It was not an ideal start for Steve Laycock, but his team survived until the end and won the Weatherford Classic.
Laycock defeated Brent Pierce 6-3 in the final of the World Curling Tour event on Monday at the Power Dodge Curling Centre in Estevan.
It was the second straight year Estevan has hosted a WCT event. The purse for the triple knockout tournament was $32,000, and 24 teams entered, including six from Estevan.
Laycock and his Saskatoon team of Kirk Muyres (third), Colton Flasch (second) and Dallan Muyres (lead) earned $10,000 of that purse.
The turning point of Monday's final came in the sixth end, when Laycock, last year's Saskatchewan men's champion, executed a tap back to score three. That gave him a 5-3 lead.
"It was massive. Not only did it get us the lead, but to be up two, it gave us a bit of a cushion in the seventh. We ended up getting the extra break with the steal, but even if we would have given up a deuce in seven, we would've been fine with that. We would have come into eight tied with hammer."
The steal in the seventh end came when Laycock made a double takeout to clear the house and Pierce's final shot went awry.Â
In the eighth and final end, Laycock ran Pierce out of rocks, which brought out the handshakes.
"Once you get up by three coming home, even with the free guard zone, as long as you make the peels, it's just going to be a wide open hit for the win, and that's what it ended up being," said Laycock.
Pierce, a four-time provincial champion from British Columbia, blanked the first two ends before settling for a single in the third after his draw came up short.
"In the third, where he missed his draw for two, that was unbelievable. He played it in the exact same spot and the sweepers weren't worried about weight, so I'm wondering if that picked or if he just got in a wider spot where it was heavier. I didn't expect that at all, and we took advantage of it by getting the lead in the next end," said Laycock.
In the fourth, Laycock threw a hit for two to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Pierce countered in the fifth end with a draw for two.
The Laycock team started off by losing two of their first three games, including a 6-3 loss to Estevan's Brent Gedak on Friday. However, they won their next two to make the playoffs.
Laycock and Gedak met again in the quarterfinals. Gedak and his team of Catlin Schneider (third), Derek Owens (second) and Shawn Meyer (lead) were undefeated up until that point, winning their first four games against the likes of Laycock, Randy Bryden and Jamie Schneider.
However, Laycock won this time, earning an 8-6 victory in a highly entertaining contest. Laycock scored two in the seventh to grab the lead, then stole a point in the eighth.
"That was one of the best games we've been involved in all year. The shot-making was incredible. To come out on the good end of that was obviously very rewarding," said Laycock.
The Saskatoon team then defeated Bryden 5-3 in the semis on Monday morning.
Laycock said the ice gave his team some trouble in the early going.
"I think we were just getting caught a little bit on how the speed was different. It wasn't really as different as we were thinking it was. There were a few picks we had early in the event where the ice was a little bit softer, and that made us lose our confidence in our draw weight. Once we really zeroed in on what the ice was actually doing, we started to play really well."
Some other Estevan rinks had some success. The Trent Walter rink won three of their six games.
The team skipped by Colby Fessler won two of five games, as did the Jeff Mosley rink. The Layne Hawrylak and Mark Weiss foursomes each won a game and lost three.
Other rinks were skipped by Jason Ackerman, Scott Bitz, Dean Clark, Clint Dieno, Jeff Hartung, Drew Heidt, Josh Heidt, Ryan Hyde, Kevin Marsh, Terry Marteniuk, Braeden Moskowy, Ryan Skjerdal, Tyson Verbeem and Shane Vollman.
