Defending champions, Daymond Bernath and Madison Kleiter, both of Saskatoon, successfully defended their titles as eight teams in each the men’s and women’s divisions competed in a triple knockout event with a four-team page-playoff, at the Martensville Curling Club from Feb. 23-27.
In the men’s division Daymond Bernath, Bryden Tessier, David Baum and Jack Reid came out on top.
Team Bernath finished 4-1 in qualifying round. Bernath defeated Nolan Lindberg (Moose Jaw) 9-5, lost to Cody Sutherland (North Battleford), then finished qualifying round play with three wins; 10-4 over Josh Bryden (Regina), 10-7 over Logan Ede, and 10-4 win over Sutherland. The team defeated Pomedi 7-4 in the 1-2 Page playoff to advance to the final on Sunday, February 27. Bernath won 11-4 over Nathen Pomedi in the final.
The women’s division saw Madison Kleiter, Kya Kennedy, Rianna Kish, and Hanna Johnson go undefeated to claim the title.
Team Kleiter were 3-0 in the qualifying round, defeating Elizabeth Kessel (Moose Jaw) 7-5, Emily Haupstein (Saskatoon) 9-5 and Savanna Taylor (Saskatoon) 8-4. The team faced Kessel again in the 1-2 Page playoff game coming away with a 9-2 win. A rematch in the championship game was setup after Kessel defeated Savanna Taylor in the semi-finals. Kleiter came out on top in a very competitive match in the championship game winning 6-4 in the extra end.
Team Bernath and Team Kleiter won the right to wear the green jackets as Saskatchewan representatives at the 2022 New Holland under-21 Canadian Championships beginning March 25 at Stratford, Ontario. The junior mens receive two berths to the nationals so Team Polmedi will be competing as well.
For runner-up in the women’s division, Team Kessel, there was no opportunity to advance but the talented young squad had previously earned a berth in the 2022 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships.
That event will be held in Oakville, Ontario in May.
This tournament had originally been scheduled for mid -February in Timmins, Ontario but was postponed due to covid-19 pandemic.
The winning teams expressed their thanks to the Martensville Curling Club and all the volunteers and officials for hosting such a successful event.