A new champion emerged at the ATB Okotoks Classic with a pair of curling heavyweights vying to lift the trophy for the first time.
Saskatchewan's Team Mike McEwen continued its hot start to the season with an undefeated weekend capped off with a 5-2 triumph over Team John Shuster to take home the 2024 ATB Okotoks Classic Sunday at the Okotoks Curling Club.
“We had a pretty go our first year as a team last year, we had a whole bunch of semis,” said McEwen, a nine-time Brier qualifier. “And this was one of our goals to have that wherewithal to make it to more finals. This is our second one in a row, we’re on a nice little streak.
“That gives us a lot of confidence in what we can do later in the year, just putting ourselves in more situations where you’re at the end of the event, where you’re a little mentally fatigued, a little tired and can you still perform?”
Mission accomplished on Sunday with a double-ender in the second and third and single in the fifth enough to see out the 5-2 result.
Team McEwen, which also features Colton Flasch at third and twin brothers Kevin and Daniel Marsh on the front-end, got by Switzerland’s Michael Brunner in the semifinal and Japan’s Takumi Maeda in the quarterfinals after a 3-0 mark in round-robin.
“I think the best thing that I saw from our team is just the management of stones,” McEwen said. “The sweeping, the communication, being really patient, we did a good job throughout the event.”
Team Shuster, the Minnesota-based 2018 Olympic champions, edged fellow-Americans Team Dropkin in the other semifinal and was 3-0 in the round robin.
“I’ve been playing John most of my career,” McEwen said. “He’s just a craft veteran, he’s a guy that can create offence out of just about any situation.
“They’re great guys to play against, they love the game, a lot of respect for them and just a great team to line up against in the final.”
The 24-team competition featured squads from nine nations, two of the past three Olympic gold medallists, world champions and multi-time Brier titleholders.
Team Brad Jacobs, which featured two-time defending champions Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, saw their run end in the quarterfinals versus Brunner. Jacobs, the 2014 Olympic gold medallist, has joined the team this season after it was previously skipped by Brendan Bottcher.
Kevin Koe, a two-time world champion and the 2021 ATB Classic winner, did not advance through the preliminary round with a 2-3 record.
Three local teams also competed at the Classic.
Team Libbus, skipped by Diamond Valley’s Jacob Libbus, picked up wins over China’s Yu Tian and Calgary’s Team Johnson before bowing out in its final qualifying round match against Edmonton’s Johnson Tao rink.
Team Ballance, skipped by Okotokian James Ballance, finished with a 1-3 record in the competition highlighted by a win over Austria’s Team Genner.
Team Wipf, the reigning Canadian U21 champions with Diamond Valley’s Michael Keenan at second, was also 1-3 in the competition with the one victory coming over Ballance.
Elliott Mansell, an Oilfields High alumnus and former Millarville resident, skipped his Colorado-based team in his old stomping grounds. The American foursome was 0-3.
The bonspiel ended a three-year run of championships for Hebert. The talented front-end player won the 2021 event as a member of Team Koe and the past two on a team skipped by Bottcher.
For more information, go to okotokscurling.com.
