March 20, 2022
Banner Season: Brand new group of Golden Hawks help Laurier repeat as men's curling champions
Guelph, Ont. (via Guelph Gryphons) - The 2022 OUA Men's Curling Championship took place over the course of three days this weekend (March 18-20) at the Guelph Curling Club and it was a familiar team at the top of the podium again this year, but with many different faces. The reigning OUA champion Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks entered the 2022 conference championships with a whole new group of curlers and still managed to take home the title.
The team of Sam Mooibroek (skip), Ben Pearce (lead), Cody Harris (Second), and Kibo Mulima (third), coached by Matt Wilkinson, went a perfect 7-0 over the course of the weekend then cruised to a 10-3 victory over Ryerson in the gold medal game to take home their second straight OUA title.
Round robin play saw one rink from each pool come out undefeated. Both the Guelph Gryphons and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks headed into the quarterfinals with perfect 4-0 records. Each rink led their respective pools, while the Ryerson Rams topped pool C with a 3-1 record. 8 out of 15 rinks made it to the quarterfinals on Saturday evening. Of those 8, the Guelph Gryphons, Ryerson Rams, Laurier Golden Hawks and Queen's Gaels moved onto the Saturday morning semifinals. The 4-1 Ryerson Rams defeated the 5-0 Guelph Gryphons to advance to the OUA Final, while the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks maintained their perfect record to get past the 4-1 Queen's Gaels to earn their spot in the OUA Final.
The gold medal matchup saw two rinks meet that finished atop their pools, as the 6-0 Golden Hawks aimed to top the podium once again, taking on the 5-1 Ryerson Rams. Going up 2-0 in the first end, Ryerson continued to ride momentum from their previous victories, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Laurier responded with a point in a tight 2nd end to cut the deficit in half. The two sides kept each other close as the two teams sat at a 3-3 deadlock after the 4th end, setting up an exciting finish to the gold medal game. Ryerson had the hammer in the 6th end and faced 4 after Laurier skip, Sam Mooibroek, placed a nice draw with their last shot. Ryerson skip, Weston Oryniak, did his best to take over shot rock but could not accomplish the task as the Golden Hawks used a dominant 6th end to jump ahead 7-3 on the Rams. Weston Oryniak faced some more pressure as he faced 3 to finish the 7th end, this time placing a beautiful draw to take over shot rock and hopefully chip away at the Golden Hawks lead heading into the 8th end. However, Sam Mooibroek kept making great shots for Laurier to take away hope from the Rams.
"Those last few shots were pretty good, we were in a good spot," said Laurier skip, Sam Mooibroek, who helped lead the Golden Hawks to the 11th OUA title in program history. "The first part of the game was a little stressful, but by the end we kept calm and were able to keep our heads to maintain our lead."
With their backs against the wall once again, Ryerson failed to take over shot rock as the Golden Hawks cruised to their second straight OUA Championship, defeating the Ryerson Rams 10-3 in the final.
"It's a great feeling knowing that this group of guys is an entirely different group than what we had two years ago" said Laurier Coach Matt Wilkinson. "Three guys in our lineup have been with the group for three years now and are just getting the chance to play so it was nice to see what they could do. It's been amazing".
The bronze medal game saw a tight battle between Queen's and Guelph, with the two sides needing extra ends to decide the bronze medallist. The Gaels eventually pulled ahead to take the last podium position. Guelph held a narrow 3-2 lead over Queen's at the halfway point thanks to a nice double-tap for one from skip Dylan Niepage, but Queen's responded with a very strong 5th end, putting up 3 points and going up by a score of 5-3 on the Gryphons. An extremely tight finish to the 6th end, that saw both skips make great shots, led to the teams bringing out the measurement tool to determine who would score. The measurement tool ruled in the Gryphons' favour to tie the teams up at 5-5, but Queen's once again pulled ahead in the 7th end, leading 7-5. The Gryphons found themselves with an opportunity to get their crucial 2 points on the very last shot of the 8th end. Dylan Niepage pulled off a perfect board-weight runback for 2, to keep the Gryphons podium hopes alive, and sending the match to extra ends. Another tight finish in the extra end saw the two skips trade game-saving shots. Queen's skip, Owen Purdy, had the hammer and placed a tremendous draw right beside the button to give Queens shot rock, and the bronze medal.
Laurier has now claimed both the men's and women's OUA Curling Championships. Ryerson takes home the silver medal while Queen's finishes with bronze.
OUA First Team All-Stars
Skip - Spencer Dunlop, Western
Vice - Landan Rooney, Toronto
Second - Jayden King. Guelph
Lead - Grant Schnurr, Queen's
OUA Second Team All-Stars
Skip - Westen Oryniak, Ryerson
Vice - Gavin Lydiate, Guelph
Second - Treyton Cowell, Ontario Tech
Lead - Dan Del Conte, Guelph
The team of Sam Mooibroek (skip), Ben Pearce (lead), Cody Harris (Second), and Kibo Mulima (third), coached by Matt Wilkinson, went a perfect 7-0 over the course of the weekend then cruised to a 10-3 victory over Ryerson in the gold medal game to take home their second straight OUA title.
Round robin play saw one rink from each pool come out undefeated. Both the Guelph Gryphons and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks headed into the quarterfinals with perfect 4-0 records. Each rink led their respective pools, while the Ryerson Rams topped pool C with a 3-1 record. 8 out of 15 rinks made it to the quarterfinals on Saturday evening. Of those 8, the Guelph Gryphons, Ryerson Rams, Laurier Golden Hawks and Queen's Gaels moved onto the Saturday morning semifinals. The 4-1 Ryerson Rams defeated the 5-0 Guelph Gryphons to advance to the OUA Final, while the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks maintained their perfect record to get past the 4-1 Queen's Gaels to earn their spot in the OUA Final.
The gold medal matchup saw two rinks meet that finished atop their pools, as the 6-0 Golden Hawks aimed to top the podium once again, taking on the 5-1 Ryerson Rams. Going up 2-0 in the first end, Ryerson continued to ride momentum from their previous victories, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Laurier responded with a point in a tight 2nd end to cut the deficit in half. The two sides kept each other close as the two teams sat at a 3-3 deadlock after the 4th end, setting up an exciting finish to the gold medal game. Ryerson had the hammer in the 6th end and faced 4 after Laurier skip, Sam Mooibroek, placed a nice draw with their last shot. Ryerson skip, Weston Oryniak, did his best to take over shot rock but could not accomplish the task as the Golden Hawks used a dominant 6th end to jump ahead 7-3 on the Rams. Weston Oryniak faced some more pressure as he faced 3 to finish the 7th end, this time placing a beautiful draw to take over shot rock and hopefully chip away at the Golden Hawks lead heading into the 8th end. However, Sam Mooibroek kept making great shots for Laurier to take away hope from the Rams.
"Those last few shots were pretty good, we were in a good spot," said Laurier skip, Sam Mooibroek, who helped lead the Golden Hawks to the 11th OUA title in program history. "The first part of the game was a little stressful, but by the end we kept calm and were able to keep our heads to maintain our lead."
With their backs against the wall once again, Ryerson failed to take over shot rock as the Golden Hawks cruised to their second straight OUA Championship, defeating the Ryerson Rams 10-3 in the final.
"It's a great feeling knowing that this group of guys is an entirely different group than what we had two years ago" said Laurier Coach Matt Wilkinson. "Three guys in our lineup have been with the group for three years now and are just getting the chance to play so it was nice to see what they could do. It's been amazing".
The bronze medal game saw a tight battle between Queen's and Guelph, with the two sides needing extra ends to decide the bronze medallist. The Gaels eventually pulled ahead to take the last podium position. Guelph held a narrow 3-2 lead over Queen's at the halfway point thanks to a nice double-tap for one from skip Dylan Niepage, but Queen's responded with a very strong 5th end, putting up 3 points and going up by a score of 5-3 on the Gryphons. An extremely tight finish to the 6th end, that saw both skips make great shots, led to the teams bringing out the measurement tool to determine who would score. The measurement tool ruled in the Gryphons' favour to tie the teams up at 5-5, but Queen's once again pulled ahead in the 7th end, leading 7-5. The Gryphons found themselves with an opportunity to get their crucial 2 points on the very last shot of the 8th end. Dylan Niepage pulled off a perfect board-weight runback for 2, to keep the Gryphons podium hopes alive, and sending the match to extra ends. Another tight finish in the extra end saw the two skips trade game-saving shots. Queen's skip, Owen Purdy, had the hammer and placed a tremendous draw right beside the button to give Queens shot rock, and the bronze medal.
Laurier has now claimed both the men's and women's OUA Curling Championships. Ryerson takes home the silver medal while Queen's finishes with bronze.
OUA First Team All-Stars
Skip - Spencer Dunlop, Western
Vice - Landan Rooney, Toronto
Second - Jayden King. Guelph
Lead - Grant Schnurr, Queen's
OUA Second Team All-Stars
Skip - Westen Oryniak, Ryerson
Vice - Gavin Lydiate, Guelph
Second - Treyton Cowell, Ontario Tech
Lead - Dan Del Conte, Guelph
