Royals come out on top at the 2018 curling championship

Douglas College team leaves Leduc, Alberta tournament undefeated

By Chandler Walter, Editor-in-Chief

Hurrying hard or hardly breaking a sweat?

The Douglas College Royals emerged from the recent Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) curling championships as undefeated victors last month, finishing the final off with a seemingly effortless 7-3 victory.

The championship was held in Leduc, Alberta from Saturday, March 24 to Wednesday, March 28, though if there was any away-court disadvantage plaguing the Royals, they didn’t show it out on the rink.

The Royals team—made up of Brayden Carpenter, Sterling Middleton, Nicholas Umbach, and Daniel Wenzek—cruised through the round-robin portion of the tournament undefeated, entering into the gold medal game with a stellar report card of 7-0.

Their final opponents, the Fanshawe Falcons, proved themselves to be a significant adversary, finishing off preliminaries ranked second only to the Royals.

The Royals took an early lead during the championship game, scoring two points in the first end. The Falcons answered back, tying it up at 2-2 by the break.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, their comeback would not continue, as consistent scoring from the Royals—along with a stunning four points in the seventh end—would ultimately spell their defeat.

The game would end 7-3 in favour of the Royals, with the Falcons snagging a point in the ninth and final end.

The aftermath saw Douglas’ Daniel Wenzek receiving Skip MVP in the tournament, along with Brayden Carpenter receiving MVP for his efforts as Second. The Falcons’ Logan James and Brady St. Louis went on to receive MVP awards for Third and Lead, respectively.

While the Royals took home gold and the Falcons silver, there was still the matter of third place to be settled.

Number three seeded NAIT Ooks would take on the number four seeded University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings to see who would be wearing bronze medals on the journey home from Leduc.

After a full nine ends, the Ooks would ultimately prevail with a final score of 8-4.

Fanshawe as a whole wouldn’t be heading home with only silver medals, as their women’s team came out victorious in a nail-biting 5-4 win over the Camosun Chargers. The game was forced into an 11th end before final determining a champion.

Douglas College did not have a women’s team competing at the CCAA Curling Championships this year.