Donald DeWolfe and his Cornwall, Silver Fox, and Western Community team had two opportunities today to win the PEI Under 18 Boy’s Championship, and managed to do it on the first try, edging the Mitchell Schut rink from Cornwall 4-3 in an exciting game this morning. Schut, playing on his 14th birthday, led the match, which had three blank ends, until the seventh end, stealing a deuce in end two, with the teams trading singles in ends 3 and 5.

Photo: DeWolfe angle runback in end seven

In end seven, DeWolfe did an angle runback on his own guard, taking out a Schut counter, and tied the game with a deuce. In the final end, Schut was left with a draw to the four foot ring, but it went wide of the target.

Photo: Final stone

Winning DeWolfe team (L-R): Donald DeWolfe, Jacob Wilkins, Alex Gallant, Nick Johnston, coach Roger Gavin

The DeWolfe rink, which includes third stone Jacob Wilkins, second Alex Gallant, and lead Nick Johnston, with coach Roger Gavin, along with the Lauren Lenentine girl’s team, now advance to the  Canadian Under 18 Boys and Girls Curling Championship, operated by Curling Canada, April 18 to 22 at Curl Moncton and on arena ice at Moncton’s Superior Propane Centre. 

Runner-up Schut team (L-R): Mitchell Schut, Colin MacKenzie, Michael MacEwen, Liam Kelly, Nancy Yeo

Other members of the runner-up Schut team are third Colin MacKenzie, second Michael MacEwen, and lead Liam Kelly, with coach Nancy Yeo. The Schut rink, the girl’s runner-up Rachel MacLean team, and several other teams from the U18 event will be heading to Alberton on Saturday and Sunday for the Provincial Under 16 Curling Championships at the Western Community Curling Club, with three boy’s and six girl’s teams taking part.

The Lauren Lenentine rink from the Cornwall Curling Club went undefeated, sweeping all three section finals, all against clubmate Rachel MacLean, to win the girl’s division of the Provincial Under 18 Curling Championships this afternoon at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, along with the opportunity to compete in the inaugural Canadian Under-18 Boys and Girls Curling Championships, April 18-22 in Moncton NB. As Lenentine won all three sections of the Modified Triple Knockout round, as per the rules, a championship round was not necessary.

Winning team photo (L-R): Pat Quilty (coach), Lauren Lenentine (skip), Kristie Rogers (3rd), Tati Kelly (2nd), Rachel O’Connor (lead)

The Lenentine rink are repeat provincial winners, and also won the Atlantic championships (no longer being held) last year. Three of the four team members were also on PEI’s Junior Women’s team this year. The Lenentine team includes third Kristie Rogers, second Tati Kelly, and lead Rachel O’Connor with coach Pat Quilty. Other members of the runner-up MacLean foursome are third Jordan Dunphy-Condon, second Olivia Barbour, and lead Avery Nicholson, with coach Carl Nicholson. 

Runner-up photo (L-R): Carl Nicholson (coach), Olivia Barbour, Avery Nicholson, Jordan Dunphy-Condon, Rachel MacLean

In the Sunday morning “C” semi-finals, Lenentine beat Cornwall clubmate Alexis Burris 6-2, while MacLean got by the host club’s Katie Shaw rink 9-6 to setup their third section final showdown. In this afternoon’s “C” final, Lenentine blanked the first end, and scored a triple in the second end and deuces in ends four and six, keeping MacLean to single points in the odd ends, with MacLean conceding after the seventh end, for a 7-3 final score.

Meanwhile it’s down to two teams in the boy’s championship, with Donald DeWolfe and his Cornwall, Silver Fox, and Western Community Curling Club team winning their second modified triple knockout section Sunday afternoon, beating the Parker MacFadyen foursome from the Silver Fox, Montague, and Cornwall clubs by a 7-4 score in the “C” final. MacFadyen beat Cornwall’s Mitchell Schut 8-4 in the Sunday morning “C” semi-final, aided by a 5 point 4th end, to advance to the final qualifier.

DeWolfe previously won the “B” final, with a 6-4 win over Schut, who won the “A” event with a 9-8 victory over MacFadyen. Schut and DeWolfe now play off at 9:30 am on Monday in the first of two possible championship round games. If double-section winner DeWolfe takes the first game, they win the boy’s championship and advance to the national event in Moncton. If Schut wins, a deciding game goes at 1:30 Monday.

Five boy’s teams and six girl’s rinks took part in the provincial championship.

Day Two is over at the PEI Under 18 Curling Championships at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, with the “B” section winners of the boy’s and  girl’s modified triple knockout draws determined.

Photo (L-R): Tati Kelly, Kristie Rogers, Lauren Lenentine, Rachel O’Connor during warmup/practice

The defending champion Lauren Lenentine rink from Cornwall, three members of whom are also reigning PEI Under 21 champs, won their second section on Saturday afternoon with a 6-3 victory over their clubmates, the Rachel MacLean rink, and remain undefeated with a 4-0 win-loss record. Lenentine beat Katie Shaw from the host club 8-3, in a semi-final game much closer than the score indicated, while MacLean defeated Cornwall clubmate Alexis Burris 8-5 in the other semi to advance to the “B” final. MacLean and Lenentine had also met in the “A” final, with Lenentine winning by a big margin.

This time was different, with the game tied 3-all at the fourth end break. Lenentine took one with hammer in the 5th, stole a single in the 6th, and the teams exchanged singles in the final two ends to give Lenentine, whose team includes third Kristie Rogers, second Tati Kelly, and lead Rachel O’Connor, with Pat Quilty coaching, the win, and a big advantage  in the Monday championship round. By winning two sections, Lenentine can take the championship if she wins either game, while her opponent, the winner of the “C” event, would have to win both. Lenentine now takes on Cornwall clubmate Alexis Burris in the “C” semi-finals Sunday at 9:30 am, with MacLean playing Shaw in the other semi. Burris eliminated clubmate Lauren Ferguson with a 7-3 win this afternoon, while Shaw eliminated Cornwall’s Baily O’Grady in a 12-7 shootout. Shaw had a 10-0 lead after 4 ends, but O’Grady narrowed the gap with a deuce in the 5th end and a steal of 5 in the sixth, but Shaw took singles in ends 7 and 8 for the win.

If Lenentine beats Burris and advances to the 1:30 pm “C” final, and wins it, she will take the title, and the championship round will not be played. 

Photo: Donald DeWolfe delivers a rock, swept by Alex Gallant (left) and Nick Johnston

There will be at least two teams in the Monday men’s championship round. The Donald DeWolfe rink from the Cornwall, Silver Fox, and Western clubs, who lost to Cornwall’s Mitchell Schut team in their Friday morning openers, came up with a 6-4 win over “A” pool winner Schut this afternoon to take the “B” final and a spot in the championship round. Other members of team DeWolfe are third Jacob Wilkins, second stone Alex Gallant, and lead Nick Johnston, with coach Roger Gavin. Schut now faces Parker MacFadyen and his Silver Fox, Montague, and Cornwall team in the 9:30 am Sunday “C” semis, with the winner facing DeWolfe in the “C”  final at 1:30. Schut edged MacFadyen 9-8 to win the “A” final on Friday night, scoring four points in the last end for the comeback win. MacFadyen advanced to the “C” semi by eliminating Devin Schut (Mitchell’s brother) with an 8-4 win Saturday afternoon.

The Monday championship games are scheduled for 9:30 am and 1:30 pm. Five boy’s and six girl’s teams took part in this event, for curlers under age 18. The winners advance to the inaugural Canadian Under 18 Boys and Girls Curling Championship, operated by Curling Canada, April 18 to 22 at Curl Moncton and on arena ice at Moncton’s Superior Propane Centre.

The Provincial Under 18 Curling Championships got underway Friday at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, with five boy’s and six girl’s teams competing, three draws played, and the “A” sections final winners determined in the Modified Triple Knockout draw. The “A” winners, both from the Cornwall Curling Club, were the defending girl’s U18 champion Lauren Lenentine rink,  three members of whom are on the reigning U21 team as well, and the Mitchell Schut team, who finished third last year in the boy’s section. They have earned berths in their respective Monday championship rounds, and also drop down to compete in the “B” and “C” sections. If either Lenentine or Schut were to win all three sections, their respective 2 game Monday championship round would not be necessary. If a team wins two sections, they would win the championship if they won either championship round game, while their opponent would have to win both.

Photo: Lauren Lenentine delivers a rock, while Tati Kelly (left) and Rachel O’Connor prepare to sweep.

Lenentine, whose team includes third Kristie Rogers, second Tati Kelly, and lead Rachel O’Connor, with coach Pat Quilty, dominated in her “A” final game against Cornwall clubmate Rachel MacLean, taking 5 points in the first end, and going on to win 13-1 in just six ends. Lenentine won her opener 7-1 against Alexis Burris, also from Cornwall, while MacLean beat clubmate Lauren Ferguson 7-4 in her first game, taking three points in the final end.

Photo: Skip Schut joins in the sweeping, and third Colin MacKenzie steps in too, to get the winning rock into the rings.

Mitchell Schut and his team of third Colin MacKenzie, second Michael MacEwen, lead Liam Kelly and coach Nancy Yeo, edged last year’s runner-up team, skipped by Cornwall clubmate Donald DeWolfe, with members from the Cornwall, Silver Fox, and Western Community clubs, 5-4 in their opener, but ran into trouble in the seventh end of the “A” final against Parker MacFadyen and his rink from the Silver Fox, Montague, and Cornwall, when MacFadyen picked up four points to lead 8-5 going into the final end. Schut was lying three going into his final shot, a draw for the win, and knew he was light on release, but, with a lot of sweeping, the rock managed to hit the rings for the 9-8 comeback win. MacFadyen  beat the other Schut brother in the event, Devin, 7-2 to advance to the “A” final.

Lenentine now takes on the host club’s Katie Shaw rink, while MacLean faces clubmate Burris in the girl’s “B” semi-finals at 9:30 Saturday morning, with the winners advancing to the “B” final at 1:30 pm. Schut is already in the 1:30 pm boy’s “B” final, where he will play the winner of a 9:30 game between MacFadyen and DeWolfe. The “C” event goes on Sunday, also with 9:30 am and 1:30 pm draws, with the championship round, if needed, going Monday, also at 9:30 am and, if necessary, 1:30 pm.

The winning U18 teams earn the right to compete in the inaugural Canadian Under 18 Boys and Girls Curling Championship, operated by Curling Canada, April 18 to 22 at Curl Moncton and on arena ice at Moncton’s Superior Propane Centre.

Here is a gallery of photos from the boy’s final and the closing ceremonies of the 2017 PEI Under 18 Curling Championships at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, won by the Donald DeWolfe rink over the Mitchell Schut foursome by a 4-3 score.

Click on a picture to enlarge, and use arrows or swipe right/left (touchscreen) to go ahead and back.