Travis Graham's team from the Burntwood Curling Club stayed alive until the second-last day of the 123rd-annual Manitoba Curling Association's men's bonspiel Jan. 20-24 in Winnipeg, compiling a 5-2 record before being knocked out on Sunday with an 8-3 loss to Brad Hemeryck of the Heather Curling Club in the quarterfinals of the Charles Fidler & Son event.
Graham's squad opened with an 8-3 victory over Andrew Swan's rink from the Thistle Curling Club in the first draw Jan. 20, then went on to beat Dave Tonnellier of the West Kildonan Curling Club 6-3 in the third draw on the morning of Jan. 21. That afternoon, the Burntwood Curlers picked up their third straight victory, 6-4 over Garth Smith of the Assiniboine Curling Club. The first taste of defeat for Graham's team came in the final draw of the second day of competition, when they were beaten 6-3 by Derek Dowsett's team from the Stonewall Curling Club.
The third day of the bonspiel started off with Graham's squad coming out on the wrong side of a close game, dropping a 5-4 decision to Nelson Robin's team from the St. Vital Curling Club, but they got back on the winning track that night with an 8-3 win over Kyle Armour of the Brandon Curling Club. The score was identical the next day, when Graham's team knocked off Joe Fouasse of the Heather Curling Club.
Graham's ride came to a close in Sunday's final draw, when his team lost to Hemeryck's squad.
The Burntwood Curling Club's other representative at the MCA bonspiel was Sam Antila's team, which also started off with a win, 8-4 over Paul Wainwright of the Warren Curling Club, in the first draw. The next game was a 6-5 loss to Rob Voss's team from the Rossmere Curling Club on Jan. 21.
Antila's squad was the loser in another 6-5 game that afternoon, to Robert Baldwinson's team from the Fort Garry Curling Club, but they rebounded in the day's final draw with a 6-4 win over Tony Brelis's team.
The Antila team's last two games of the bonspiel were a 6-2 loss to Nelson Karpa of the Deer Lodge Curling Club and a 9-4 defeat to Donovan Locken of the Charleswood Curling Club, both on Jan. 22.
