A BRIER TO REMEMBER
Future is now for 24-year-old ‘Sheriff’ who impressed all with his clutch shots
Young Sask. skip comes oh-so-close
KINGSTON, ONT. The deep emotions on the face of Saskatchewan skip Matt Dunstone said it all.
After a tremendous week at the Tim Hortons Brier, an event where he emerged as the top young hotshot skip, Dunstone simply couldn’t hold back the tears after a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue in the semifinal on Sunday morning.
“It’s tough,” the 24-year-old Dunstone said, his voice cracking. “You come so close. I woke up this morning thinking we were going to be Brier champions.”
The Regina-based skip clearly has a bright future in men’s curling after he pushed his way into the mix on championship Sunday, despite playing in a field that included a long list of Canadian, world and Olympic champions.
He showed his skills as one of the great sharpshooters in the game and earned the nickname “The Sheriff ” for taking care of business in the 10th end all week long.
Born and raised in Winnipeg and now living in Kamloops, Dunstone was looking to become the first Saskatchewan men’s skip to win a Brier since Rick Folk of Saskatoon in 1980.
He made four stunning lastrock shots during the week to win games and pushed two-time Brier champ and Olympic gold medallist Gushue to the brink on Sunday.
“In the grand scheme of things it was a hard-fought, heck of a week for us,” said Dunstone, whose Highland Curling Club foursome also includes third Braeden Moskowy, second Catlin Schneider and lead Dustin Kidby.
“To play championship Sunday at the Brier was pretty darn cool and I’m proud of the guys.
“I think we’ve learned that we have it in us to be Brier champions. We beat some great teams this week and, at the end of the day, we were two wins away.”
Dunstone, a two-time Canadian junior men’s champion, earned plenty of respect from the other top-level Canadian men’s curlers this year. He won a Grand Slam event in October.
“He’s got a great future. … I’d love to be his age again,” said Gushue, 39. “He’s going to have lots of opportunities to do this. I know he’s disappointed with the result here but they played (well) all week and gave themselves a chance. There’s no doubt in my mind he is going to win a Brier and probably multiple Briers over the course of his career. He’s that good.
“Hopefully, he keeps his head up high. This is going to sting for a couple days but once he gets over it and figures out how to improve, we’ll have a star on our hands for the future of curling in Canada.”
Dunstone started the semifinal with last rock but it was Gushue who had it in the 10th end.
Gushue used an interesting strategy, forgoing a chance to force a blank by giving Dunstone an opportunity to score two and tie it up at 6-6. Gushue took full advantage of having last rock in the 10th, drawing to the back of the eight-foot for the win after Dunstone did all he could with a great last-rock freeze.
“In the last five or six years when I feel that I’m the best drawer in the world, if I can have the fourfoot, I’m going to make it,” Gushue said. “Even though that draw went back-eight, I felt pretty good with draw weight.
“We didn’t feel like just letting him have a blank in the ninth. We’ve had some scary ends up two this week, where it looked like they could get three, and we didn’t want to be in that position. I felt like if we opened up the four-foot in the last end, we were going to win the game.”
Gushue went on to face Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher in the championship game Sunday night at Leon’s Centre, while Dunstone’s great run was done, for now.
Few people would be shocked to see him back many times over the next decade.
“It’s hard … that was Game 13 that we played this week and it’s pretty exhausting. It feels like we’ve been here for three weeks,” Dunstone said.
“But you get the taste of it and you wish it was happening again tomorrow. We’ve got so much to work toward now and we’ve proven that we belong.”
There’s no doubt in my mind he is going to win a Brier and probably multiple Briers over the course of his career. He’s that good.