By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
Ten teams from across Canada and the U.S. competed for a $12,500 purse at the Curling Stadium Martensville International from Friday to Sunday, February 13-16.
The event, which was hosted entirely at the Martensville Curling Club, was conducted in a round robin format, with the 10 teams being split in two pools of five at the outset.
While more than half of the contenders were from Saskatchewan, two teams hailed from other parts of Canada while the other two were from south of the U.S. border.
Among the more notable competitors were Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Newfoundland, who is a six-time Brier champion skip; Jordon McDonald of Winnipeg, Man., who is the youngest skip in history to ever qualify for the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials; and Mike McEwen of Saskatoon, who finished second at the 2024 Montana’s Brier after facing Team Canada in the final.
In fact, the championship of the Martensville International on Sunday came down to a match-up between McDonald and McEwen, with the Manitoba team emerging victorious with a score of 4-3.
Prior to the final, Kevin Tuma’s team from Minnesota defeated Rylan Kleiter of Saskatoon 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
There, they faced off with McEwen’s team and were felled 8-1. In the other semi-final, McDonald’s team defeated Brad Gushue’s rink by a score of 6-5.
The next major event for the Martensville Curlng Club will be the Curling Stadium Women’s International from Friday, February 27 to Monday, March 2.
After that, the club will next host the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Girls’ Curling Provincials on March 6-7.