Jamie Mountain
Former Muskie Hailey Beaudry and Tanner Horgan of Sudbury came out on top at the U21 provincial curling playdowns that wrapped up Saturday afternoon at the Fort Frances Curling Club.
Hailey Beaudry first had to win a tie-breaker that morning against her younger sister, Tory, after both rinks finished the double round-robin preliminary round with 3-3 records.
It was older sister Hailey who prevailed–cruising to a 10-2 win to earn a berth in the final against Kira Brunton (Sudbury), who finished atop the four-team standings at 4-2.
Against Brunton, Beaudry’s rink staved off a late comeback bid to claim the provincial title with a 9-5 victory.
Brunton led 2-1 after three ends but Beaudry scored three in the fourth to go ahead 4-2.
Beaudry then stole a point in the fifth before surrendering one in the sixth to make it 5-3.
The seventh end saw Beaudry pick up a deuce to led 7-3.
Brunton’s rink made it interesting with a deuce in the eighth to trim the gap to 7-5, but Beaudry came right back with two in the ninth end that led to handshakes.
Beaudry, whose rink included Kendra Lemieux (third), Emily Cooney (second), and former Muskie Erin Tomalty at lead, was representing the Fort William C.C.
They were coached by Dick Henderson.
Tory Beaudry’s rink featured Katrina Slomke (third), Ashley Payne (second), and Andrea Schram (lead), with Kim Beaudry as coach.
On the men’s side, Horgan (4-0) squared off against Chris Silver of Fort Frances (3-1) in the final after the rinks finished round-robin play in the top two spots.
Horgan had cruised to an easy 11-3 victory over Silver in their first match-up Thursday morning.
But it proved to be a much closer contest in Saturday’s final, with Horgan prevailing 7-4.
Silver’s rink hung tough with the defending champs through four ends, trailing by a 3-2 margin.
Horgan then nabbed a deuce in the fifth end to go up 5-2.
Silver got one back in the sixth. Then after the seventh end was blanked, he stole one to make it 5-4.
But Horgan’s rink stormed back with a deuce in the ninth to seal the victory.
Silver’s rink included Daniel Vandenbrand (third), Jonathon Vellinga (second), and Connor Mangoff, with Rob Silver as the coach.
Jason Bazylewski of Fort Frances also took part in the competition but went winless in round-robin play (0-4.
His rink consisted of Nick Teeple (third), Griffin Garuk (second), and Owen Riches (lead), with Charlotte Bazylewski as coach.
Both the Horgan and Hailey Beaudry rinks now will represent Northern Ontario at the national playdowns in mid-January in Shawinigan, Que.
The worlds will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland this spring.
