Favourites advance to quarter-finals in Original 16 Cash League

It wouldn’t be the Original 16 Cash League playoffs if Joe Gunnis and his EMJ Marketing rink didn’t pull off a first-round upset.

And sure enough, as the main draw of the playoffs wrapped up the opening round on Wednesday night at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre, there Gunnis and crew were, once again off to the quarter-finals after knocking off their higher-ranked opponent.

EMJ – who finished the season with a 6-11 record – would score one in an extra end to take an 8-7 victory over Murray Stroeder’s Tax Team foursome, who entered the playoffs as one of the pre-tournament favourites after a 13-4, fourth-place regular season.

Stroeder looked to have things in hand in the early going, putting up four in the second end to take a 4-1 edge. Single points the next two ends would get Gunnis back into it, though, and after Stroeder scored one in the fifth, the underdogs would put up a four-spot of their own to go up 7-5. Stroeder wouldn’t go quietly, though, scoring one in seven and stealing in eight to tie the game, setting up Gunnis for the extra end win.

They’ll face John’s Music (Ryan Wenarchuk, 12-5) in the second round, after Wenarchuk’s 7-2 win over Easy Care Living (Lorraine Arguin, 7-10). Wenarchuk scored three in the second and two in the fourth to build a 5-2 lead, tacking on two more in the sixth for the five-point win.

Seaborn Agencies (Joel Jordison, 14-3) endured a close call of their own against Kelsey Noyes (3-14) and her junior girls foursome, taking a 7-5 win. Jordison found himself nursing a 4-3 lead through five ends before scoring one in six and stealing two in seven to go ahead 7-3. Noyes would make things interesting in the final end, but would settle for two and the narrow loss.

BTN Chartered Accountants (Danielle Sicinski, 14-3) didn’t have quite as much difficulty against Barb Wallace (4-13), scoring two in the second, stealing three in each of the third and fourth to go along with single markers the next two ends for a 10-1 win.

Matt Froehlich (9-8) pulled off a mild upset over Pro-Tec Electric (Stan Barnsley, 10-7), prevailing in a back-and-forth contest that saw the two teams tied 3-3 through five ends. Barnsley would take the lead with a single in the sixth, but Froehlich would get that back the next end and then steal one in eight for the 5-4 victory.

KMS (Ben Gamble, 14-3) found things to be a little more interesting than they’d like in the early going against Ackerman Ag (Patrick Ackerman, 4-13) as they trailed 3-1 through four ends. A five-spot in the fifth would give them control, though, and a steal of three in the next frame would give them a 9-3 win.

Forged 365 (Donna Ackerman, 10-7) also avoided an upset against Paws N Play (David Gray, 8-9), seeing a 6-4 lead through six turn into a 6-6 draw after Gray stole one in eight to tie the game. Ackerman would play a perfect extra end, though, scoring two for the 8-6 win.

The other first round match didn’t last long. Kal Tire (Bob Desjarlais, 12-5) put up a three spot in the first end against Walchuk Masonary (Ralph Courtnage, 7-10) and after holding Courtnage to one in the second, scored five to bring things to an early end with an 8-1 win.

Other quarter-final match-ups on Wednesday, Mar. 18 will feature BTN Accountants facing Froehlich, KMS vs. Kal Tire and Forged 365 against Seaborn Agencies. All games are at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.