For being the first step on the way to possible high school curling glory, there was a noticeable absence of tension in the air yesterday afternoon at the Fort Frances Curling Club during the first of two NorWOSSA qualifying ’spiels.
That’s most likely because—with only three teams in the boys’, girls’, and mixed divisions—everyone already knew they had automatically qualified for the NorWOSSA playdowns next month in Kenora.
But that didn’t keep the Muskie girls’ squad of skip Amy Nielson, third Kate Bondett, second Katie Bolen, and lead Jenna Enge from taking care of business on home ice.
The foursome were tops with a 2-0 mark after easily defeating Atikokan 12-2 and Dryden 7-2.
“The girls were solid all the way around today,” said Muskie coach Tom Fry. “They were hitting their draws and their take-outs, and they had the other teams back on their heels.
“There were no obvious weaknesses that showed up today,” he added.
The black-and-gold jumped all over Atikokan with four in the first and led 9-0 after five, before finishing the game with a resounding three-ender in the sixth.
Dryden used the hammer to score two in the first in the Muskies’ second outing, but Nielson promptly strung together five-straight scoring ends, highlighted by steals of two in the third and sixth, the latter of which ended the match.
Dryden (1-1) beat Atikokan (0-2) by a 6-2 score in the other girls’ game.
The Muskie boys’ rink, which made it all the way to the all-Ontarios last season, used a five-ender in the second to cruise to an 8-2 win over Atikokan in their opener.
But skip Adam Bolen, third Jason Pattison, second David Kaun, and lead Joey Wensley ran into a far more competitive Dryden rink in their second game, where the Eagles flew off with a 7-6 win.
“The boys were off on their draw game today,” said Fry. “They didn’t capitalize on their opportunities.”
After going up 2-0 in the first end, Bolen surrendered three in the second and steals of two in the third and one in the fourth to trail 6-2.
The Muskies tallied singles in the fifth and sixth ends to make it a two-point game. But after holding Dryden to a single in the seventh, Bolen only could squeeze out a pair in the final end, which allowed Dryden to escape with the victory.
Dryden went 2-0 to lead the boys, followed by Fort High (1-1) and Atikokan (0-2).
In the mixed division, Rainy River defeated Dryden 8-5 and Atikokan 9-4 to win the group at 2-0. Dryden (1-1) edged Atikokan (0-2) by a 5-4 score in the other game to finish second.
The second NorWOSSA qualifier is slated Jan. 13 in Atikokan.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
