Lucas Punkari
With five draws in the books at the Northern Ontario men’s curling championship, Tim Nordin’s rink from the Stratton Curling Club still is looking for that elusive first victory.
Nordin sat tied at the bottom of the 12-team field with an 0-3 mark heading into action today at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay.
David MacInnes (Englehart Curling Club) also was at 0-3 through five draws.
Defending provincial champ Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie) and Joe Scharf (Fort William Curling Club) were atop the standings at 3-0 heading into play today.
After losing 6-5 in an extra end to Jeff Currie (Port Arthur Curling Club) yesterday morning, Nordin’s foursome, which also includes third Mitch Sequin, second Adam Bolen, and lead Travis Showalter, fell 7-4 decision to Bryan Burgess (Fort William Curling Club) in the afternoon draw.
The match had been tightly-contested until the ninth end, when Burgess picked up three points to seal the victory.
Meanwhile, the John Salo rink (Geraldton), which includes Devlin native Mike Badiuk at lead, is right in the mix with a 3-1 record after five draws.
After getting drubbed 8-1 in six ends by Scharf yesterday morning, the Salo rink, which also includes third Kris Leupen, second Cory Nephin, and alternate Kurt Pristanski, bounced back with a 5-3 extra-end victory over Dustin Montpellier (North Bay).
Both teams had this morning off before returning to action in the afternoon.
Salo was going head-to-head against Jacobs while Nordin was facing Montpellier (the outcomes were not known as of press time).
Nordin then will face Robbie Gordon (Sudbury) tonight while Salo has another bye.
The provincial playdowns wrap up Sunday, with the winner earning a berth to next month’s Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ont.
