Jamie Mountain
It looks like the Muskie curling teams will be hurrying hard all the way to Sioux Lookout.
The boys’, girls’, and mixed rinks all won their NorWOSSA qualifiers that were held in Atikokan on Monday and Tuesday.
In Monday’s action, the boys swept away the competition–routing the Whitefish Bay Winterhawks (Naotkamegwanning) 11-0, then following that up with a 6-2 win over the Atikokan Voyageurs and then 3-2 against the Red Lake Rams.
On Tuesday they blanked the Rainy River Owls 5-0 before drubbing the Sioux Lookout Warriors 8-2 to finish with a perfect 5-0 record.
The boys’ rink is comprised of Chris Silver, Jason Bazylewski, Daniel Vandenbrand, and Owen Riches.
They are coached by Ron Silver, who also is a mixed team co-coach.
The Muskie girls opened play Monday with 10-0 blanking of the Saints, then they downed the Warriors 5-3 before capping the day with an 8-1 defeat of the Kenora Broncos.
Tuesday saw the black-and-gold loss 5-2 decision to the Owls but they rebounded with a 10-1 rout of Red Lake to finish at 4-1 record.
Making up the girls’ team are Tori Beaudry, Katrina Slomke, Andrea Schram, and Ashley Payne.
They are coached by Kim Beaudry, who also is the mixed team’s co-coach.
The mixed rink, meanwhile, opened with a 9-2 win over the Broncos and then doubled Red Lake 10-5 on Monday.
Then yesterday, they cruised to an 8-3 victory over Sioux Lookout to finish with a perfect 3-0 record.
Making up the mixed team are Ben Olsen, Jordan Bazylewski, Brett Schram, Kian MacEvoy, Lauren Penney, Mackenzie Taylor, Sami Stone, and Daffini Chabot.
The Muskies were slated to play more matches on Tuesday, but they were cancelled due to a problem with the building.
All three rinks next see action at the NorWOSSA finals that will be held Feb. 11-12 in Sioux Lookout.
Fort Frances then will host the 2018 OFSAA boys’ and girls’ playdowns March 21-24.
Both Muskie rinks have byes into the tournament as the host teams.
