Canada’s Brad Jacobs downs U.S. to take men’s Pan Continental curling title

VIRGINIA – Canada’s Brad Jacobs won the men’s Pan Continental Curling Championship with a 7-3 win over John Schuster of the United States on Sunday.

The Pan Continental is a regional qualifier for countries for the 2026 men’s and women’s world championships.

Jacobs, whose team took the bronze medal at the 2025 world championship in April, needed to place among the top four teams to secure a berth for Canada next year in Ogden City, Utah.

Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert out of Calgary’s Glencoe Club did more than that with a steal of two in the 10th end to secure the victory over Schuster, who skipped the U.S. to gold in the 2018 Olympic Games.

The Canadians went undefeated in Virginia, Minn., and earned their country’s third gold medal in four years after Brad Gushue was victorious in 2022 and 2023.

“We played some tough teams here, especially in the last couple of games,” said Jacobs. “It’s always great to throw the Maple Leaf on, and it makes you a little bit more hungry and motivated to go and try to wear it again.”

Jacobs and company next travel to California for the Kioti Grand Slam of Curling Tahoe starting Nov. 4.

They’ll be among eight men’s teams battling Nov. 22-30 in Halifax at the Montana’s Canadian Trials for the right to wear the Maple Leaf in February’s Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

“Great crowd, great ice, and I think it was a great simulation for the next Slam and the trials,” Jacobs said Sunday.

The foursome will also try to defend their Canadian title Feb. 27 to March 8 at the Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, N.L., and earn a return trip to the world championship.

They took the bronze medal in April in Moose Jaw, Sask., and saw the Pan Continental as another test against international competition.

“Any time you’re in a final it’s important to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Gallant. 

“There’s something different in a final, a little bit more pressure and you want to test yourself be able to perform in those circumstances. I thought we played a really strong game against really tough opponent today and we know we’re going to be in that situation hopefully throughout this season.”

On the women’s side, Canada’s Rachel Homan lost 7-6 to Rui Wang of China in the gold-medal game.

China stole a decisive point in the seventh end and it played a crucial role in its victory at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center.

After two superb shots from Canada — a perfect split by vice-skip Tracy Fleury and a double-takeout by Homan — Wang executed a perfect hit-and-roll behind cover and Homan’s attempt to make a short raise takeout to remove the Chinese stone wrecked on a guard and left China with a 5-3 lead and momentum that Canada couldn’t grab back.

“We had some opportunities, and just didn’t quite guess right in the spots that we hadn’t seen,” said Homan, whose team is rounded out by Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachelle Brown, and coaches Renee Sonnenberg and Viktor Kjell. “That was really the difference.”

“You’re going to learn more from your losses,” added Homan, whose team arrived in Minnesota fresh on the heels of winning a Grand Slam event seven days ago in Nisku, Alta.

“We know what to work on moving forward. I think we came into this a little bit tired, and I’m really proud of my team for battling through when it was hard, and when it was a bit of a grind mid-week. We made a ton of shots out there. They (China) made everything, and kudos to them. It’s just been the end of a long two weeks for us, and we’re really proud of how we did.”

In the women’s bronze-medal game, South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim posted an 11-8 win over Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States.

Canada was already assured a berth in the 2026 women’s world championship March 14-22 in Calgary as the host country.

World Curling introduced the Pan Continental four years ago to provide a North American and Asian counterpart to the 50-year-old European championship.

But World Curling expanding championship fields and introducing a B championship for promotion and relegation has brought an end to the Pan Continental event. The European championship will continue as a stand-alone event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2025.