By Canadian Press

Epping, Kleiter, Smith punch tickets to Canadian men’s curling championship

Jan 26, 2025 | 9:38 PM

Several men’s curling teams punched their tickets to the Canadian championship Sunday.

A field of 18 teams will curl Feb. 29 to March 9 in the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C.

Cameron de Jong (B.C.), Rylan Kleiter (Saskatchewan), Sam Mooiebroek (Ontario), John Epping (Northern Ontario), Tyler Smith (Prince Edward Island) and Ty Di Lello (Newfoundland and Labrador) prevailed in their championship finals.

New Brunswick determines its provincial champion Feb. 2, Northwest Territories on Feb. 3, and Alberta and Manitoba on Feb. 9.

Other provincial and territorial reps already crowned were Owen Purcell (Nova Scotia), Thomas Scoffin (Yukon), Felix Asselin (Quebec) and Shane Latimer (Nunavut).

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Six-time champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., has already punched his Brier ticket as defending champion.

Teams skipped by Brad Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone pre-qualified for Kelowna based on their rankings at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Jacobs, a Canadian, world and Olympic champion, took over as skip of Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta-based team, that ranked No. 2 in Canada at the end of last season.

The victor in Kelowna represents Canada at the men’s world championship March 29 to April 6 in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Epping defeated Dylan Johnston 10-2 on Sunday. Epping will skip Northern Ontario at the Brier for the first time after three appearances (2018, 2020 and 2021) for Ontario. His team is ranked No. 5 in Canada.

Kleiter downed Steve Laycock 8-5 in Kindersley, Sask. De Jong was a 10-8 winner over Glenn Venance in Langley, B.C.

Mooiebroek defeated Scott Howard 7-4 in Coburg, Ont.

Tyler Smith will skip P.E.I. a second straight year after going 5-3 last year in Regina. His team was an 8-6 winner Sunday over Darren Higgins.

Ty Di Lello’s team stole two in the ninth and one in the 10th to defeat Andrew Symonds 6-5 in St. John’s.

This year’s Brier winner can claim a berth in November’s Olympic trials as long as the team ranks in the top six at world championships.

Defending Brier champion Gushue and Jacobs are already bound for trials.

Should Gushue or Jacobs prevail in Kelowna, the trials berth goes to the highest ranked team at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season following the Players’ Championship in April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2025.

The Canadian Press