British Columbia2009-2010 Men's Coastal Championship

Posted: Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Nanaimo’s Steve Waatainen is headed back to the Provincial Championships after defeating Jody Epp this afternoon in one of two C event qualifying games.  The two teams went into the 5^th end in a 3- 3 tie and Waatainen was tight on his attempt to score  two as he went ahead 4- 3. Play in the 6^th saw Epp give up a steal of 1 after missing a difficult skinny double.  In the 7^th Waatainen was well positioned for another steal but came too deep with his final rock, giving Epp a nose hit for shot and the point.  The call to blank the 8^th to retain hammer proved to be the right one as Waatainen ended the game with a draw for four in the 9th and a berth in the provincials as the third qualifier.

Two sheets away Hawkes and McAulay were locked into a tight game.  In the 4^th end, McAulay hoped to add a steal to his 1 – 0 lead but  didn’t make the tap he needed and left Hawkes a shot for 3, although they had to settle for just two, coming up light on the draw attempt.  McAulay was looking for a deuce in the 5^th but was held to just one. In the 6^th end, throwing 3rd rocks, Greg Hawkes made a big triple to clear the house and give his team the opportunity to blank the end and then score one in the 7^th.  In the 8^th McAulay picked out the blue shot rock, but was then short on the draw for 2, taking just one to tie the game at three. The 9^th end provided the first steal of the game as McAulay picked up one for the lead.  Hawkes had a draw for one to tie the game in the 10^th and go to the extra end. After playing seven games over the course of the weekend the quest for the 2010 provincials came down to one final rock, a hit and stick by McAulay for the win and ownership of the final entry into this years BC Championship.

Posted: Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Jay Tuson earned the second berth to the provincials Sunday morning as his Victoria based team defeated Greg McAulay 5 – 4.  A steal of 2 in the 4^th may have been the turning point as McAulay held on to the hammer for 5 consecutive ends until he was forced to take one in the 6^th, outdrawing a Tuson rock in the twelve foot. In the 10^th tied 5 – 5 with McAulay sitting one, Tuson opted for the in turn take out and just squeaked by a corner guard to make the shot for the point, the win and the trip to Vernon.  McAulay has one more shot at a provincial berth when he meets Team Hawkes in the C qualifier. 

Jay Peachey won’t be in the field at the provincials this year as he lost to Steve Waatainen in a C event game. A couple of shots missed the mark in the 10^th, leaving Waatainen the open draw for two and the win.  Waatainen will now meet Jody Epp, who defeated Jason Montgomery 10 – 5. Montgomery wasn’t able to capitalize on some early opportunities, settling for a single in the first when he rolled out on his hit attempt to score two and again took just one in the 3rd when his draw came up short. Epp took control of the 2-2 game in the 4^th end, making two great taps to score 4. 

Tied 2 – 2 after 6 ends, the game between team Hawkes and Miki offered some fantastic shots and a few disappointing misses. In the 7^th end a triple by the Miki 3^rd changed the end dramatically, from sitting 3, to a clean house, Hawkes again tried to come around the guard butwas not able to bury the rock. Miki flashed his final rock take out, leaving a draw for two but Hawkes had to settle for 1 as Wes Craig came up light.  Miki tied the game in the 9^th but hammer proved to be the deciding factor with the Hawkes team drawing for one to win.

Posted: Saturday, January 16th, 2010

In evening play on day 2 at the 2010 Mens Coastal Championship four more rinks were eliminated with Dale Reibin of Richmond., Dean Geiger of Langley, Dale Hockley of Chilliwack and Andrew Bilesky of  the Royal City Curling Club heading home. Jody Epp remains alive in the C event, defeating Bilesky 9 - 3 and will meet Jason Montgomery in the Sunday morning draw.  Reiben fell  7 – 1 to Steve Waatainen with Geiger dropping a close 7 – 6 match to Greg Hawkes. Geiger’s 5 – 4 slowly became a 7 – 5 Hawkes lead as the island rink stole points in 3 consecutive ends. .  Hawkes will meet Brian Miki on Sunday morning as Miki defeated Hockley 8 – 5.

Jay Peachey suffered his second loss of the playdown, falling 7 – 4 to Greg McAulay after giving up a steal of 2 in the 9^th.  McAulay hopes to grab the 2^nd qualifying spot when he meets Jay Tuson in the B event final Sunday at 9am.  

Posted: Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Team Wakefield was the first to advance to the 2010 provincials, winning the A event with a decisive victory over Jay Peachey. The young team has been has been executing well all weekend and had the Peachey rink on the defensive for the 2^nd half of this afternoon’s match up. Tied at 4 after 5 ends, Wakefield drew to the 4 foot for a deuce in the 6^th and held Peachey to one in the 7^th. In the 8^th a double attempt by Peachey removed only one of the 3 Wakefield rocks and rolled out leaving an open draw for 3.  A steal of 2 put the game out of reach in the 9^th.   Wakefield was the 2008 Provincial Champion and this will be his first trip to the Mens championship.

In the B event Greg McAulay advanced with a 7-5 win over the Miki rink and Jay Tuson posted a 10 – 9 victory over team Hawkes when Wes Craig, throwing skip stones came up short on his attempt to pick up two to tie the game in the 10^th.

 In C event action, Dean Geiger and Jody Epp advanced while the drive to the provincials has ended for Bryan Kedziora and Dean Thulin who were eliminated from the event.

Posted: Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Its do or die time now for teams in the C event as the first team was knocked out of competition this afternoon when the Bilesky rink defeated the Rick Pughe foursome in an extra end. Deadlocked at 4 after 6 ends of play, Bilesky blanked ends 7 and 8 but scored just one in the 9^th leaving Pughe the hammer coming home in the 10^th down one. Pughe put the hammer to good use, scoring the point to force the 11^th but then gave up 3 in the final end.

 Two quick games in the morning draw,  Dean Geiger was unable to generate any offence in the fifth, and, already down 6 – 0, chose to shake hands and regroup for his C event game in the afternoon draw. McAulay advances in B and will meet Brian Miki at 2pm.  Dale Hockley had the right touch in his game as he stole 9 points in the first three ends playing against Dale Reibin of Richmond. Handshakes came in the 4^th end after Reiben came up short on his draw for a single.

In other B event play, Jay Tuson defeated Steve Waatainen in an extra end. Tuson scored one on the 10^th to tie the game 6 – 6. In the 11^th the Victoria rink had two rocks sitting back 4 behind an opposition guard. Waatainen attempted to raise his rock for shot but overcurled giving up the steal of one.

In A event play the Wakefield rink continues undefeated, handing Jason Montgomery a 9 – 6 loss. Montgomery battled back from a 6 – 0 deficit after giving up a steal of 4 in the 3^rd after his draw for one rubbed the guard.  Jay Peachey also remained undefeated, make full use of the hammer coming home in the 10^th to score 1 for the win.

Posted: Friday, January 15th, 2010

The evening draw provided fans with some fantastic shot making and a couple of close games.

A 3-2 game was blown open in the fifth end when Greg McAulay racked off of a tight guard with his first rock in the 6^th and while he did have the opportunity to draw with his second stone it was not fully buried giving Wakefield the chance to hit for 4 with and take control of the game. Control was short lived however as McAulay answered with 3 of his own in the 7^th, adding steals in the 8^th and 9^th to tie the game. With McAulay sitting shot in the 8 foot the Wakefield team was perfect in the draw to the 4 foot for the win.

 An extra end was needed to decide the outcome of the Bilesky/Reiben game.  In the 10^th Reiben had to draw to the button to count out a Bilesky stone sitting full 4, his attempt  came up short  and  they gave up the steal of one to send the game to an extra end.  At skip rocks in the 11^th, with shot rock in the four foot, the Bilesky team elected to protect their stone after a double peel left exposed.  Reiben was left with a tough angle raise takeout and executed perfectly for the win.  Bilesky now drops into the C event.

 In a battle of island teams, Duncan’s Jason Montgomery blanked the ninth to protect his 6 – 5 lead and  retain hammer in the final end, the strategy proved sound as he drew for one with his final rock enroute to the 7-5 win over Nanaimo's Steve Waaitainen

In other draw 3 action,  Miki, Geiger and Tuson all advanced in the B event with wins tonight. Kedziora, Epp and Thulin drop down to the C event.  

Posted: Friday, January 15th, 2010

In action this afternoon Jay Peachey picked up his 2^nd win of the weekend, defeating Bryan Kedziora 5 – 4 in a tightly played game. Peachey had hammer and chose to blank the first end, he then gave up a steal of one before again blanking the 3^rd. The team was finally able to use the hammer for 2 in the 4^th and Kedziora then scored one in the 5^th. After the break Peachey again scored two and then stole 1 to take a 5 – 2 lead. Kedziora was playing for 3 in the 7^th but wasn’t able to split a tight guard and was only able to score two. In the 9^th, Kedziora wasn’t able to make good on the double attempt leaving Peachey sitting 3 and the team chose to shake. Greg Hawkes moves on in the A as well with a decisive 10 – 6 win over Dale Hockley. Hawkes and Peachey meet tomorrow morning at 9am.

The most tightly contested game of the event so far was played on Sheet A between Royal City Club mates Pughe and Miki. After giving up the steal in the first Miki added singles in the 2^nd and 3^rd and a deuce in the 4^th to take a 4- 2 lead after the fifth end.  Consistent shot making from both teams saw the teams deadlocked at 6 after the 9^th end and the game went down to the final rock of the game with the Miki rink throwing their final stone to cover the button for the win.

Nanaimo’s Steve Waatainen and Duncan’s Jason Montgomery picked up wins in their first games of the championship this afternoon.  The Montgomery foursome topped Jody Epp 7 – 3 in 7 ends of play and the Waatainen rink easily handled Dean Geiger of Langley 10 – 2.

Posted: Friday, January 15th, 2010

The 2010 Mens Coastal Championship is underway at the Alberni Valley Curling Club. 

 Action in the first draw saw Jay Peachey defeat Dale Reiben 9 – 5. The Peachey foursome hit the scoreboard first scoring in the 1^st and 2nd ends to take a 2-0 lead before Reiben posted 1 in the 3^rd end. Peachey had an opportunity to post 4 in the 4^th but had to settle for 3 when his final rock draw stopped short of the 4 foot.  The teams traded points through to the 8^th end when Peachey put the game out of reach with a steal of 2 for a 9 – 5 final score after 9.

 On sheet B, Bryan Kedziora scored two with the hammer in the 1^st and then stole in the 2^nd when Bilesky wasn’t successful on the draw against 4 blue stones. Kedziora took a 9 – 2 lead into the 5^th end break. The Bilesky team pulled together in the 6^th to post 3 on the scoreboard but wasn’t able to generate much offence after that. Kedziora picked up the 10 – 6 win and moves on to play Jay Peachey this afternoon at 2pm, Bilesky drops to B.

 Greg Hawkes of Victoria, Dale Hockley of Chilliwack, Royal City’s Jay Wakefield and Greg McAulay of Richmond were also winners this morning.