The Adam Bolen rink, representing the Fort Frances Curling Club, failed to advance after finishing 3-4 at the eight-team Northwestern Ontario junior men’s playdowns in Thunder Bay over the weekend.
And the Amy Nielson rink also fell short of the provincials, finishing the four-team Northwestern Ontario junior women’s playdowns in Dryden with a 2-4 record.
Bolen’s rink, which included David Kaun, Chris Jodoin, and Michael McKay, and coached by June Bonot, opened action Thursday with a 7-3 loss to Jeff Sargent (Fort William Curling Club), then fell 8-6 to Andrew Nerpin (Marathon Curling Club).
Bolen dropped to 0-3 with a narrow 11-10 loss to Taylor Kallos (Fort William Curling Club) on Friday morning, but followed that with an 8-7 win over Andrew McMillan (Eagle’s Landing Curling Club in Dryden).
They then finished play Friday with a 7-5 win over Mike Frostiak (Red Lake Curling Club).
Bolen started Saturday with a 9-4 loss to Trevor Bonot (Port Arthur Curling Club), but answered with a 8-2 win over Andrew Brown (Geraldton Curling Club).
Bonot, who originally hails from Rainy River District, and Kallos ended up advancing to the provincials slated Jan. 13-15 in Kapuskasing after winning their respective tie-breakers.
Nielson’s rink of Jenna Enge, Kate Bondett, and Courtney Beadle, and coached by Dave Bondett, had opened with a 10-3 win over Courtney Lennon (Longlac) on Thursday, but followed that with a 9-3 loss to Ashley Miharja (Fort William Curling Club).
On Friday, they opened with a 10-4 loss to the Lianna Fossum rink (Port Arthur Curling Club) and then suffered an 8-1 loss to Miharja in the afternoon draw. But they got back on the winning track that night with a 10-4 win over Lennon.
They wrapped up round-robin play Saturday with an 8-4 loss to Fossum, who advanced to the provincials next month along with Miharja.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
