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BC junior curlers bring home third national gold

Team BC, headed by skip Tyler Tardi, emerged triumphant 91Ƶ again 91Ƶ from the Canadian juniors Sunday.
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Team BC91Ƶs skip Tyler Tardi surveys the house, and directs a shot by one of his squad during the gold medal finals today (Sunday) at the New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships. (Michael Burns/Curling Canada)

They91Ƶre in a league of their own.

A young Langley-based curling team 91Ƶ headed up by skip Tyler Tardi and vice-skip Sterling Middleton 91Ƶ has etched its name in the record book today.

The duo won their third New Holland Canadian Junior title in a row 91Ƶ a feat never before accomplished.

91ƵIt91Ƶs unreal the fact that this has only been done twice before and how this is such a rare feat,91Ƶ Tardi said of his accomplishment with Middleton. 91ƵIt91Ƶs an incredible feeling and to be doing it with one of my best friends is extra special.91Ƶ

The British Columbia team is made up of Tardi (a Cloverdale skip who plays out of the Langley Curling Centre), Middleton (the third who hails from Fort. St. John, and curls out of New Westminster), Matthew Hall (second, who lives in Cloverdale but also plays out of the Langley rink), and Alex Horvath (the lead who plays out of Victoria). The coach is Tyler91Ƶs father, Paul.

Manitoba was the only team, who in the week leading up to the finals, was actually able to beat British Columbia. But Manitoba couldn91Ƶt do it a second time.

When it came to the gold-medal round today (Sunday) at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, Sask., Tardi and his team triumphed over J.T. Ryan91Ƶs Manitoba team by the score of 7-5.

Team BC opened the scoring in the second end with an angle raise takeout for three.

But Manitoba91Ƶs Ryan took control of the middle portion of the game. Ryan, vice-skip Jacques Gauthier (Tardi91Ƶs cousin), second Jordan Peters, lead Cole Chandler and coach John Lund scored two in the fourth and followed it with a steal of two in the fifth to lead by one point heading into the fifth-end break.

91ƵWe91Ƶre no stranger to giving up threes early. If you91Ƶre going to give up a three you want to give it up in the second end. We know we91Ƶve been resilient all week and we knew if we could string some shots together we could battle back and that91Ƶs what we did,91Ƶ Ryan said.

But British Columbia took control in the latter part of the game with a deuce in the eighth and a steal of one in the ninth end to lead 6-5. Manitoba had hammer in the final end, but over-swept its final attempt, causing the stone clip off another and give up a steal of one.

91ƵThey played unreal and we played one of our best games I91Ƶd say we ever played together too. It just wasn91Ƶt enough. It was an inch here or there,91Ƶ Ryan said.

With today91Ƶs win, Tardi and Middleton surpass the likes of John Morris, Craig Savill and Brent Laing 91Ƶ among others 91Ƶ who have all won back-to-back titles, but never a third.

Tardi and Middleton won their first New Holland Canadian Juniors title in 2017 in Victoria against their current second Hall, who was representing Ontario at the time.

91ƵIt was very emotional to see him kind of go crazy there,91Ƶ Middleton said of his second91Ƶs reaction to winning the national title. 91ƵThat91Ƶs how we all felt on our first one and I91Ƶm really excited he was on the right side of that one this time, because there91Ƶs no worse feeling than losing a big game like that.91Ƶ

The pair returned as part of the British Columbia team in Shawinigan, Que., in 2018 and defeated Northern Ontario91Ƶs Tanner Horgan in the final. While all three victories were sweet, Tardi believes they all hold a part in his memory for distinct reasons.

91ƵIt91Ƶs hard to pinpoint one that91Ƶs most special,91Ƶ he said.

91ƵThe first is unreal just because it91Ƶs the first time. Second we got to tie the record with some of the great junior curlers like John Morris and now to pass them is just an unbelievable feeling.91Ƶ

The team will represent Canada at the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool, N.S. from Feb. 16 to 23.

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Team BC91Ƶs skip Tyler Tardi surveys the house, and directs a shot by one of his squad during the gold medal finals today (Sunday) at the New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships. (Michael Burns/Curling Canada)


Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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