It’s proving to be a November to remember for a Foothills County curler.
Skip Ben Kiist, a product of the Okotoks Junior Curling Academy, and his Edmonton-based Team Kiist have secured back-to-back U20 bonspiel championships with Sunday’s title in Sherwood Park on the heels of a triumphant turn in Cochrane.
Kiist, along with third Terren Algot, second Noah Mason-Wood and lead Rhett Whittmire, capped off the Sherwood Park Curling Club Allstate U20 title with an 8-5 win over Regina’s Dylan Derksen in the Nov. 17 final. The foursome had a 5-0 record through the weekend.
Seven days prior, Team Kiist captured the Cochrane U20 men’s title by doubling up Kingman’s Team Rhett Mailloux in the championship game.
Kiist, the U18 national champion in 2023, and company were 3-0 in round-robin before securing two playoff wins.
They weren’t the only team with ties to Okotoks to leave Cochrane with silverware.
In the U15 competition, the Okotoks Curling Club’s Team Bachek secured the title for the second straight year.
The team, featuring skip Kesler Bachek, third Andrew Southworth, second Dylan Miller and lead Max Ingram, edged Edmonton’s Logan Smith 6-5 with a two-ender in the eighth in the nailbiter final.
