The Viterra Scotties were held in Melville at the Horizon Credit Union Centre, and you could feel the electricity in the air as the province's best curlers prepared to battle it out. The Women's Viterra Scotties and the Men's SaskTel Tankard were the penultimate stop to represent Saskatchewan at the nationals in Moose Jaw. The stakes, understandably, were high.
For the Women's Viterra Scotties, on January 24th, Draw 1 occurred at 2:00 pm. Team Englot edged out Team Sezer 3-2. On sheet 2, Team Fleming beat Team Schneider 9-8, while Team Williamson ended the game with a 9-3 victory over Team Howard. Rounding out the first draw was Team Tisdale with a 6-7 win over Team Streifel. The second draw saw a 10-7 win for Team Barker over Williamson. Anderson won 6-5 over Streifel, Silvernagle 8-2 over Fleming, and Englot 9-7 over Holland. The third draw saw Englot emerge victorious over Anderson 8-5, and Silvernagle over Barker 7-5. The last draw saw Howard win 9-8, Silvernagle 7-6, Barker 8-5, and Anderson 9-1.
Team Anderson was the last team standing, edging out Team Howard 7-5 in the 11th draw and Team Silvernagle finishing off Anderson 8-5 to advance.
For the Men's SaskTel Tankard, Team Dunstone got off to a rousing start with a 8-2 win over Team Fell. Team J. Heidt won 11-8 over team Howard, while K. Hartung won 8-5 over B. Heidt. Team Jacobson won 8-4 against Team Tenetuik. The second draw of the day saw Team Wills go down 1-7 to Team Meachem, Team Gedak go down 8-5 to J. Hartung, and Team Kendel eking a 5-4 lead over Team Deise, while Gamble lost 5-9 to Muyres. Muyres continued the winning streak with the third draw bright and early the next morning, beating Kendel 7-2, while K. Hartung held a solid 9-8 lead over Team Jacobson. Team Meachem won 5-3 over J. Hartung, while Team Dunstone continued its strong lead of 9-3 over J. Heidt. Draw 4 saw an 8-6 lead over B. Heidt, Deis 5-4 over Gamble, Gedak 13-3 over Wills, and Howard 7-5 over Fell. In Draw 5 Dunstone once again dominated with a 9-3 lead over K. Hartung, Team Gedak 8-7 over Kendel, Jacobson 10-5 over Howard, and Muyres 8-2 over Meachem.
Team Dunstone had a tense 13 and 14th draw with a narrow 5-4 win over K. Hartung, finally beating out Team Muyres to clinch the provincals and advance to the nationals.
