Gryphon curling men alone in fifth after a Friday sweep
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – The Guelph Gryphons won both of their matches in the men’s category of the U Sports curling championships Friday.
They’re the first two wins of the national championship for the Gryphs and leave them fifth in the eight-team group at 2-3.
The Laurier Golden Hawks and Dalhousie Tigers remain undefeated at 5-0 while the Alberta Golden Bears are at 4-1 and the Regina Cougars are at 3-2. All four of those teams entered Friday’s competition unbeaten. The Gryphs follow at 2-3 while the Brock Badgers are at 1-4 and the Memorial Sea-Hawks and Brandon Bobcats are winless at 0-5.
Friday, the Gryphs dropped Regina 9-5 and Memorial 11-4.
The Gryphs never trailed against Regina and had two big ends that did most of the damage. They scored four in the second end after a scoreless first, yielded one in the third and then pulled away with three more in the fourth.
The local rink also never trailed against Memorial. They hit for two in the first end, gave up one in the second and then took control with three in the third. They ended that match with four in the ninth.
Guelph is to wrap up round-robin play with matches against Brandon and Brock Saturday.
Members of the Guelph squad are skip Dylan Niepage, vice Nathan Marshall, second Sam Guilbeault, lead Ryan Yee and coach Steve Szymanski.
Guelph didn’t qualify for the U Sports championship tournament in the women’s category.
New Brunswick Varsity Reds lead entering Saturday’s matches at 5-0 while the Alberta Pandas are at 4-1 and McMaster Marauders and Queen’s Gaels are both at 3-2. The Laurier Golden Hawks are at 2-3 while the other three teams – Brandon Bobcats, Regina Cougars and Dalhousie Tigers are each at 1-4.
- Guelph Sports Journal