Kleiter and his Saskatoon Sutherland foursome of third Joshua Mattern, second Trevor Johnson and lead Matthieu Taillon capped off their sixth-straight win of the weekend with a 6-2 victory over Regina Highland’s Russ Howard in the final of the Sask Curling Tour Moose Jaw.
And yes, that Russ Howard.
Howard was skipping son Steven’s rink of third Daniel Selke, second Mat Ring and lead Scott Deck through the tournament, posting a 5-2 record of their own for the event. Howard, 64, and wife Wendy moved to Regina to be closer to their children earlier this year -- daughter Ashley Howard is the executive director of CurlSask and lives in the Queen City, Steven lives in Regina when not at work in Fort McMurray.
As one might imagine, having the two-time Canadian and World champion around added an extra interesting flavour to the weekend -- and even Kleiter, the four-time reigning provincial junior champion, admitted to being a bit star-struck.
“That’s a great team we played and it’s pretty cool playing against someone who we’ve watched on TV growing up as well, that was a cool opportunity,” Kleiter said with a grin.
Kleiter was full marks for the win. He opened the contest with three in the first end, and after holding Howard to one in the second, tacked on another three ender for a 6-1 edge. Howard would get one back in the next frame, but with an ailing left knee, the veteran skip and his crew decided to call things early.
“In the third, if things were different we might have got two, but instead they get three and it’s ‘start the car’,” Howard said with a laugh. “They’re a nice team, I tell you what, they could win the province. They’re a good team and they’re well coached.”
Kleiter capped the weekend with a 7-1 record, with their lone loss a 7-6 defeat at the hands of Highlands’ Kelly Knapp, who includes Moose Jaw’s Brock Montgomery at third, during the second draw.
“We started off a little bit slow, just building and learning the ice, and coming into a new building it’s always a bit of a learning curve, but we found a way,” Kleiter said. “Good communication kind of got us to where we were.”
The event earned Kleiter 12 points on the Provincial Team Ranking System, with the top eight ranked teams as of Dec. 22 earning automatic Tankard berths and the final four spots advancing out of a Last Chance spiel during the Jan. 7 weekend. Howard picked up 10 points with the second-place finish.
Earlier Saturday, Kleiter advanced to the final with a win over Highland’s Ben Gamble, third Braydan Mohns, second Tyler Krupski and lead Rory McCusker. Gamble curls in the Original 16 Cash League in Moose Jaw, and their team is coached by another Canadian curling legend in Joan McCusker of Sandra Schmirler-rink fame.
The other semifinal saw Wills, third Grady Lamontange, second Blake Hoffman and lead Brody Blackwell steal one in an extra end for a 6-5 victory over Estevan’s Brent Gedak and his crew of former Moose Jaw junior provincial champions in third Jason Ackerman, second Derek Owens and lead Curtis Horwath.
Moose Jaw’s Brett Behm, third Brendan Ross, second Daniel Mutlow and lead Ian Howell posted a 1-4 record in round robin play and missed the playoffs -- but had one of their best games of the tournament against none other than Howard, falling 4-3 after giving up a steal in the final end.
Be sure to check back early next week for more from Russ Howard and what he’s up to with his young rink this season!
