A trio of rinks with Virden connections enjoyed their time at the Viterra Provincial Men’s Curling Championship.
Matt Dunstone’s Fort Rogue rink won the event in Neepawa. Jay Kinnaird’s rink from the Virden Curling Club went 0-2, while the organization’s other representing team, the Jace Freeman rink – with the skip’s older brother Brooks filling in for him – was 1-2. Cromer’s Branden Jorgensen threw third for Kelly Marnoch, whose Carberry rink was 1-2. It was Jorgensen’s 10th appearance at the Viterra Championship.
“I enjoy the crowds and getting a chance to play on arena ice,” he said. “It’s always a fun opportunity to play against Manitoba’s best curlers.”
Kinnaird also enjoyed playing on arena ice. He said, “It's different than club ice and a different atmosphere with hundreds of fans watching.”
It was Brooks Freeman’s fifth time competing at the championship. With Jace Freeman away at the Canadian U18 Curling Championships, the older brother played lead.
“I had never played with these guys and honestly, I didn't really know them that well other than a few words after some of Jace's games this season,” Freeman said. “We got to have some good team bonding time over our three days in Neepawa and by the end I felt like I had made three great new friends.”
Kinnaird’s rink conceded 10-3 to Jordan Peters in its opening game. It lost 10-6 to the Jace Freeman rink in its second outing.
“The teams at this event are the best in Manitoba. This is our first year as a team. We will work to get back to next year's Viterra and improve next season,” Kinnaird said.
It was his second Viterra appearance while his teammates were there for the first time. His rink included Jimmy Hay at third, Kris Kinnaird at second, and Sean McKean at lead.
The Marnoch rink opened with a 6-4 loss to Jeff Stewart before winning 10-3 against Mark Franklin. Its run ended with a 10-5 loss to JT Ryan. The rink also included lead Dean Smith and third Bart Witherspoon.
The Jace Freeman rink conceded its first contest, 11-4, to Brett Walter. It beat Kinnaird’s rink 10-6 before losing 7-5 to Justin Richter.
“Getting to play Jay at the Viterra was a very neat experience,” Brooks Freeman said. “I know all of the guys on his team quite well from playing in Virden Men's league and the Westman Super League. I have also been a teammate of Jay's playing in multiple bonspiels around the Westman area. It was very cool to have two teams representing the Virden Curling Club play each other at provincials as I'm sure it's been a very long time since that last happened.”
Freeman said he enjoyed playing with his brother’s skilled young crew.
“I have been watching these guys play with Jace all year, so I know how much talent they have,” he said. “They've played so much this year and I felt like they played very confidently and maturely for their first time ever playing on arena ice.”
In the past Brooks Freeman has played lead on some teams and said he had a lot of fun in that position last week. He was “just happy for the opportunity to play.” Winnipeg’s Ryan Ostrowsky played second.
“Thomas (McGillivary from St. Adolphe) was our skip this week and he handled himself very well,” Brooks Freeman said. “We were all confident in him as he had skipped for multiple seasons in juniors before joining Jace at third this year. Aaron (Macdonell from Winnipeg) moved up to third and I was very impressed with how he handled himself. I think he and Thomas had great chemistry in the house and I can see why they picked the positions the way they did.”
