HOG LINE: Steady approach helps Warren reach podium at Masters

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This article was published 23/11/2022 (762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday was the only damper on a memorable week for Murray Warren at the Pembina Curling Club in Winnipeg.

The Deloraine native and his rink from the Brandon Curling Club, including Brian Barker at third, Terry Warren at second, Reg Warren at lead and Gary Barker at fifth, came away with a bronze medal at the 2022 Canadian Masters Curling Championship on Sunday following a 7-4 win over British Columbia’s Wes Craig.

“After we had lost in the semifinal the day before we all said to one another, ‘there’s a still chance to end up with a medal from all of this,’ and we managed to get it done,” Murray Warren said.

It was a double-podium performance for Manitoba as Judy Colwell’s East St. Paul rink captured a silver medal following an 8-4 loss to British Columbia’s Penny Shantz in the final.

While the Warren rink hadn’t competed at the Canadian Masters before last week, this wasn’t their first trip to a national event.

They wore the Buffalo at the 2017 Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Fredericton, N.B. and finished in a tie for fifth place.

“The seniors event was probably a wee bit tougher as we were one of the older rinks at that event, but the competition was still very strong at the Masters,” Warren said.

“One of the nice things this time around was the fact that we didn’t have to travel, as we really like playing in our home province. The support from everyone at the club was great and we also had a lot of family and friends there to cheer us on, which might not have been the case if we were playing somewhere else.”

Warren went 5-1 in Pool A play to qualify for the championship pool, with his lone setback coming in the rink’s opening game of the tournament against Ontario’s Al Hutchinson on Monday, Nov. 14.

The skip said the biggest key to their success early on was getting a handle on the ice conditions, which he felt were pretty similar to what they play on in Brandon.

“There’s the practice that every team got on the day before the event, but it’s not quite the same as it is during a game,” Warren said.

“The ice at Pembina had a lot of curl to it and it was quite a bit similar on all (six) sheets. That made it a lot easier to get a read on once we had a game or two under our belts.”

Manitoba went 3-1 in the championship pool — their only loss came to Mark Franklin’s Granite rink that served as the host team — to post an overall record of 8-2 and enter the playoffs with the second overall seed.

Along the way, the Warren squad became the only squad to beat eventual champion Al Hackner of Northern Ontario, as they prevailed in a wild 11-10 affair over the two-time Brier and world champion.

After scoring a five-ender in the fifth end to take an 8-4 lead, the Brandon quartet could only watch on as Hackner scored four points in the sixth and stole a pair in the seventh to move back in front 10-8.

Warren ended the comeback in the eighth and final end with a three-ender.

“We hung in there and took advantage of some breaks that came our way, which was kind of our approach through the whole week,” Warren said.

“You can’t look too far ahead when you are out there as you never know when or how you are going to get those opportunities that you can take advantage of.”

In the semifinal, Warren’s good fortune disappeared in the seventh frame as Saskatchewan’s Gord Bell scored a three-ender to move out in front 5-4.

He bounced back with a single in the eighth but Bell would get a point in the extra end to earn a spot in the gold-medal contest.

“I threw two poor rocks in the seventh and that put us in trouble,” Warren said.

“We had control of things up until then. The next thing we knew … they were one up on us.”

Manitoba rebounded in the bronze medal game as they recovered from a slow start and scored a critical three-ender in the sixth end on their way to beating British Columbia.

With some new hardware in their possession, Warren and his teammates are looking to capture a third straight provincial title in March as they have already qualified for the masters playdowns in Thompson.

“There’s going to be a lot of strong teams in that one,” Warren said. “We’ll just have to see how things go once we get there.”

• • •

Two more spots at the Canada Winter Games are up for grabs this weekend as the mixed doubles provincial qualifier is taking place at the Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg.

The lone Westman tandem in the event is Hunter and Cassidy Dundas of Onanole.

Meanwhile, Brandon’s Rylan Campbell is teaming up with Lauren Evason of St. Adolphe, McCreary’s Zoey Terrick is playing with Tanner Graham of Winnipeg Beach and Treherne’s Danica Metcalfe has formed a team with Winnipeg’s Cameron Olafson and Mikaylah Lyburn — who was born in Brandon and moved to Winnipeg at a young age — will be joining forces with Jordon McDonald of Winnipeg.

The 2023 Canada Winter Games run from Feb. 18 to March 5 in Prince Edward Island.

Altona’s Dayna Wahl and Virden’s Jace Freeman won the women’s and men’s playdowns at the Heather last month.

• • •

Steve and Stacey Irwin had a strong showing at Dauphin Mixed Doubles Classic over the weekend.

After posting a 2-1 record in Pool B play, the Brandon tandem capitalized on a pair of four-enders to earn an 11-8 win over Jolene Callum and Steven Michaleski in the semifinal.

Saskatchewan’s Chaelynn Kitz and Brayden Stewart would come out on top in the final, however, as they stole four points over the course of three ends on their way to a 7-1 triumph over the Irwins.

• • •

In other World Curling Tour action, Corey Chambers picked up a 5-4 win over Ryan Wiebe at the Mid-Canada Fastners Classic at the Thistle in Winnipeg on Monday.

The victory gave Chambers and teammates Daley Peters, Julien Leduc and Brendan Bilawka a spot at the 2023 Viterra Championship, which will be held at the Yellowhead Centre in Neepawa from Feb. 8 to 12.

Jennifer Clark-Rouire defeated Jennifer Briscoe by a score of 7-3 in the women’s championship contest.

Matt Dunstone’s rink, which features B.J. Neufeld at third, Colton Lott at second and Ryan Harnden at lead, cruised to an 8-2 win over Kevin Koe on Monday at the Red Deer Curling Classic.

The win puts the Winnipeg-based squad in first place in the Canadian Team Ranking System and in a good spot to earn one of three Wild Card slots at next year’s Tim Hortons Brier if they don’t win the Viterra.

Meanwhile, Kerri Einarson and Brad Jacobs reached the final of a mixed doubles tour stop in Leduc, Alta., but lost a 9-2 affair to the team of Nancy Martin and Tyrel Griffith.

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