Moose Jaw’s Derek Owens will be returning to the ice in the SaskTel Tankard, and he’ll be doing so with a pair of familiar faces from local curling history.
Owens joined skip Brent Gedak, third Jason Ackerman and lead Curtis Horwath to sweep through the Tankard Last Chance qualifying spiel at the Saskatoon Nutana this past weekend, posting a 4-0 record to book their spot in the men’s provincial curling championship Feb. 9-13 in Whitewood.
The foursome has played together for several years, and have Moose Jaw connections dating back to their days as junior curlers.
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.
Gedak opened the tournament with a 7-5 win over Regina’s Jaedon Miller and followed with an 8-3 A-side quarter-final win over Moose Jaw’s Ben Gamble before holding on to edge Saskatoon’s Draymond Bernath 7-6 in the semifinal.
That set up the tournament’s first Tankard qualifying game, and facing Kerrobert’s Josh Heidt, Gedak would get the job done in dramatic fashion. Leading 5-3 heading into the ninth end, Gedak would surrender three to trail 6-5 heading into the final frame but would use the hammer to perfection, picking up a three-spot of his own for the one-point win.
Gamble and his rink of third Braydan Mohns, second Tyler Krupski and lead Scott Manners ended up with a 3-3 record in the tournament, reaching the C-semifinal before falling to Regina’s Steven Howard
Moose Jaw’s Brett Behm, third Brendan Ross, second Daniel Mutlow and lead Ian Howell also had a 3-3 showing and lost in the C-semifinal, falling 9-8 to eventual qualifier Michael Carss of Saskatoon.
Dustin Woloschuk, who curls in the Original 16 Cash League, saw his rink of third Matt Gesell, second Lyndon Graff and lead Spencer Ellis reach the second round of the C-side before losing out.
Moose Jaw’s Carson Ackerman played third for Saskatoon’s Shawn Joyce and ended up falling in three straight.
For the latest info on the SaskTel Tankard, be sure to visit www.curlsask.com
