The competitive curling season is well underway. The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are just around the corner and curling fans across the country are getting ready to watch Team Canada skipped by Kevin Martin and Cheryl Bernard hopefully win gold medals. Did you know that there is a local connection on the Bernard rink – her vice Susan O'Connor is the grandaughter of former resident Ginger Ball, and the niece of local resident Lyle Ball.

 

On the local front, a number of the Geraldton Curling Club teams having been having a lot of success lately

competing in the Northern Ontario playdowns. Geraldton hosted the Senior Men's Inter-Region 3-4 competition Jan. 15-17 with 5 teams taking part including the local team skipped by John Salo, as well as the Larry Pallot and Ian Fisher teams from Sault Ste. Marie, Al Gemmell from Blind River and Lauchie Meagher from Manitouwadge. Salo and his team of Victor Tschajka, Kurt Pristanski, Bill Assad and Norm Kristjanson finished in first place with a 3-1 record and along with the Pallot rink now advance to the Northern Ontario Provincial Championship to be held in Blind River at the end of February. The other teams competing will be Al Hackner and Larry Chepsiuk (with former Longlac resident Gord Williams and Beardmore resident Joe Marques) from Thunder Bay, Rick Stewart of Timmins, and Mark Brown of North Bay.
(To watch live updates of Team Salo at the Sr. Men's Provincials Feb 25 - 28th, click here)

 

The first step towards reaching the Brier was held this past weekend with the Regional competitions taking part. John Salo again had a great weekend along with his team of Cory Nephin, Jamie Armstrong and Kurt Pristanski, finishing the double round robin against Andrew Nerpin (Marathon), Lauchie Meagher (Manitouwadge) and Ken Blackwood (Terrace Bay) with a 5-1 record. The team now advances to the Provincial championship in Sudbury February 9-14. This will be a long, grueling competition, as there will be 12 teams taking part in the round robin, including Bryan Burgess, Art Lappalainen and Mike Pozihun (Thunder Bay), Tim Phillips (Sudbury), Rob Gordon (Timmins), and Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie) Eight spots have already been determined with the final four coming from the last chance East and West Challenge rounds to be held at the end of January.
(To watch live updates of Team Salo at the Men's Provincials Feb 8 - 14th, click here)

 

This past weekend the Inter-Region Bantam competitions were also held across the north. The Geraldton team skipped by Brady Trottier, with Josh Wenzoski, Matt Turner, Anthony Czerwinski and Austin Trottier travelled with coach Karen Saarimaki to Nipigon and competed in an 8 team triple knockout with playoffs event. The team won their first 3 games to qualify for the playoffs out of the A side, then lost a close game 7-6 to Evan Sheppard from Mindemoya in the first playoff game, but followed that up with a convincing 7-2 win over Josh Vanderburg to earn a spot in the Northern Ontario Provincial Championship to be held just up the road in Longlac, February 4-7, along with the Sheppard and Vanderburg teams. This competition will involve six boys and six girls teams (including the Blair Ball team from Nipigon, and the Chantal Ouellet team from Longlac), with the top three in each division advancing to the Ontario Winter Games to be held in Gravenhurst in March.
(To watch live updates of Team Trottier at the Bantam Provincials Feb 4 - 7th, click here)

The third annual "Rocks Around the Clock" Mixed Bonspiel was held Dec. 26 & 27, with 14 teams doing a little curling, a little eating, a little socializing and a little dancing! The first event was won by Karen Saarimaki, Matt Turner, Stephanie Koroscil and Darrick Smith, who defeated the Leupen clan (Paul, Darlene, Kris and Aaron). The second event was won by Tony Petty with Audrey Lewkoski, Barry Ritch and Brandy Ritch, while the third event was won by Garret Taphorn with Kevin Levesque, Pauline Taphorn and Guylaine Levesque.