Three local rinks had the opportunity to face world-class opposition at the 24-team IG Wealth Management Western Showdown on October 8-11 at the Swift Current Curling Club.
The first ever World Curling Tour event in Swift Current featured top teams from across Canada, as well as teams from the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
Shaun Meachem’s rink, curling out of Swift Current, had the best results with a 2-3 record. Meachem was joined by third Brady Scharback, second Brayden Stewart, and lead Jared Latos.
They dropped their opener 5-3 to SooHyuk Kim (Korea), but bounced back with a win over Cody Mitchell (Swift Current). Meachem was knocked out of the B Event with an 8-4 loss to Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton).
The Swift Current rink picked up an 8-3 win over Rylan Kleiter (Saskatoon) before being knocked out with a 5-3 loss to Kevin Koe (Calgary), who would go on to defeat Brad Jacobs in the final.
The Ryan Deis rink out of Fox Valley finished with a 1-3 record. Deis lost 7-1 to Pat Simmons (Winnipeg) to open the tournament on Friday. The Fox Valley rink bounced back with a 7-1 win over Calgary’s Jeremy Harty. They were eliminated with consecutive losses to Colton Flasch (Saskatoon) and Ryan Wiebe (Winnipeg).
Deis was supported by third Garret Springer, second Dustin Mikush, and lead Kalin Deis.
Cody Mitchell’s rink also finished with a 1-3 record on home ice. Mitchell’s rink was comprised of Kurt Dixon, Mark Carefoot, and Darwin Seidler.
Mitchell lost 8-0 to Matt Dunstone (Regina) and 10-3 to Meachem to open the tournament. The Swift Current rink picked up a 6-4 win over William Lyburn (Winnipeg) before losing 5-2 to Jeremy Harty (Calgary) to conclude the weekend.
