Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
The parking lot was jammed, the spectator section was overflowing and every sheet of ice at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Centre was bustling with activity as the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association’s regional playdowns got under way Friday morning.
“The building’s full and we are happy we can host one of these events here,” said event organizer Rene Quintal. “Thanks to the Prince Albert Curling Club because they moved one of their leagues so that we could host three events.”
Competitions are being held in the boy’s, open doubles and mixed team categories with eight district representatives from Region C vying for two regional qualifying spots in each division. The two qualifiers in each division will then move on to the provincial championships, which are to be held at several locations in the province next weekend.
One other regional qualifying event, for the girls, is being held in La Ronge this weekend and that event will also determine two teams that will move on to the provincial championships.
Each draw is following a simple double-knockout format meaning as long as you win you are still alive in the competition. Once that second loss is recorded, however, the end of the road has arrived.
In the boy’s action from early draws played on Friday, Carlton Comprehensive High School had little trouble in its first two outings as the team of skip Jake Goodwin, third Owen Tolley Procyk, second Daniel Acorn and lead Cruz Clarke did not give up a point as they outscored Humboldt 10-0 in their first match and followed that up with a 7-0 decision over Dalmeny in their next game.
As a result of those wins Carlton will be trying to claim the first regional berth for provincials on Saturday at 10 a.m. when they take on Wynyard in the A-qualifier.
“We have to keep playing the way we did,” said Goodwin following the first-round win over Humboldt. Goodwin noted that hitting was their strength and once they got used to the ice he felt they played quite well.
Wynyard also had little trouble on opening day as they blasted Debden 11-2 before hammering Langham 14-0. The Debden rink, which is comprised of skip Raef De Bruijn, third Winston De Bruijn, second Curtis Mattias and lead Micah Fiddler, is the second local representative in the event.
Losing teams of the first two draws drop down to the B-side and will have one more life each to see who comes out of that side for the second regional spot in provincials. The B-qualifier is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
In the mixed competitions the two local teams looking to move on were both soundly beaten in their opening matches and will now have to take the longer route through the B-side.
St. Mary High School, which includes skip Molly Baillargeon, third Parker Gobeil, second Tayah Hulowski and lead Greyson de Padua, fell 7-3 to Englefeld and will now face Carrot River in their next match. Shellbrook, with skip Nash Helm, third Brody More, second Bella Ledding and lead Zander Archilbald, were outscored 10-3 by Wadena and will now go up against Nipawin as they begin their road on the B-side.
The team from Hanley, with a 7-3 decision over Carrot River and 10-3 drubbing of Englefeld, will meet Wadena in the A-qualifier on Saturday at 10 a.m. Wadena also beat Warman 8-2 in addition to their opening win over Shellbrook. The B-qualifier for the mixed competition will also be played on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The open doubles has just six teams entered with St. Mary having two squads. St. Mary 1, which consists of Jadon Sosnowski and Sara Pawlyshyn, had a first-round bye and were to meet Muenster in the A-side semi-finals while St. Mary 2, featuring Micah Bridal and Drew Shultz, lost their opener 5-4 to Rosthern. St. Mary 2 now drops to the B-event while Rosthern moves on to face Strasbourg in the other A-event semi-final. Warman also falls to the B-side after their 5-4 opening-round setback to Muenster.
Both qualifiers will be played on Saturday with the A-qualifier going at 10 a.m. followed by the B-qualifier at 1 p.m.
In La Ronge, there are just six teams competing with La Ronge and Martensville getting first-round byes in the girl’s draw.
St. Mary, with skip Melissa Tessier, third Bria Shymchuk, second Anica Shymchuk and lead Emilie Lambert, were beaten 6-4 by Choiceland in their opening match while Meath Park was crushed 15-2 by Tisdale.
Choiceland moves on to face La Ronge and Tisdale will square off against Martensville in A-event semifinals while St. Mary and Meath Park drop down to begin their quest through the B-side. The A-qualifier in this event is set for 9 a.m. on Saturday and the B-qualifier will follow at noon.
The provincial finals are all set for next weekend with the boy’s and mixed regional qualifiers heading to Moose Jaw while the open doubles qualifiers will move on to Estevan. The girl’s provincials are slated for Martensville.
