Double duty paid off in the form of an inaugural championship for an Okotoks curler.
Bonspiel organizer Kyler Kleibrink and partner Chantele Broderson took home the first World Financial Group Okotoks Mixed Doubles Curling Classic, showcasing steely resolve to come out of the talented field of 15 teams with the title on Nov. 1 at the Okotoks Curling Club.
"It was my first time and I was definitely pulled a thousand different ways," Kleibrink said. "It was sometimes tough to focus for the game.
"But it must have worked so maybe I'll organize some more."
Kleibrink and Broderson, two-time national qualifiers in mixed doubles, edged Aaron Sluchinski and Brittany Tran 7-4 in the final on Sunday, a match featuring the two reigning Alberta mixed doubles championship teams.
"We both stay calm under pressure which I think helped us in a lot of our close games this weekend," Broderson said. "We played some pretty big names and managed to stay calm when maybe things weren't going our way, especially in this (final)."
In the championship match, the duo rattled off four points in the final three ends to fight off an early 3-0 deficit to Tran and Sluchinski. Broderson hit a key double in the sixth end to with hammer to give the squad the 5-4 advantage, its first lead of the game. They finished off with a couple steals to earn the 7-4 victory through eight ends.
"We positioned our rocks in the right place," said Broderson of the deuce in the sixth-end. "And I get to make the last shot to capitalize on the good end that Kyler set up. It just worked out good, sometimes things work out."
Kleibrink described the team's general strategy as drawing around the centre guard as much as possible while raising to the button and loading the button up followed by one good peel weight shot to close out and remove the opposition rocks.
"In COVID year, curling has been a lot slower," Broderson said. "So coming on the ice with a little bit of fresh legs and pulling off the win is good. It's awesome having the event in Okotoks and the field they got here is amazing. Hopefully it's many more years to come."
Kleibrink and Broderson came away with the inaugural trophy amidst a talented field of competitors in the 15-team field, a lineup that included the John Epping and Lisa Weagle duo as well as Brendan Bottcher and Bobbie Sauder along with Kyler's parents Richard and Shannon, accomplished mixed curlers with a national championship to their name in the traditional four-person game dating back to 2004.
Team Kleibrink showed they've still got the ability, earning a 3-1 record to finish first in Pool A, ahead of the likes of Bottcher-Sauder and the Gregg Hamilton-Kayla Skrlik duo.
Tran and Sluchinski were 4-0, the only undefeated team in pool play, to finish on top of Pool B with Kleibrink-Broderson finishing 3-1 to top Pool C.
In the playoff round, Kleibrink-Broderson got by Bottcher-Sauder 8-4 in the quarter-final and edged Epping-Weagle 7-6 in the airtight semifinal. Sluchinski-Tran earned a bye to the semifinal round, and used an extra-end to eke out the 6-5 result over Hamilton-Skrlik.
"Mixed doubles is a bit of a different game so when we play those bigger names it's on a bit more of an even playing field," Broderson said. "We have a lot of experience with mixed doubles so it's good to play them and get to chip at them, but definitely when it comes to four-person it's a little different."
On the horizon in mixed doubles is a pair of big events, starting with the Xtreme Oilfield Mixed Doubles hosted by Rachel Homan in St. Paul Nov. 19-22, featuring a veritable grand slam field, followed by the Qualico Mixed Doubles Spiel in Banff, Dec. 31-Jan. 3, with qualification for the Olympic Trials on the line.
The high-end curling competition continues for the next two weekends at the Okotoks Curling Club with the ATB Classic Nov. 5-8 featuring the likes of Bottcher, Kevin Koe and Jeremy Harty, followed by the Women's Alberta Tour competition Nov. 13-15.
"We're lucky to be curling this year, which is a little bit sad because we usually have busy, busy winters with curling, but it's good to have these smaller clubs step up and Okotoks is definitely the leader in that," Broderson said. "They're running unbelievable events with the men's and women's coming up, it's nice that people step up because if they didn't we probably wouldn't have a season."
The OCC events are not open to spectators. The games are all live-streamed with live commentary on the Okotoks Curling Club's YouTube channel.
For more information go to okotokscurling.com.
