That's a Wrap - Lakeland Rustlers Curling

Lakeland's curling season was mostly uneventful, until the final end left the Rustlers with another mixed title.

The curling program faced a season mostly spent on rebuilding, with only Sam O'Reilly, Makaila Peutert, Mackenzie Devenis and Grace Christensen serving as returning players. The rest of the roster was filled with rookies, including Wainwright's Spencer Rogan.

The teams began sanctioned play with the ACAC Fall Regional in Late November, hosted by the SAIT Trojans in Airdrie. The men's team had a tough showing, going 1-4 over the weekend, their lone win a 13-0 blowout over the NAIT Ooks, while the women had an almost identical result in five contests. The mixed team wen winless in four games.

In the Winter Regional, hosted by Concordia, the men's team did not compete and the women went 1-4 once again, failing to qualify for the ACAC championships. The mixed team meanwhile had a much better showing, going 4-1, top of the standings for the division. As a result, they were the lone curling squad to represent the Rustlers at home, when Lakeland hosted the ACAC tournament in Vermilion.

Rogan went into the Championship as the team's skip, joined by Grace Christensen, O'Reilly and Ryan Chesterman. Head Coach Dusty Makichuk noted several challenges the group faced due to athlete eligibility.

"A little bit of a rough start, with trades people that could only play in one semester, so we had to juggle a few teams around," he said. "But they came together at the end [for the mixed team]."

In round robin play, the mixed team went perfect, defeating RDP 8-4, Portage College 7-6 and NAIT 8-1. Seeded first, the Rustlers faced the Ooks in the 1-2 game, with the winner going to the final and the loser having a second semifinal A back and forth affair eventually went the way of the Ooks, leaving Lakeland with another matchup against Red Deer.

Things initially went sideways, as RDP jumped to a quick 3-0 lead. However, Lakeland refused to go away and chipped at the lead over several ends to tie the game. After the two squads traded blows for the next four ends, the Rustlers escaped with a one-point victory and a berth in Sunday's gold medal game.

Facing the NAIT Ooks for the third time that weekend, Lakeland picked up a point in the first before stealing multiple ends. Heading into the seventh, the Rustlers lead 7-1 and the Oooks conceded the victory. This was the second mixed title for Grace Christensen and O'Reilly, after they were apart of the previous mixed squad.

Rogan earned ACAC Athlete of the Week honours for his performance as skip over the weekend.

Kevin Mizera was named Rookie of the Year for curling at the Rustlers Awards banquet, while Grace Christensen was Most Improved, Peutert received the Rustler Award and Rogan was MVP.

Makichuk said getting to repeat as mixed champions was a great way for the season to end, particularly being able to do that in front of home fans.

"You never want to participate when you don't have a team in play," he said. "We had to play extra to win it, but the team did very well,"

Lakeland will hit the ice next season with several athletes returning, hoping for another crack at ACAC title glory. The Rustlers will also host the first Regional event of the curling season Nov. 24-26 in Vermilion.