It wouldn't be the Original 16 Superleague playoffs if there wasn't a first-round upset or two in the making.
And, sure enough, the first night of the postseason saw a handful of surprise winners, although nothing like years past when even the top seeds weren't invincible.
The biggest upset of the night at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre on Wednesday saw 14th seed Kal Tire (7-10, Bob Desjarlais) roll to an 8-1 win over third seed John's Music (Ryan Wenarchuk, 12-5). Desjarlais built a 5-0 lead through four ends and never looked back, with another three in the sixth bringing things to an early end.
Things went just as well for 11th seed Terra Grain (Ralph Courtnage, 8-9), as his rink took a 7-6 extra end win over sixth seed Fountain Tire/Keons (Warren Marcotte, 10-7). The back-and-forth contest saw things tied 4-4 through five ends and Marcotte leading 7-5 heading into the final frame, where Courtnage picked up his deuce to tie the game before stealing one in the extra end.
Regular season champion Seaborn Insurance (Joel Jordison, 16-1) had a bit of a scare on his way to defeating Ackerman Ag (Patrick Ackerman, 6-11) in his first round game, as he went into the final end up a pair without hammer. Jordison was able to hold Ackerman to one, though, taking the 4-3 win.
KMS (Ben Gamble, 9-8) picked up a mild upset as the 10th seed with their win over seventh-seed Tax Team (Murray Stroeder, 10-7). Stroeder led 3-2 through three ends, only to see Gamble pick up two in the fifth, steal two in the sixth and another one in the seventh to close things out with a 8-3 win.
Forged 365 (Donna Ackerman, 9-8) showed no mercy in their first round contest against Protec Video (Wade Gray, 9-8), building a 5-1 lead through three ends before a four-spot in the sixth finished the contest a 9-3 win.
Protec Electric (Stan Barnsley, 11-6) rallied late to take a 9-5 win over EMJ Marketing (Joe Gunnis, 8-9), with a steal of three in the eighth blowing open what was a close game.
Easy Care Living (Lorraine Arguin, 12-5) had anything but an easy time with JGL Hawk's (Matt Froehlich, 7-10), as Arguin found herself trailing 5-3 through three ends before scoring one in the fourth and stealing single points in the fifth and sixth to take a 6-5 lead. After Froehlich scored one in the seventh, Arguin used the hammer to pick up her deuce in the final end and take an 8-6 win.
The game between second-seed BTN Accountants (13-4) and David Gray (3-14) is slated to take place Monday. All other second round games go Wednesday at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.
