Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
UNDEFEATED 鈥 Manitoba skip Ron Westcott releases a stone during the men鈥檚 championship game at the 2015 Canadian Masters Curling Championship at the Whitehorse Curling Club Sunday. Westcott, 70, won the game 6-3.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
UNDEFEATED 鈥 Manitoba skip Ron Westcott releases a stone during the men鈥檚 championship game at the 2015 Canadian Masters Curling Championship at the Whitehorse Curling Club Sunday. Westcott, 70, won the game 6-3.
Manitoba skip Ron Westcott capped a stellar week with his first Canadian curling title in Whitehorse Sunday afternoon.
Manitoba skip Ron Westcott capped a stellar week with his first Canadian curling title in Whitehorse Sunday afternoon.
The 70-year-old from small town Douglas, Man., outduelled Northern Ontario skip Gord Williams en route to a 6-3 victory, capping a week in which his team went 11-0.
鈥淎t 70 years old, I was thinking this could be my last year,鈥 Westcott told the Star. 鈥淪o to have the run we did and go undefeated was a special treat.
鈥淚 love the ice here. I might just move here ... .鈥
The two opponents blanked the first end, then traded singles, before Manitoba blew the game wide open in the fourth by scoring four to go up 5-1.
Williams, 61, came up with a game-saving hit in the fifth to score one, but Manitoba responded with another single in the sixth to go up 6-2.
Williams鈥 attempt for two points in the seventh went for naught and produced handshakes.
鈥淲e wanted to play for a medal,鈥 said Thunder Bay鈥檚 Williams, whose team represented the Port Arthur Curling Club.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the goal was 鈥 to play for a medal.
The Northern Ontario rink got in a huge chunk of games in at the Whitehorse Curling Club, as they arrived early to participate in the annual international bonspiel last weekend.
Williams said it was the best ice he鈥檚 ever played on.
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of my guys. They played really well all the way through,鈥 the burly skipper added. 鈥淢anitoba鈥檚 a good team. ... I missed a draw and chip-and-roll in the fourth. Other than that, I thought we played them pretty close.鈥
Winnipeg鈥檚 Fort Rouge Curling Club team of Westcott, Ken Dusablon (third), Bob Boughey (second) and Howard Restall (lead) came out flying 鈥 and stayed hot all week.
鈥淭his is the fourth time I鈥檝e been to a Canadian masters,鈥 said Westcott.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been in the final one year; we came third one year. ... It鈥檚 nice to win, but after a few months, nobody鈥檚 going to remember.
鈥淲hat I鈥檒l remember most of all is the teams we played, the sportsmanship and especially Whitehorse. To look out the curling club windows and see mountains when you鈥檙e a prairie kid, this is unbelievable.鈥
The win marked the first national championship for Westcott, who learned the game from Manitoba curling stalwarts Terry Bronstein and Orest Meleschuk.
Making the victory even more special was the presence of Westcott鈥檚 104-year-old mother, Mime Westcott.
鈥淪he鈥檚 been to three Canadians now with us,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he knows the game and she lets me know when I鈥坢iss. So I鈥坈an now talk to her.鈥
Nova Scotia鈥檚 Steve Ogden earned bronze with a 7-0 shutout victory over British Columbia鈥檚 Gerald Kent.
Ogden scored a single in the first with his hammer attempt, then stole consecutive points in the second and third before ending his tournament with a game-ending four points in the fifth.
Meanwhile, George Hilderman鈥檚 Yukon rink finished eighth with a record of 3-6.
Newfoundland lead Michael Wotherspoon and Saskatchewan skip Merle Kopach picked up individual sportsmanship awards at the event.
鈥淎ll we鈥檝e been hearing is that our visitors really enjoyed it,鈥 said organizing co-chair Pat Banks.
鈥淎 lot of people want to come back in the summer, which means we did our job for tourism.鈥
Banks said the local crew of volunteers logged an impressive effort, and also lauded the businesses who provided sponsorship, noting the club would not have been able to host the event without their support.
Banks said the championship ran on a $60,000 budget.
Next year鈥檚 masters championship will move to the East Coast, where it will be hosted out of Kentville and Wolfville, N.S.
For full results and standings from the 2015 event in Whitehorse, visit masters 2015.wordpress.com/.
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Comments (1)
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Joanne Johnston on Apr 15, 2015 at 12:49 am
"Blond and burly Ron Westcott", as Christy Blatchford called him in the early '80's when Westy was burning up the baseball fields during spring training in Arizona and on the curling rinks of The Prairies. Still blond and burly we see though it's a lighter blond than we recall. No slouch in any athletic endeavor the well-known and well-liked Winnipegger never fails to please and elicit laughter around his seeming shyness. What a terrific champion he makes.