KINDERSLEY -- There’s a new king on the throne of men’s curling in Saskatchewan.
Rylan Kleiter and his Saskatoon Nutana foursome of third Joshua Mattern, second Matthew Hall and lead Trevor Johnson turned in a dominant performance on their way to an 8-5 victory over Steve Laycock on Sunday evening at the SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championship in Kindersley.
Kleiter had things going well early, and a three-spot in the third end and another three in the fifth would give their rink a 6-2 lead through five.
Laycock and his Swift Current rink of third Shaun Meachem, second Chris Haichert and lead Brayden Grindheim would get one back in the sixth, but Kleiter would add two more in the seventh before holding Laycock to one in the eighth and a steal in the ninth. From there, it was just running out of rocks in the 10th and Kleiter would do just that, securing the victory.
The Kleiter foursome will now represent Saskatchewan at the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna at the end of February.
“It’s amazing, I can’t believe it,” Kleiter said when asked about what it means to go to his first Brier during Curl Sask’s broadcast. “These have been my best buddies for a long time, we’ve played together for awhile so it means a lot to have all the hard work pay off and go to the Brier together.”
The win was Kleiter’s second of the day after he took a 7-5 win over Saskatoon’s Dustin Kalthoff in the semfinal on Sunday morning.
Here’s a end-by-end rundown of skips’ stones and important shots from the SaskTel Tankard final:
First end -- Laycock hammer
Kleiter takes out Laycock stone in eight foot and rolls to four foot to lay three. Laycock hits rock in four foot and rolls behind cover in 12-foot to sit second shot. Kleiter comes around guard to sit buried in eight foot and lay two. Laycock draws to four-foot and takes one.
1-0 Steve Laycock
Second end -- Kleiter hammer
After a series of great shots by the front ends led to a clean house for skips’ stones, Laycock draws behind a high centreline guard to the four-foot. Kleiter makes the takeout and rolls to edge of 12-foot. Laycock hits and rolls to touch the eight foot behind the t-line with backing. Kleiter hits and rolls out for the blank.
1-0 Steve Laycock
Third end -- Kleiter hammer
Kleiter lays three heading into Laycock’ first stone. Laycock goes for triple takeout but nose hits and rolls to edge of 12-foot, Kleiter lays two on either side of house in eight foot. Kleiter draws behind cover in eight foot above t-line to lay three. Laycock attempts double and gets one, rolling to button wide-open. Kleiter gets open take-out to sit in four foot. Kleiter scores three.
3-1 Rylan Kleiter
Fourth end -- Laycock hammer
Cluttered house with plenty of backing, Laycock laying one on the button. Kleiter gets tap back to lay first and second shot in the four foot. Laycock hits and rolls behind cover to lay shot stone in four foot. Kleiter draws to the button behind partial coverage, setting up potential double. Laycock makes shot but rolls too far, settling for one.
3-2 Rylan Kleiter
Fifth end -- Kleiter hammer
Hall has a great shot to clear out four rocks in the house, putting the blank in play. Laycock goes for takeout with Kleiter laying two wide open but flashes. Kleiter draws to the top of the 12-foot with own stone backing in the eight foot. Laycock goes for double but just gets stone in 12-foot. Kleiter has open draw for three, draws to eight foot. Kleiter scores three.
6-2 Kleiter
Sixth end -- Laycock hammer
Kleiter has three stones in four foot behind the t-line, including shot stone on the button, Laycock has second shot at top of four. Kleiter throws big weight take-out to lay two in four foot, Laycock third shot in back eight foot. Laycock comes in touch heavy, tapping Kleiter stone and rolling into eight foot, Kleiter lays two in four foot. Kleiter hits Laycock stone and rolls in to lay three in four foot. Laycock hits and sticks on button for one.
6-3 Kleiter
Seventh end -- Kleiter hammer
A mostly clean end saw Laycock freeze to Kleiter’s shot stone at the top of the four foot with his first shot. Kleiter hit the frozen stone and spilled a cluster of rocks around the house to sit biting the eight foot. Laycock partially draws behind cover to the top of the four foot to sit one. Kleiter gets runback double and sits in four foot to score two.
8-3 Kleiter
Eighth end -- Laycock hammer
Kleiter makes takeout with first shot to sit four, three sitting around house in 12-foot and another in four-foot. Laycock draws to the eight foot. Kleiter makes takeout to once again sit four. Laycock gets nose hit with final rock to sit in eight foot and score one.
8-4 Kleiter
Ninth end -- Kleiter hammer
Kleiter kept things clean as possible, with Laycock sitting one on the button as the lone stone in play at skips’ stones. Laycock throws high centreline guard. Kleiter peels off guard. Laycock draws to top four foot. Kleiter goes for double but jams, Laycock steals one.
8-5 Kleiter
Tenth end -- Kleiter hammer
The Laycock front end stacks three guards, but Hall clears all but one from the front and after Haichert draws in, runs off the guard. Meachem puts up centreline guard. Mattern peels off guard. Meachem puts up centreline guard. Mattern peels off guard. Laycock draws to eight foot to lay two. Kleiter gets the double, Laycock runs out of rocks.
Kleiter wins 8-5
