Ethan Robinson of Swift Current secured a spot in the U20 curling nationals despite losing the provincial championship final. His rink fell 7-4 to Saskatoon's Rogan Snow at the Pharmasave Saskatchewan U20 provincials hosted by the Swift Current Curling Club. Both teams will represent Saskatchewan at the national event in Sudbury.
The Pharmasave Saskatchewan U20 curling provincials took place over the weekend at the Swift Current Curling Club, drawing top young talent from across the province.
In the men's division, Swift Current's Ethan Robinson entered the championship game after a strong performance in the round robin, where his team recorded wins of 7-4 over Rogan Snow, 8-5 over Dylan Derksen, 8-5 over Luke Olson, and 11-5 over Dayne Heisler, with a single loss of 6-4 to Brandon Weiss. Robinson's rink advanced through the playoffs by defeating Derksen 5-2 in the semifinal but fell 5-4 to Snow in the page playoff. The final saw Snow prevail 7-4 in the rubber match.
"I feel amazing about it," Robinson said. "I mean, with this group of guys... we actually haven't even practiced once. To go out and actually smash this weekend, it's been really awesome. Really proud of these guys."
Reflecting on competing at his home rink, Robinson added, "It feels amazing. You wouldn't even understand. It's a dream come true. I mean, it's best on best here. I'm very happy with it."
On the final, he noted, "We just weren't as sharp on our front end. It was just the one shot where we could only get one, but other than that, I think we all curled pretty good this weekend, and I think we did what we could."
For Snow, the victory marked a breakthrough. "It feels really, really good," he said. "We've been together as a team, most of us, for nine years now. We've managed to make it to the provincial finals four years in a row, and we've lost pretty much every one until right now. It means a whole lot to me. It means a whole lot to my team to have finally made it here. It was a long road, and it was very, very difficult. It means way more than I can express."
Snow praised the host city: "Swift is a great spot. We've been here several times. My third actually had a high school provincial championship here not too long ago, that he unfortunately didn't win. Thankfully got to avenge him this time around."
"It's really cool that we both get to go," Snow added about heading to nationals with Robinson's team. "It's going to be really fun to go with them, and I hope we both do really well."
The nationals are set for Sudbury from March 28 to April 4.
In the women's division, Saskatoon's Chloe Semeniuk claimed the title with a 3-2 win over Martensville's Shawna Simpson, scoring one in the final end. Semeniuk finished 3-3 in round robin play before winning three straight to secure her spot.
"Right now, it doesn't feel real," Semeniuk said. "But it's starting to sink in now that we put the green jacket on, got pictures with the trophy. Feels crazy right now."
She described the match: "We started without (the hammer) and stole that opening point. From there, it was wide open. Not many guards in play until around the 6th end. We started to get a little busier in the house, and then we kept the 8th end nice and open, tied up coming home with the hammer. Can't ask for much more than a draw to the forefoot, and the girls swept it perfectly."
