MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- Don’t look now, but Moose Jaw’s Dayne Heisler has suddenly become a favourite to win the Curl Sask U18 boys provincial championship in a few months time.
Heisler and his rink of third Blake Montgomery, second Riley Cushway and lead Laine Burnham came all the way back from the ‘C’ side to win the U18 Sask Cup #2 in Prince Albert, staking their claim as one of the top rinks in the age group in the province.
The Moose Jaw Curling Centre foursome opened with a win 9-4 win over Saskatoon’s Jacob Parker in their first ‘A’ side game, but would lose their next two to fall to the ‘C’ side.
Heisler first ran into defending provincial champion Tyler Derksen from Martensville in their ‘A’ semi and dropped a 9-7 decision before falling 8-3 to Saskatoon’s Joel Kitsch in their first ‘B’ side contest.
As it turns out, that would be their last loss on the weekend.
Heisler rematched Parker in their ‘C’ qualifier and put up back-to-back three-enders in the third and fourth before going on to an 8-4 victory and booking their spot the playoffs.
There, they faced Saskatoon’s Brandon Weiss in the semifinal and found themselves in a battle from start to finish.
After exchanging points in the first two ends, Heisler took the lead with a steal of two in the third, but promptly gave up two the next end and a steal in the fifth to trail 4-3. Heisler would tie the game in the sixth, though, and get a steal of two in the seventh to regain the lead before running Weiss out of rocks in the eighth, taking a 6-4 win.
That sent Heisler into the championship final where they’d once again run into Kitsch -- and this time, get a far different result.
Deuces in the third and fifth ends gave Kitsch a 4-2 lead, but Heilser tied the game in the sixth, stole two more in the seventh and added a steal in the eighth to take a 7-4 victory.
