VITERRA: McDonald off to impressive start at first men’s provincials

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This article was published 11/02/2022 (1501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SELKIRK – Jordon McDonald has been fortunate to represent his home province twice on the national stage.

The 18-year-old engineering student at the University of Manitoba earned a bronze medal at the 2019 national under-18 championships in Sherwood Park, Alta. and skipped his Deer Lodge Curling Club side to a quarter-final result at the World Junior qualifier competition that was held in Saskatoon in November.

Despite his accomplishments, McDonald couldn’t help but feel the butterflies in his stomach on Wednesday when he took to the ice for the first time as a competitor at the Viterra Championship.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous out there early on,” McDonald said.

“I couldn’t help but think about the fact that a spot at the Brier was on the line here this week. This is one of the biggest events of the year and to be on this stage is something that I’ve been looking forward to.”

McDonald – who is also a two-time winner of the Tamarack golf tournament’s junior event at the Clear Lake Golf Course – hasn’t shown any rookie mistakes thus far through the first two days of play at the Selkirk Curling Club.

The five-man rink, which features Zach Waslylk, Reese Hamm, Alexandre Fontaine and Elias Huminicki, plays Braden Calvert’s Assiniboine squad in an ‘A’ event qualifier this morning following victories over Graham Freeman of Virden and Corey Chambers’s Fort Garry squad.

“When we came into this week, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves and see where things went,” McDonald said. “We’re super excited to be where we are after two days here.

“Our game against Freeman was super close and I think it was good for us to have a full 10-end game like that. We kind of let them back into it after taking an early lead, but we sealed the deal late. There was a lot that we improved on today (Thursday) against Corey and me and the boys are super happy with how we played.”

As they waited to find out if the provincial playdowns would even take place, McDonald and his teammates got a crash course in men’s curling experiences over the last few weeks.

Although there were no tournaments in the province as a result of COVID-19 protocols, the rink got the chance to play in exhibition games with William Lyburn, Sean Grassie, Ryan Wiebe and Riley Smith.

“I know for myself, it’s always a big help for my game if I get any chance to throw some rocks,” McDonald said.

“Not only did that allow us to get into a competitive mindset again for the first time since our last event (the DEKALB SuperSpiel held in Morris two months ago) but it gave us a little bit of an idea of we would face here in Selkirk. All those of those guys are really high-calibre teams and you have to be on your game in order to compete with them.”

In addition to their junior play, which has seen the team rattle off a 17-game win streak this season, McDonald’s rink has also ventured out more into the men’s circuit.

Their best result of the year on the World Curling Tour came in October as they reached the semifinal round at the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic.

“Those events were so beneficial for us,” McDonald said. “It’s not just the experience of playing against the top teams that’s big for a young team like ours. You really have to mature as players when it comes to making shots, the strategy that’s involved and being in high-pressure situations. There’s so much that we’re learning right now and I think it’s going to pay off in the long run.”

McDonald and his team will look to take their Viterra Championship experience into their next major event, as they’ll compete in the under-20 provincial playdowns at the Brandon Curling Club in two weeks.

“It meant so much to us to represent Manitoba and we want to have that opportunity to do it again this spring,” McDonald said.

“There’s a lot that we took away from Saskatoon, but the biggest thing was to try and not get ahead of ourselves and spend too much time focussing on the big picture. It’s really important to go through your normal routine when you are at the nationals. Everything else will fall into place after that.”

EXTRA ENDS: In addition to the McDonald and Calvert matchup, this morning’s other ‘A’ event qualifiers sees Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) going up against Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge), Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) facing Riley Smith (Assiniboine) and Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine) matching up with Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) … Freeman’s week came to an end with an 8-1 loss to Brett Walter’s Assiniboine rink on Thursday afternoon, while Carberry’s Kelly Marnoch exited the event with a 9-2 loss to Morden’s Ryan Thomson in the morning draw. Gladstone’s Jeff Stewart faced Chambers on Thursday night in a game that was in progress as of press time … Daniel Birchard’s Pembina rink survived a scare in their ‘B’ event game against Thomson as his final stone slid out of the rings after making a double takeout to win the match. He redeemed himself in the 12th frame by making a draw to the four-foot for a 10-9 victory.

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