Staff
All three Muskie curling teams have advanced to the NWOSSAA finals after an impressive showing Sunday and Monday at the NorWOSSA playdowns in Sioux Lookout.
The mixed rink, consisting of Jordon Bazylewski, Mackenzie Taylor, Daffini Chabot, Kian MacEvoy, Brett Schram, and Sami Stone, nabbed gold over the two days.
They opened play Sunday with a 9-4 win over the Rainy River Owls, then followed that up 12-4 romp against the Red Lake Rams.
But they ended the day with a 10-7 loss to the host Warriors.
After having to sit and wait until 4 p.m. on Monday to play their next game, Fort High exacted some revenge against the Warriors with a 9-8 triumph in extra ends.
In the must-win game, the Muskies scored two points in the eighth end to force extras.
Fort High stole the win by a measured stone that had a 1/16th of an inch difference.
That result then forced a tie-breaker game against the hosts as both squads had identical 3-1 records.
Both the Muskies and Warriors were guaranteed NWOSSAA berths before the tie-breaker but they still needed to decide the gold-medal winner.
The black-and-gold proceeded to blank the Warriors 9-0 to claim top spot.
In girls’ action, the Muskie rink–comprised of Tory Beaudry, Katrina Slomke, Andrea Schram, and Lauren Penney–earned the silver medal.
They opened play with a tough 5-4 loss to the Owls, but responded with 14-2 rout of the host Warriors before ending the day by dumping Red Lake 9-1.
Monday’s action saw the black-and-gold double the Atikokan Voyageurs 10-5, then follow that up with a 9-3 drubbing of the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora).
Rainy River earned gold as the girls’ competition was a straight round-robin format with no playoff and because they finished with an unblemished 5-0 record.
The Muskies settled for silver with a 4-1 record overall.
And in boys’ action, the Muskies–consisting of Chris Silver, Daniel Vandenbrand, Jason Bazylewski, Owen Riches, and Ben Olsen–also earned silver.
The black-and-gold kicked off play with a tough 5-2 loss to Atikokan but bounced back with a 7-4 victory over Red Lake.
Then they rolled to a 5-1 victory over the host Warriors on Monday morning before routing the Whitefish Bay Winter Hawks 13-0.
The Muskies then made short work of Rainy River with an 8-1 romp.
Fort High finished with a 4-1 record but Atikokan secured top spot at 5-0.
“For both the boys and the girls, they entered the event with big targets on their backs as the odds-on favourite,” noted Muskie boys’ coach Ron Silver, who also is a co-coach for the mixed team.
“Having gone virtually undefeated to this point, they faced the closest competition in their opening games as the opposition came out ready [and] we came out flat,” he remarked.
“But in true Muskie style, we bounced right back and secured our spots in the NWOSSAA championships . . . and learned a lesson,” Silver added.
“Our No. 1 goal was to advance [and] all three teams did that,” he enthused.
“Moving forward . . . we are confident the small mistakes can be addressed.”
All three Muskie rinks now will compete at the NWOSSAA finals that will be held March 4-5 at the Fort Frances Curling Club.
Fort Frances then will host the OFSAA boys’ and girls’ playdowns March 21-24.
The two Muskie rinks have byes into OFSAA as the host teams (there is no provincial level for the mixed teams).
