I think there’s more of a level of comfort this year. We know what to expect this year under the bright lights and we know how to handle the pressure better this year.”

Calvert is on a roll at nationals. After opening the event with an 8-6 loss to Asselin, the Manitoba representatives have won nine straight, including a rematch of last year’s final.

He has been pushed in games, but felt the team calmed itself after the opening day.

“We just kind of sat down after that first loss and said we can play better as a four-man unit and we tried really hard all week to stay calm and take it one game at a time and just played well,” said Calvert, who’s second among skips this week, shooting 80 per cent.

Manitoba has the highest shooting percentage at 83 per cent.

Calvert, a 19-year-old agriculture student at the University of Manitoba, plans to relax a little bit today and enjoy his time in Newfoundland.

He’s also excited his friends and family back home can watch him try to make history. No team with the same four players has ever repeated as the national junior men’s champion in the event’s 65-year history.

“It’s kind of neat to have relatives that haven’t had the chance to watch me and the team play too much,” said Calvert, who will be in Brandon on Wednesday to compete in his first Manitoba men’s provincials.

‘It’s pretty amazing to think that we can win another national championship. We’re pretty excited to go represent the Buffalo and see if we can get another one for them’

— skip Braden Calvert

“It’s kind of neat to have the hometowns of Carberry and Brandon and Winnipeg to support us, and we’ve had so much support from back home that it’s been amazing. It’s kind of neat that they get to see us play.”

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Alberta’s Kelsey Rocque has a bye into the women’s final today (5:30 p.m., TSN).

She’ll meet the winner of the semifinal between Ontario’s Chelsea Brandwood and Corryn Brown of B.C.

The national champions will represent Canada at the world junior curling championships in Tallinn, Estonia in February and March.

— The Brandon Sun