Men’s Curling wins bronze at U SPORTS National Championship

Aggressive draw game leads Gaels to podium 

Image supplied by: Supplied by Duncan Bell
Queen's won bronze.

The Queen’s Men’s Curling team brought home a bronze medal at the U SPORTS Men’s Curling Championship in Sudbury this past weekend. 

The Gaels defeated the Calgary Dinos, UNB Reds, Alberta Golden Bears, and SMU Huskies on their path to the semifinals. Unfortunately, the Laurier Golden Hawks edged Queen’s 12-10 in that matchup, ending their quest for gold. 

In the bronze match, the Gaels took on the Laurentian Voyageurs. They scored the winning point in a riveting 10th end, finishing off the close game with a 6-5 win and 

a medal. 

“It feels really good; the bronze medal is very rewarding, especially after a tough semi-final loss to the eventual champions, Laurier,” Colin Schnurr, a competitor on the curling team, told The Journal. 

The team had a slow start this season, but gained momentum after winning a local tournament.

“We had a warm-up tournament here in Kingston called the Ted Brown Classic. The team ended up doing really well in that tournament, and that kind of got our momentum rolling into OUAs where we also played extremely well all week,” Schnurr said.  

At U SPORTS, the team was led by seasoned skip Owen Purdy, who just completed his fifth season with Queen’s Curling. Purdy has been an essential player for the team throughout his time at Queen’s, starting as a lead before ending his last three seasons as the skip. 

His collegiate resume is impressive: he was named Queen’s rookie of the year and an OUA team all-star during the 2018-19 season. He told The Journal he’s grown a lot since then and feels his draw and low weight game have improved significantly. 

“I’ve definitely become a lot more mature […] as the skip, you have to be able to make the final draw, no matter the situation, cause if you miss that draw, you’re going to be giving up a lot of points,” Purdy said. 

In a sport like curling, mistakes are easily made. Choosing the wrong shot or not accounting for the opponent’s stones can have significant consequences, but Purdy told The Journal he’s gained some valuable lessons from these high stakes. 

“Number one thing is never get upset at anyone […] after a loss everyone is blaming themselves.”

Purdy was named Varsity Student-Athlete of the Week after his phenomenal performance at U SPORTS last week. He accredits the bronze medal victory—and the Gael’s overall record this season—to the team’s aggressive play. 

“As a team we are very, very aggressive, probably one of the most aggressive teams that was at the tournament,” he said. 

The Gaels are now looking ahead to next year, proud of their accomplishments. The team will be recruiting new players, as Purdy and Schnurr will graduate, but remain huge fans of the team. 

“Our goal was to medal at U SPORTS […] we met our goal and did the best we could,” Purdy said. 

Tags

bronze, Curling, USPORTS

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