Team Kleiter junior curling dynasty in Sask. grows to four

Rylan Kleiter, right, gives a big cheer after making a clutch final shot.

    Rylan Kleiter knows the way to Langley, B.C., and he hopes that journey will result in a national title win in curling like it did in football.

    On Wednesday afternoon at the Sutherland Curling Club, Kleiter skipped his foursome to a 7-6 victory in the title game of the Saskatchewan junior men’s curling championship tournament over Daymond Bernath’s foursome. The men’s title game, which turned into a New Year’s Day classic, happened to be a battle between two rinks from the Sutherland.

    The win marked the fourth year in a row Kleiter’s rink, which includes lead Matthieu Taillon, second Joshua Mattern and third Trevor Johnson have won the Saskatchewan junior title.

    The latest title win didn’t come easy.

Kleiter rink supporters cheer their team’s provincial title win.

    Kleiter’s foursome entered the 10^th end locked in a 6-6 tie with Bernath’s rink. Bernath’s side was sitting counting one in the house, and Kleiter had to make a draw to the four-foot with hammer to win the game.

    The 21-year-old delivered with precise final shot. As the Kleiter’s final throw began to slow to a halt on the button, the handshakes between the two sides began.

    “This one is something special,” said Kleiter. “To come down to the last rock just makes it feel that much more better.”

    With the win, Kleiter’s rink earns a berth to the Canadian Junior Curling Championships, which run Jan. 18-26 in Langley, B.C.

Kleiter’s rink lifts the provincial championship trophy.

    It will be the final trip to the junior nationals for the Kleiter foursome as all the members of the squad are playing through their final years of junior eligibility.

    Kleiter was in Langley last Nov. 16 helping the Saskatoon Hilltops win a sixth straight Canadian Junior Football League title. In that contest, Kleiter, who is a Hilltops receiver and kicker, made 3-of-4 field goal attempts to push the venerable Saskatoon football club to an 11-6 victory over the host Rams.

    Looking ahead to the Canadian junior curling nationals, Kleiter hopes it is a good omen that he will be returning to Langley, where he enjoyed a huge moment in football.

    “It is going to be pretty exciting,” said Kleiter, who has been on the Hilltops last four CJFL title winning teams. “Hopefully, I have another Canadian championship in Langley.”

    Still, the only focus for the members of the Kleiter squad was on Wednesday’s Saskatchewan final, and they had their hands full in that contest.

Daymond Bernath and his foursome came out on fire.

    Kleiter’s side took a 1-0 lead in the first end, but the Bernath foursome, which contains lead Brayden Grindheim, second David Baum and third Bradley Moser, scored a deuce in the second end and a single in the fourth end to take a 3-1 lead.

    Kleiter’s side responded with a deuce in the sixth end to tie things up at 3-3, but Bernath’s rink scored a deuce in the seventh to jump in front 5-3.

    In the eighth end, Kleiter made a hit and stick shot to score three to allow his squad to go ahead 6-5.

    Bernath’s foursome scored on in the ninth to even things up at 6-6, but the score gave the hammer back to Kleiter’s rink.

Kleiter third Trevor Johnson follows one of his shots down the ice.

    Kleiter proceeded to come through with his big draw for the win in the 10^th.

    Johnson said the mindset of the Kleiter rink was calm going into the last shot.

    “I made sure to clean the path, so the rock has a nice clean path to get there,” said Johnson, who as the third measured out the ice with the target broom in the house for the final shot. “I just said the line was good all the way, and the other guys did their job.”

    Johnson said the fact this provincial title win came down to the end makes it a game that will always be remembered.

    “It does make it that much more special,” said Johnson. “The close games are the best, when you come out on top.”

Brayden Grindheim, left, and David Baum sweep a Bernath rock.

    Wednesday’s victory adds to an unprecedented run of success for Kleiter’s rink at the provincial level. On top of winning the last four straight junior titles, Kleiter’s foursome captured the under-18 men’s provincial title three straight years from 2015 to 2017 before aging out at that level.

All seven of those championships were won with the same foursome.

    “They are saying we are breaking all the records,” said Johnson. “I don’t know if any team across Canada has had the exact same four members doing four years in a row.

Joshua Mattern, left, and Matthieu Taillon sweep a Kleiter rock.

    “It is definitely something special that I will always remember.”

    Kleiter’s rink finished junior provincials with a perfect 9-0 record, which included seven wins in preliminary round play and two playoff victories.

    Bernath’s rink finished with a 3-4 record in preliminary round play and needed to win three playoff games to make the final.

    Kleiter said past experience helped make the comeback his side made on Wednesday afternoon possible.

    “We knew that if we got down we would be able to battle back, if just do what we know we can do,” said Kleiter.

    The Sutherland Curling Club also hosted the junior women’s provincial tournament and the banner day for the club extended to that competition as well.

Rylan Kleiter, centre, delivers his game-winning shot.

    In the women’s final on Wednesday morning, the Ashley Thevenot rink from the Sutherland downed the Skylar Ackerman foursome from the Nutana Curling Club 7-5. The Thevenot side, which includes lead Mary Engel, second Paige Engel and third Rachel Erickson, and the Ackerman squad, which includes lead Abbey Johnson, second Taylor Stremick and third Emily Haupstein, both had 6-1 records after the preliminary round.

    The Ackerman rink took first place with a head-to-head win in the preliminary round between the two sides.

Rylan Kleiter, centre, visits with family and friends.

    In the one-two page playoff game on Tuesday afternoon, Thevenot’s rink posted a 6-4 victory.

    In a semifinal contest on Tuesday night, Ackerman’s squad down the Krystal Englot foursome from the Callie Curling Club in Regina 11-6 to advance to face Thevenot’s rink again in the women’s championship game on Wednesday morning.

    Looking forward, Kleiter said his rink would love to come through with a national title in their final try at the junior level. The foursome’s best showing at juniors was falling in a semifinal contest to Manitoba at last year’s event held in Prince Albert, Sask.

Kleiter team members signal a four-peat with the provincial title trophy.

    Kleiter’s side finished that nationals with an 8-3 overall record.  

    “It definitely means that much more to us just knowing that we are going to be finished after this,” said Kleiter. “We’ll just be going in with level heads into the Canadians.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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