Things just didn’t work out as planned for a pair of Moose Jaw rinks at the SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championship this past week.
Both the Brent Gedak rink and Kelly Knapp foursome were eliminated from contention on Saturday in Whitewood, with the Estevan-based Gedak falling in the C-side semifinal and Regina-based Knapp reaching the B-side final before also losing out.
Gedak, third Jason Ackerman, second Derek Owens and lead Curtis Horwath found themselves in difficulty right from the start. They dropped a tough 8-3 decision to Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter -- the four-time former provincial junior champion -- in their opening game and followed with a 9-7 loss to Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson in their first-round B-side game.
The loss to Jacobson saw the two teams tied 7-7 through eight ends before Jacobson picked up one in nine and stole another in the final end for the win.
Gedak had no difficulties in their C-side opener on Friday afternoon, throwing down three-enders in the third and fifth to take an 8-1 five-end win over Saskatoon’s Michael Carss.
Their luck would run out on Saturday morning, though, as Saskatoon’s Colton Flash stole four in the second end to take a 6-0 lead and would go on to an 11-4 six-end win to knock Gedak from contention.
Ackerman and Owens played together on Joel Jordison’s 1996 provincial junior champions out of the Hillcrest Sports Centre, and then repeated the feat with skip Steven Scott in 1999. Owens then completed his run of junior success the following season, joining Gedak on Brock Montgomery’s 2000 junior provincial champions.
Montgomery plays fifth for the Knapp foursome, who came as close as possible to qualifying for the playoff round without doing so.
Knapp, third Brennen Jones, second Mike Armstong and lead Trent Knapp fell 8-7 in an extra end to Saskatoon’s Kody Hartung in the B-side final despite leading all the way up to the 10th end.
They had earlier lost their opener 8-4 to Kerrobert’s Josh Heidt, but strung together a 10-3 win over Kleiter, a 7-5 victory over Fox Valley’s Ryan Deis and 8-7 win over Flasch to reach the B-final.
The loss to Hartung knocked Knapp to the C-side final and they’d be eliminated with a 7-5 loss, having twice come within a single win of the playoffs.
The playoff round is set to begin Saturday night, with Flasch facing Jacobson in the first Page Playoff game and defending champion Matt Dunstone taking on Hartung in the 1-2 game. The semifinal goes at 10 a.m. on Sunday, with the final at 3 p.m.
