The repeat bid is intact for the defending champion.
Turner Valley’s Jacob Libbus clinched his berth in the 2020 Alberta Curling Junior Championships at his home rink, skipping his squad through the provincial playdowns Dec. 8 at the Oilfields Curling Club in Black Diamond while local leads Blake Johnson and Emily Kiist, punched their ticket to provincials as members of Team Palanuik and Team Wytrychowski, respectively.
“It’s important especially since it’s every guy on this team’s last year, maybe not mine, that’s undecided, but at this point it’s really important that we qualify,” said Libbus, the 2019 junior champion with Team Young. “Because we’re one of the top teams in the province and we have an opportunity to win provincials and if we do, whoever comes out of Alberta has a great chance at competing well at the nationals. That’s really important for us.
“We want to be able to get there and if we can win we can represent Alberta well.”
Libbus, along with third Dustin Mikush, second Michael Henricks and lead Zachary Pawliuk, had a bye through the first draw at the qualifying event as a result of their standing in the Excel Points Race.
That proved to be both an advantage and disadvantage when it came to taking to the ice for its opening tilt, an 8-2 defeat to Team Manson – a squad featuring Libbus’ former teammates in second Pacen Anderson and lead Nick Warkman.
“We ran into a hot skip Andrew Manson and a team that was playing really well coming off their first game,” Libbus said. “After that game didn’t go our way, we realized we have to buckle down here and figure out what we’ve got to get through.
“Our next game went okay and after that we finally figured it out.”
The team rolled from there, edging Lethbridge’s Joshua Kroker 7-6 and getting the better of Manson in the rematch, earning a 7-2 triumph.
Libbus then got by the Okotoks Curling Club’s James Ballance rink — with third Ayden Whittmire, second Ethan Drysdale and lead Justin Murray — by a 9-2 score in the B-event final, using a three ender in the first and picking up four in the fifth to put the result to bed.
“That game came down more to experience,” said Libbus. “Those guys played well all weekend.”
Team Ballance had one more chance to earn the third berth through the playdowns, but were defeated 9-6 in a tight match with Edmonton’s Cole Ector.
The first to stamp their ticket to provincials was the Airdrie Curling Club’s Team Palanuik, featuring Okotoks native Blake Johnson at lead along with skip Jared Palanuik, third Michael Dumont and second Tyler Powell.
Team Palanuik went undefeated to earn the A-berth, posting an 8-6 win over Kroker, 7-1 triumph over Ector and 7-4 victory over Manson.
It’s a second consecutive trip to junior provincials for the foursome after Team Palanuik posted a fifth place showing at last year’s championships held in Okotoks.
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The reigning U18 provincial champions are looking to add a junior patch to their collection.
Airdrie Curling Club’s Team Wytrychowski, with Foothills County’s Emily Kiist at lead, earned one of the coveted five qualifications for the Curling Alberta Junior Championships at the provincial playdowns on Dec. 7 in Black Diamond.
“You have to rely on your team and we have got a really strong team and when we’re working together things just work out,” said Kiist, a 2019 graduate of Foothills Composite High School. “Everyone played their part and when you’re working cohesively you’re able to accomplish a lot together.”
The Airdrie rink, featuring skip Jessica Wytrychowski, third Olivia Jones, second Micayla Kooistra and Kiist at lead, made good on their second chance to qualify at the playdowns.
After defeating Strathmore’s Team Molnar, a team boasting Black Diamond’s Macey Anderson at lead, by an 8-3 count and doubling up Red Deer’s Holly Vincent 10-5, Team Wytrychowski was in the A-final versus the Kathryn Lepine rink and dropped a tight contest 6-4.
They got their second shot against the Subasthika Thangadurai rink, a strong Calgary team boasting Okotoks’ Rhiley Quinn at third, and took the nailbiter by a 6-5 count in an extra-end.
“It was a good game, both teams played very well,” Kiist said. “When you’re playing at this level of competition everyone puts in so many hours and so much effort into their success, it’s more like who’s playing great one day. All the teams deserve to be where they are and we just happened to have a good day and got the upper edge.”
In the extra-end, Team Wytrychowski put up its centre guards setting up the skip for a draw to the tee-line in the four-foot on her last shot.
“It was a team effort between the line calling by my third Olivia and a great throw from Jessica and me and Micayla just swept as hard as we could and we got it to where it had to go,” Kiist added. “It’s always when you can finish on a great shot and both teams have played wonderful.”
Also qualifying through the Black Diamond playdown was Airdrie’s Zoe Cinnamon, Red Deer’s Claire Booth along with Team Vincent.
Turner Valley’s Sydney Libbus, Jacob’s younger sister, played second for Team Jacques which fell just short of qualifying, posting a 2-2 record on the Oilfields ice.
It’s a quick turnaround for the qualifiers with the provincial event just weeks away.
The 2020 Curling Alberta Junior Championships run Jan. 1-5 in Lloydminster.
For more information go to curlingalberta.ca
