The Northern Ontario Provincial men’s field was set after six regional playdowns taking place January 14 to 17.

Region 1 – Nordin
Skip: Tim Nordin; Third: Mitch Sequin; Second: Mike Badiuik; Lead: Travis Showalter

Region 2 Automatic Qualifier – Burgess
Skip: Ryan Burgess; Third: Gary Weiss; Second: Dale Wiersema; Lead: Pat Berezowski

Region 2 Automatic Qualifier – Lappalainen
Skip: Art Lappalainen; Third: Ron Resengren; Second: Rob Sinclair; Lead Gary Maunula

Region 2 – Pozihun
Skip: Mike Pozihun; Third: Deron Surkan; Second: Andy Peloza; Lead: Aaron Rogalski

Region 3 – Salo
Skip: John Salo; Third: Cory Nephin; Second: Jamie Armstrong; Lead: Kurt Pristanski

Region 4 – Jacobs
Skip: Brad Jacobs; Third: E.J. Harnden; Second: Ryan Harnden; Lead: Caleb Flaxey

Region 5 – Phillips
Skip: Tim Phillips; Third: Sandy MacEwan; Second: Jamie Morphet; Lead: Stephen Chenier

Region 6 – Gordon
Skip: Robbie Gordon; Third: Dave MacInnes; Second: Jeremy Landry; Lead: Steve Burnett

Two Vancouver Island teams are headed for the men’s provincial curling championship.

On Sunday afternoon, Jay Tuson of Victoria and Nanaimo’s Steve Waatainen secured the final two of four berths up for grabs at the men’s Coastal championship held during the weekend at the Alberni Valley Curling Club.

Tuson and Waatainen join Greg McAulay of Richmond and Royal City’s Jay Wakefield as the Coastal reps at the B.C. playdowns, running Feb. 1-7 in Vernon. They’ll face off against Interior qualifiers Bert Gretzinger (Kelowna), Fred Thomson (Nelson), Tom Buchy (Kimberly) and Jeff Richard (Kelowna), as well as defending champ Sean Geall of Royal City and B.C. Canadian Team Ranking System points leader Bob Ursel of Kelowna.

Full story – Victoria Times Colonist

Last week, Brad Jacobs and his teammates could get nothing going.This past weekend, however, they could do nothing but win.

Skip Jacobs, third E.J. Harnden, second Ryan Harnden and lead Caleb Flaxey went 6-0 at the Northern Ontario Curling Association Region 4 playdowns in Espanola, earning a berth in the Dominion Men’s Provincials, Feb. 9-14 in Sudbury.

Victory in Espanola came a week after a disappointing 0-5 showing at The National, a star-studded Grand Slam of Curling event held in Guelph.

Full story – The Sault Star

All it took to light a fire under Jeff Richard’s Kelowna rink Sunday was a Brad Kuhn mistake.

Richard beat Kuhn’s Vernon rink 9-5 in a C final at the Interior men’s championship at McArthur island Curling Club. Richard will take part in provincials, Feb. 1-7 in Vernon, along with three other weekend qualifiers — Kelowna’s Bert Gretzinger, Nelson’s Fred Thomson, and Kimberley’s Tom Buchy.

Richard’s rink of Tom Shypitka, Tyler Orme and Chris Anderson looked pretty bad in the early going, and was trailing 3-1 after Kuhn stole two in the fourth end.

Full story – Kamloops Daily News

The remaining eight men’s teams joining defending B.C. champion Sean Geall and CTRS points leader Bob Ursel have been determined for the Canadian Direct Insurance British Columbia Men’s Provincial Championship in Vernon February 1 through 7.
Both the Interior and Coastal Championships provided a number of surprise qualifiers – most notably the young Jay Wakefield team from the Royal City Club qualifying through the “A” Event at Coastals in Port Alberni. Wakefield earned their spot in provincials with three quality wins. They had to beat former Brier and World Champion Greg McAulay in the quarterfinals, Jason Montgomery (who was a provincial qualifier in 2009) in the semis, and provincial runner-up from 2009 Jay Peachey with an 11-5 victory in the “A” qualifier.
On the “B” side, Jay Tuson from Victoria squeaked by Greg McAulay in the “B” final with a slim 5-4 victory earning a berth in the provincials.
McAulay’s Richmond foursome managed to get one of the last two spots in the “C” event with a 5-4 extra-end win against Greg Hawkes. Steven Waatainen from Nanaimo claimed the last provincial berth with a 9-4 victory over Jody Epp from Victoria.
In the Interior, Bert Gretzinger and his somewhat more experienced Kelowna team proved they still have it. Gretzinger grabbed the “A” event with  four straight victories, including a 7-6 victory over 2009 provincial qualifier Jeff Richard in the “A” final.
Fred Thomson’s Nelson rink took the “B” event winning 7-6 over Richard in an extra-end.
In the “C” event, Richard’s team from Kelowna finally got the victory they needed to get a spot at provincials with a 9-5 win over Brad Kuhn. Kimberley’s Tom Buchy was able to grab the last provincial berth out of the Interior with a 6-2 win over Vernon’s Tyrel Griffith.
2010 Provincial field:

Geall – 2009 BC Champions
Skip: Sean Geall; Third: Brent PIerce; Second: Kevin Recksiedler; Lead: Mark Olson
Ursel – 2009 CTRS Point Leaders
Fourth: Jim Cotter; Third: Bob Ursel; Second: Kevin Folk; Lead: Rick Sawatsky
Gretzinger – Interior A Qualifier

The last time the McArthur Island Curling Club hosted a major playdown event, it wasn’t even known as the McArthur Island Curling Club.

The year was 2000 when North Kamloops Curling Club — on McArthur Island — played host to the Provincial Men’s Playdowns.

Then it moved into its new digs and changed its name. And now the rink on McArthur Island is hosting another big event.

For more than a year, a team of volunteers has worked to organize the 2010 Curl B.C. Interior Men’s Playdowns.

Full story – Kamloops this Week

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Some high-calibre curlers will grace the ice at the Alberni Valley Curling Club this weekend in the 2010 Men’s Coastal Championships.

Sixteen teams will begin the road to the 2010 Tim Horton Brier national championship as they compete for one of four entries in this year’s B.C. finals. Teams that are competing in the coastal playdowns earned their spots in various qualifying events in December.

Among the rinks that will be playing in Port Alberni are former Canadian and world champion (2000) Greg McAulay of Richmond along with former provincial title holder Jay Peachey of the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.

Full story – Alberni Valley News

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