CALGARY - Braeden Moskowy completed a Saskatchewan sweep of Canada's junior curling championships Sunday and became just the fifth men's team in history to go undefeated in the tournament at 13-0.
Moskowy's Regina rink edged Ontario's Matt Camm 8-7 in an extra end in the men's final a day after Trish Paulsen's Saskatoon team took the women's title.
The Saskatchewan teams will represent Canada at the world junior curling championships March 5-13 in Perth, Scotland.
Canada hasn't won a world junior championship since Alberta's Charley Thomas took the men's title in 2007. That three-year span is Canada's longest drought since going four years in a row without a gold medal between 1990 and 1993.
"The nice thing about Canada is anything less than the gold is unacceptable and we know that and we feel the same way," Moskowy said.
Moskowy, third Kirk Muyres, second Colton Flasch and lead Matt Lang out of the Caledonian Curling Club join a small group of undefeated men's teams at the Canadian junior championships, following Manitoba's Hugh McFadyen (1986), Alberta's Wayne Saboe (1963), Saskatchewan's Mike Lukowich (1962) and Saskatchewan's Gary Thode (1952).
McFadyen is currently the leader of the opposition in the Manitoba legislature. This Saskatchewan team wasn't even born when his team went 12-0 in Red Deer, Alta.
"That is something I'm extremely proud of," Moskowy said of his team's perfect record. "There's barely any teams that have done it. There's so many good teams every single year and it's such a grind, to come out every single game and play well is such a tough task."
The men's final at the North Hill Curling Club ended with drama as it took a measurement on shot stones to declare Saskatchewan the winner.
Ontario had two stones angled tightly together on the top of the four-foot rings and Moskowy removed the counter closest to the button. Ontario third Scott Howard called for a measurement and Saskatchewan counterpart Muyres pumped his fist when his team was awarded the point.
"I'm going to say a quarter of an inch, maybe a little bit more than a quarter of an inch," Muyres said of the margin of his team's win.
Moskowy led 5-2 after five ends, but Camm's Ottawa rink fought back by scoring two in the sixth and then took advantage of a sloppy seventh by Saskatchewan to steal another pair.
"Tragic, tragic," Moskowy said. "Worst end of the week for sure."
After blanking the eighth, Moskowy regained the lead with a deuce in the ninth to lead 7-6 without the hammer coming home. Camm was held to one point with last-rock advantage in the 10th to send the game into an extra end.
"That was as close as it could have been, a measurement on the last rock and they pulled it through," Camm said. "We fought for it."
Ontario went 9-3 to finish second in the round robin and advanced to the final with a 6-4 win over Colin Thomas of Newfoundland and Labrador in the semifinal earlier Sunday.
The Saskatchewan men's team are an imposing foursome as Moskowy is six foot four, Muyres is six foot three, Flasch is six foot two and Lang is six foot one.
The last time Canada was represented by men's and women's teams from Saskatchewan was 2003, when Marliese Miller and Steve Laycock swept the world titles.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Muyres said. "The world is getting better and it's scary because everyone expects you to be the best, but geez, there's good teams. We've got to play damn good to win it."
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