Granite’s Reid Carruthers and his team of Brad Jacobs, Derek Samagalski and Connor Njegovan are headed to the 2024 Montana’s Brier after defeating Fort Rouge’s Braden Calvert 6-3 in the championship final of the 2024 Viterra Championships at the Veteran Memorial Sports Complex in Stonewall on the afternoon of Feb. 11.
It was an up-and-down week for Carruthers as they lost a pair of games and struggled at times, but in the end, they found a way to defeat some stiff competition to capture the provincial title once again.
“This is the toughest test I’ve ever faced in a provincial,” said Reid Carruthers. “Not to say that some of the other battles weren’t crazy, but just overall… holy smokes. We had some insane games against some good young teams. It makes me want to retire.”
Carruthers won the event by winning seven games and losing twice. They reached the final by defeating Assiniboine Memorial’s Jordon McDonald 10-7 in the semi-final in a back-and-forth thriller that saw Team Carruthers’ skip Brad Jacobs making a double takeout on his final rock of the game for the victory.
Sunday afternoon’s final with Team Calvert was another back-and-forth affair that saw Carruthers ultimately get the upper hand in. Carruthers stole a critical point to take the lead with the game tied 3-3 in the eighth end. They would steal two more points in the tenth for a 6-3 win and the provincial championship.
“We’re very excited to be heading to the Brier once again,” said Carruthers. “It wasn’t easy this week in Stonewall, but we want to head to the Brier and find our top game there and give it everything we have. This strong test that we just faced to win the province is only going to help us in Regina.”
Stonewall’s Morgan Conrad, left, and Siena DeKezel competed in the Curl Manitoba Hit, Draw, Tap Competition that took place in between the bronze and gold medal games at the 2024 Viterra Championships
Other local participants included Stony Mountain’s Jared Hancox who played second for Riley Smith and had four wins and one loss; Stonewall’s Emerson Klimpke played second with Team Ede and Winnipeg Beach’s Justin Reynolds team including Nick Weshnoweski, Josh Maisey and Sean Giesbrecht, both finished the event with a record of 3-2, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. The Justin Richter team, with Kyle Einarson, Jared Litke and Mitch Einarson finished the championships with two wins and two losses. Stonewall’s Greg Melnichuk, Carman’s Dean North and Holland’s Jeremy Sundell all exited the event winless with a 0-2 record.
As the 2024 Viterra Championship came to a close, the event is already being regarded as a major success, thanks in part to the host committee and the countless volunteers who made everything happen. The Town of Stonewall should be very proud as the stands were full every single draw, and the competitors played in a world-class atmosphere.
Team Carruthers will now advance to the 2024 Montana’s Brier that is to be held from Mar. 1-10 in Regina at the Brandt Centre.
Manitoba will also be represented at the Brier by Team Matt Dunstone, who prequalified through a Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) spot.
