KINDERSLEY -- Swift Current’s Steve Laycock has been on a roll since the start of the SaskTel Tankard, so it should come as little surprise that he’s now punched his ticket to the championship final.
Laycock and his rink of third Shaun Meachem, second Chris Haichert and lead Brayden Grindheim advanced to the title contest with a 9-8 win over Saskatoon’s Dustin Kalthoff, third Joshua Heidt and lead Mat Ring in the Page Playoff 1-2 game on Saturday night.
Laycock finished in first place after the round robin with a 7-1 record, while Kalthoff was second at 6-2.
Kalthoff got off to a great start, building a 4-1 lead through four ends, but Laycock would get all of that back in the fifth and then looked to take control with a steal of three in the sixth. Kalthoff battled back with a deuce in the seventh and single steal in the eighth to tie things up, but Laycock would score two in the ninth and hold Kalthoff to a single point in the 10th for the win.
Kalthoff now drops down to the semifinal where he’ll face Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter, third Joshua Mattern, second Matthew Hall and lead Trevor Johnston after Kleiter defeated Regina’s Kelly Knapp, third Brennan Jones, second Mike Armstrong and lead Trent Knapp 8-6 in the Page 3-4 game.
The teams exchanged three-spots in the fourth and fifth ends, with Kleiter building a 5-3 lead through six. Knapp then took the lead with three in the eighth, but after blanking the ninth, Kleiter would get things done in the final end with a three-spot for the two-point win.
The semifinal is set for 10 a.m. on Sunday, and the winner there will face Laycock for the SaskTel Tankard provincial championship at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Both contests will be streamed live on the Curl Sask YouTube channel.
