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Triple Crown champ comes down to Okotoks

The next Foothills Triple Crown men’s winner will be decided in Okotoks.
kotoks curler Rick Krushelnicki comes out of the hack at the Foothills Men’s Bonspiel D final Sunday in High River. Krushelnicki was beaten by High River’s Brad
kotoks curler Rick Krushelnicki comes out of the hack at the Foothills Men’s Bonspiel D final Sunday in High River. Krushelnicki was beaten by High River’s Brad Cup.

The next Foothills Triple Crown men’s winner will be decided in Okotoks.

The top three rinks in the Triple Crown are just five points apart after Airdrie’s Don DeLair beat Dan Bubola from Calgary 6-5 in the men’s A final at the Foothills Men’s Classic in High River on Sunday.

“There’s a logjam at the top,” said Greg Hill, the third for the DeLair rink. “You come to these Triple Crown bonspiels and the lounges are full, it’s good fun and the curling is top-notch.”

The Triple Crown consists of each rink receiving five points for a victory in Black Diamond, 10 points for the High River event and 15 for the final bonspiel in Okotoks which is scheduled for March 23-27.

The Kevin Muir rink from High River sits on top of the Triple Crown standings with 55 points. Steve Petryk beat Muir in the C final in High River.

It was a tough weekend for Okotoks area rinks. The Rick Krushelnicki rink was the lone rink from the Okotoks area to advance to a final. He was beaten 6-3 in the D final by Brad Culp of High River.

Krushelnicki fell behind 5-0 after five ends. He had a big miss in the third end when on his final rock, he had to draw to the four-foot but threw too hard.

“I had to make some fairly tough shots in that end,” Krushelnicki said. “On my last rock, I missed a draw to save the end and I went through the house. They (Culp) made some great shots.”

After blanking the fourth end, Culp was able to steal another point in the fifth. It was of no fault of Krushelnicki, it was due to Jim Morgan who threw skip rocks for Culp in the D final.

Morgan made a spectacular double takeout en route to stealing one.

Krushelnicki was able to cut the lead to 5-3 going into the eighth and final end. He had a guard out on the right side of the front of the house with a rock on the 12-foot. Morgan nearly crashed against the guard, but instead snuck by and took out Krushenicki’s rock on the 12-foot.

Morgan was able to hit and stick on his final rock of the eighth end to secure the win.

Lyle Kent, who won all three legs of the Triple Crown last year, lost in the B event final to Dennis Machacek of Vulcan.

To see the standings of the Foothills Men’s Triple Crown go to Scoreboard on page xxxxxx.

Back to High River

Petryk, who won the C event over Muir, will be back in High River on Feb. 9 for the Alberta Men’s Championships.

He won the A event in the South Alberta playdowns to earn a trip for the Alberta championships Feb. 9-13.

With Olympic champion Kevin Martin, defending world champion Kevin Koe, and former world champion Randy Ferbey all coming to High River, Petryk said Alberta is the toughest provincial men’s championship in Canada to win.

“You have the reigning world champion and the reigning Olympic champion,” Petryk said. “Whoever wins it has a chance of being the next world champion.”

He said despite the fact Petryk may not have the marquee value of Martin, Koe or Ferbey, he isn’t going to High River on Feb. 9 to just enjoy the hospitality.

“Why go if you don’t think you are going to win?” Petryk asked. “There are a lot of rinks to go through, but whoever wins will be a good representative of Alberta at the Brier.”

Petryk is presently ranked 23rd on the World Curling Tour. He has been to the Brier himself. He threw lead rocks for Ed Lukowich in 1994, the last Calgary area rink to win the provincial championship. His brother Dan throws lead rocks for the Petryk rink. Dan threw second rocks for Kevin Martin when they won the Brier in 1991.

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