Grind pays off for Jordison foursome
Joel Jordison’s team punched its ticket Sunday afternoon to the SaskTel Saskatchewan Tankard men’s curling championship in Shaunavon.
The Highland Curling Club foursome beat William Coutts’ squad 6-4 in a C Event final at the Highland to advance with four other rinks from the SaskTel men’s southern championship to the Tankard, Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 at the Shaunavon Curling Club.
Jordison’s rink, which also includes Jason Ackerman, Brent Goeres, Curtis Howarth and coach Roger Anholt, could be excused for being pleasantly surprised by its berth in the provincial championship.
The rink is in just its second full campaign. The first season went neither as the players expected nor past the southern playdowns.
Even Year 2 didn’t exactly kick off with a bang — “We started off kind of slow, but we kept working on it pretty hard,” Jordison offered — but the team members aren’t surprised by where they are now.
“I think (qualifying) is a pretty realistic expectation and goal for us. It’s not our first crack at this,” Jordison said with a smile. “It would’ve been a big disappointment to not get one of these spots.”
Advancing through the playdowns was expected from the quartet, Goeres also noted Sunday. But they’re still happy with the win.
“Oh, yeah, very much so,” Goeres confirmed with a laugh. “It’s all a part of the process.”
“For this team, I’m really happy for this. The last two seasons have been a trying grind for us,” Jordison added. “There were a lot of times when guys could’ve really lost their patience because things haven’t been that great.
“But things have started to come together like we had hoped they would for the last couple months. It’s very gratifying to have this for the guys.”
Next up is Shaunavon, where Saskatchewan’s top male curlers will be vying for the opportunity to represent the province at the Brier in Kamloops in March.
Preparing for that event, Jordison noted, is just a matter of staying the course.
“I think the guys are going to be catching up on a little bit of work and we’ll get some throwing in, some practice and probably a league game — but it’s just business as usual,” Jordison said. “It’s not like we’re going to go out and double our efforts. We’re just going to be working toward the goal, just as we have been.”
“Practice — lots of practice,” Goeres added with a chuckle when questioned about the rink’s next step. “We’ve got to make sure our deliveries are in check and everything is sound. We’re all going to be going about our preparations in our own way, but we’re just excited to get down there.”
The rink should be in for a tough go in Shaunavon. But expectations are high.
“We wouldn’t be going if we didn’t expect to win,” said Jordison, who won a provincial title in 2009. “We don’t want to go and just participate and have a good time. We want to go out there, play as good as we can, hopefully get the breaks when we need them, ideally qualify for the playoffs and then it’s anybody’s ball game, right?”
Rinks skipped by the Callie Curling Club’s Randy Bryden, Estevan’s Brent Gedak, Kerrobert’s Josh Heidt and Swift Current’s Max Kirkpatrick also advanced to the Tankard from the southern playdowns.
They’re to be joined by rinks skipped by North Battleford’s Scott Manners, Yorkton’s Terry Marteniuk and the Saskatoon trio of Mike Armstrong, Darren Camm and Bruce Korte. Those five teams qualified through the SaskTel men’s northern championship in Meadow Lake on the weekend.
The Highland’s Scott Bitz, the Callie’s Brock Virtue, Langenburg’s Jeff Hartung and Saskatoon teams led by Steve Laycock, Kevin Marsh and Darrell McKee pre-qualified for the Tankard.
Results appear in Local Scoreboard.