THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay will be well represented at the National U21 Curling Championships next month.
Skip Claire Dubinsky and her teammates – lead Lily Ariganello, second Bella McCarville and third Rylie Paul, punched their ticket to nationals on Saturday, then capped off a solid week at the Northern Ontario playdowns in New Liskeard, Ont., with an 8-7 win over Sudbury’s Mia Toner to capture the women’s championship.
They’ll be joined by a pair of Thunder Bay curlers on the men’s side of the bracket.
Skip Brendan Rajala of Sudbury, whose team lost its first three games before winning their final round-robin match to force a tiebreaker for the second spot in Sunday’s final, scored a 7-3 win over Sudbury’s Ian Deschene to win the title and a spot at nationals.
Rajala took the lead with two in the second, then, up 3-2, stole three in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
Thunder Bay’s Adam Wiersema plays lead for the Northern Ontario champions and Jackson Dubinsky is the team’s third.
Thunder Bay’s Brayden Sinclair of the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club plays second for Team Deschene.
