Nova Scotia’s Graeme Weagle showed on Tuesday afternoon that he’s ready to compete among the best young men’s teams in the country.
In a battle for first place in Pool B, Weagle handed Manitoba’s J.T. Ryan his first loss of the 2019 New Holland Canadian Juniors in a 7-4 affair at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club.
“We felt like we were making some good shots in the first couple of ends, but we were rolling off on freezes or rolling too far on hits and that allowed them to take the lead,” Weagle said.
“As the game went on, we got into our groove and started to settle in, which made the difference. Both teams made some really good shots and there were a few bounces that could have gone either way to be honest.”
Nova Scotia and Manitoba are both assured a spot in the Championship Pool, which gets underway Wednesday, but are now tied for first place in their group at 4-1.
Weagle, who is the defending national Under-18 champion, is in action tonight against Quebec’s Vincent Roberge, while Ryan takes on Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan.
“We were hoping to split the day to be honest,” Weagle said.
“We’re feeling really good after that one and hopefully we can get another win against a really good Quebec team, as that would put us in a great spot going into Wednesday.”
Roberge kept his playoff hopes alive with a 7-4 decision over New Brunswick’s Jack Smeltzer, while Horgan cruised to a 16-3 victory over Sawer Kaeser of the Northwest Territories.
While Weagle and Ryan were duking it out, the other game at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club saw Saskatchewan’s Sara England finish up her Pool B slate with a 4-2 record after an 8-5 win over New Brunswick’s Justine Comeau.
“We were guaranteed a spot in the Championship Pool no matter the result, but to be able to get a win and improve our ranking is something that we are all feeling good about,” Saskatchewan third Rachel Erickson said.
“We picked up our level of play a lot after our loss to Quebec last night and we were really dialed in as a team this afternoon. It also helped to be back at the club for this game, as it helps us get away from a bit of the distractions that you can sometimes face at the arena.”
Meanwhile, Alberta’s Selena Sturmay concluded her Pool A slate on an impressive note, as she moved to 6-0 for the week with a 10-4 win over Nova Scotia’s Kaitlyn Jones.
In the other games during the draw, Skylar Ackerman’s Host Team from Moose Jaw got their first win over the week in a 15-0 affair against Nunavut’s Sadie Pinksen and Laurie St-Georges of Quebec defeated Mackenzie Glynn of Newfoundland & Labrador by a score of 5-3.
Standings after Draw 11
Men’s
Pool A
- British Columbia (Tyler Tardi) – 5-0
- Saskatchewan (Rylan Kleiter) – 4-1
- Alberta (Desmond Young) – 3-2
- Ontario (Samuel Steep) – 3-3
- Newfoundland & Labrador (Greg Blyde) – 2-3
- Yukon (Trygg Jensen) – 1-4
- Nunavut (Javen Komaksiutikask) – 0-5
Pool B
- Manitoba (J.T. Ryan) – 4-1
- Nova Scotia (Graeme Weagle) – 4-1
- Northern Ontario (Tanner Horgan) – 3-2
- Quebec (Vincent Roberge) – 3-2
- New Brunswick (Jack Smeltzer) – 2-3
- Prince Edward Island (Tyler Smith) – 2-3
- Northwest Territories (Sawer Kaeser) – 0-6
Women’s
Pool A
- Alberta (Selena Sturmay) – 6-0
- British Columbia (Sarah Daniels) – 5-1
- Nova Scotia (Kaitlyn Jones) – 3-2
- Northern Ontario (Kira Brunton) – 2-3
- Ontario (Thea Coburn) – 2-3
- Host Team (Skylar Ackerman) – 1-5
- Nunavut (Sadie Pinksen) – 0-5
Pool B
- Manitoba (Mackenzie Zacharias) – 5-0
- Quebec (Laurie St-Georges) – 5-1
- Saskatchewan (Sara England) – 4-2
- New Brunswick (Justine Comeau) – 3-2
- Newfoundland & Labrador (Mackenzie Glynn) – 2-4
- Prince Edward Island (Lauren Ferguson) – 1-5
- Northwest Territories (Tyanna Bain) – 0-6
Draw 12 Schedule – 7 p.m.
Art Hauser Centre
- Sheet A – Newfoundland & Labrador vs. Nunavut (Men’s)
- Sheet B – Northern Ontario/Manitoba (Men’s)
- Sheet C – Alberta/British Columbia (Men’s)
- Sheet D – New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island (Men’s)
- Sheet E – Nunavut/Nova Scotia (Women’s)
Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club
- Sheet F – Manitoba/New Brunswick (Women’s)
- Sheet G – Yukon/Saskatchewan (Men’s)
- Sheet H – Nova Scotia/Quebec (Men’s)
- Sheet I – Ontario/Northern Ontario (Women’s)
