Talk about a trouncing…
McDonald makes short work of Wiebe to claim Atkins Classic title
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/10/2020 (1249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It’s not a score you’d expect to see in a bonspiel final, but Jordon McDonald isn’t complaining.
In a battle between city junior teams in the men’s final of the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic at Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club Sunday, McDonald’s rink came away with an impressive 9-1 victory over Ryan Wiebe.
The game only went four ends, lasting roughly an hour.
“Especially against a team of that calibre, you never expect to win like that,” said McDonald, of Deer Lodge. “Unfortunately, the ice conditions out there were a little different than probably they expected from the other games. So, maybe they were caught off guard a bit. I think we picked up on the ice really well and capitalized on their misses.”
Wiebe, who won the MCT Cargill Curling Training Centre Fall Classic in Morris, Man., last weekend, defeated McDonald 7-5 in the opening draw of the three-day event Friday. But McDonald’s biggest setback of the tournament came in their third game, where they were blasted 9-2 by Jason Gunnlaugson. Despite a 1-2 record, 17-year-old McDonald, third Zachary Wasylik, second Braxton Kuntz and lead Alexandre Fontaine bounced back and played their best when it mattered most.
McDonald defeated last season’s world junior and Canadian champion Jacques Gauthier in the quarters by a score of 7-2 before outlasting Corey Chambers 6-4 in the semifinal. Chambers knocked Gunnlaugson out of the event in the quarters. McDonald needed a 5-4 win over Riley Smith in the final qualifying round game to squeeze into the playoffs.
“After losing to Gunner, we were kind of on the low. We had no confidence there,” McDonald said.
“And we had a really tough game against Ryan Wiebe in the first matchup. We had a two-point lead with the hammer and we gave them a steal of four in the sixth end. Tough doing that and losing that game… We just hit a low then kind of regrouped and got on the ice against Riley and played a great game and rolled from there.”
By making it to the final, McDonald secured a berth in the Viterra Championship. Wiebe’s squad nailed their provincials spot down last week.
The women’s side of the draw was a rematch of last weekend’s final in Morris featuring Darcy Robertson and Mackenzie Zacharias. Robertson scored two in the final frame to win the Cargill bonspiel, but Sunday was a different story. Altona’s Zacharias, third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine came away with a 6-3 win to avenge the heartbreaker in Morris. Zacharias is the reigning world junior and Canadian champion. With Robertson already having a berth in the Manitoba Scotties from Morris, Zacharias was able to punch a ticket to provincials with a 9-2 win over Beth Peterson in the semifinal.
“Last weekend we were a little disappointed with our loss in the final because it was such a close game. This weekend we came out really focused and we wanted that win very badly,” said the 21-year-old Zacharias.
“We wanted to get that berth to provincials, which we were able to do in the semifinal, so we were really looking forward to playing this final and focus on playing a really good game and I think we were able to do that.”
So with back-to-back championship games against one another, is this the start of a rivalry between Robertson and Zacharias?
“No, we’re good friends with them,” Zacharias said with a laugh. “I used to play with their second, Gaetanne Gauthier and Karlee lives with her as well. So, we know these girls pretty well. We played (some of) them in juniors. Darcy’s been playing around here for a long time as well. It’s always fun playing them.”
While Zacharias hopes to play a rubber match against Robertson in the near future, she admits it’s hard to ignore the rising COVID-19 cases in the province and wonder what it will mean for the local curling scene.
“The cases are climbing every day which is really unfortunate to see,” she said.
“I think curling is a really unique sport in that social distancing is actually really easy to do once we’re out on the ice. I hope because of that we’ll be able to play a little longer into our season. Hopefully, everyone stays safe out there and the cases go down so we can for sure finish.”
taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @TaylorAllen31
Taylor Allen
Reporter
Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of...
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Updated on Monday, October 26, 2020 9:43 AM CDT: Corrects typo
Updated on Monday, October 26, 2020 12:03 PM CDT: Corrects name of second in McDonald rink.