Staff
With the chance to not only play at home the past two days but two weeks from now, as well, the three Muskie curling rinks weren’t going to pass on a most enjoyable opportunity.
All three squads advanced to the NWOSSAA championships set for Feb. 27-28 at the Fort Frances Curling Club after their successful runs at the NorWOSSA finals that wrapped up here yesterday.
The boys’ curling team of skip Chris Silver, third Daniel Vandenbrand, second Jason Bazylewski, lead Davis Jackson, and fifth Owen Riches went 4-0 over the two-day event to capture its third-straight NorWOSSA title.
After a pair of wins Sunday, Silver downed the Red Lake Rams 3-1 earlier yesterday and then clinched first place with a 6-3 win over the Rainy River Owls.
Their unbeaten streak was matched by the Muskie girls’ curling team, which reclaimed the gold medal it last won in 2015.
Skip Tory Beaudry and her crew of third Anika Beaudry, second Katrina Slomke, and co-leads Ashley Payne and Andrea Schram first dumped the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) 10-1 yesterday.
Then they rallied from a 4-0 deficit after three ends to Rainy River by scoring nine-straight points before eventually winning 9-6.
Meanwhile, the Muskie mixed team will join their teammates at the next stage, with NWOSSAA allowing for a mixed division for the first time this year, after finishing second to the champion Sioux Lookout Warriors.
Skip Jordon Bazylewski, third Mackenzie Taylor, co-seconds Macarthur Wilde and Ben Olson, and lead Sammy Stone–none of them any higher than Grade 10–fought back from trailing 4-1 after two ends to upset Grade 12 skip Jory King and previously unbeaten Sioux Lookout 7-5.
The Muskies then dumped St. Thomas Aquinas 7-4 to tie the Warriors at 3-1, as both teams qualified for NWOSSAA.
In the gold-medal tie-breaker, the Muskies again fell behind early by a 4-0 margin before succumbing 7-5.
