Muskie mixed curlers win NorWOSSA

The Muskie mixed curling team, led by skip Scott Gosman, cruised to a perfect 5-0 record at the NorWOSSA playdowns here earlier this week.
But because there is no NWOSSAA competition in the mixed division, the black-and-gold did not advance to the next level.
Gosman’s rink, which included Gary Pattison, Shaunna Cuthbertson, Amanda Vennechenko, and Amber Shelloff, was in control throughout, outscoring their opponents 49-18 margin in the five games.
They beat Kenora (11-3), Red Lake (11-5), Dryden (12-2), and Sioux Lookout (8-5), and also downed Rainy River, whose rink included skip Kelly Abbott along with Colin Saj and Crystal Jorgenson, by a 7-3 count.
Their only scare came against Red Lake, which jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first end. But the Muskies played flawlessly the rest of the way, chipping away at the lead while keeping the Rams off the scoreboard.
Muskie coach Doris Barton said the rink benefited from the veteran play of their skip and tried to play more “conservative” after giving up the huge five-ender to begin the round-robin.
“They all worked very well together, and they had a veteran skip who was accustomed with playing mixed curling,” she noted. “[Gosman] was able to play a good combination of a draw game and a take-out game.”
Unfortunately, it was a different story for both the Muskie girls’ and boys’ rinks at the NorWOSSA playdowns here.
In girls’ action, Laura McTaggart wound up tied for second with Angela Lee’s rink (Rainy River) at 3-2 after the round-robin.
But Lee–fresh off her appearance at the junior ladies’ national playdowns in Kelowna, B.C. with third Lisa Bolen, second Danielle Shrumm, and lead Sarah Boily–won the tiebreaker 7-6 (stealing one in the eighth and final end) to earn second place and the second berth to the NWOSSAA playdowns.
Red Lake topped the girls’ division with a 5-0 mark to earn the first berth.
McTaggart’s rink included Jessica Ross, Kelly Nielson, Allison Cox, and Sarah Gushulak.
Meanwhile, the boys’ rink, led by skip Chris Matheson, finished pool play with a 2-2 record to finish in fourth place. Kenora and Dryden tied for top spot with 3-1 records to advance to NWOSSAA.
Matheson, whose rink included Tyler Bell, Matt Gushulak, Steven Gushulak, and Joel Perron, routed Thomas Aquinas 10-1 score and beat Dryden 7-2.
They lost 5-3 to Kenora and 5-4 to Red Lake in an extra end.
Rainy River did not ice a boys’ team.