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Mcdonald making noise at Stonewall – Free press in Winnipeg

Posted on by Neons

STONEWALL is one of the best things you can say about a Manitoba curler. William Lyburn didn't say it was good. When asked what kind of talent 20-year-old skip Jordon McDonald is, he means every bit of it.

“I've been saying this for years. I think he's the closest I've seen to Jeff Stoughton in the shot put,” said Lieburn, 48, who coaches McDonald's Assiniboine and has filled in for them in the odd men's event this season.

He has a ways to go to get a resume close to Stoughton's, a two-time world champion, but MacDonald has had a solid start to his young career. With second Elias Huminicki and lead Cam Olafson, McDonald won the 2022 Manitoba under-18 and 2023 junior provincial championship titles. This season, with Thunder Bay's Dallas Burgess in third place, they have begun their climb to No. 25 in the Canadian Team Rankings at the men's level and No. 4 in this week's Manitoba Men's Provincials at Stonewall. They are currently 2-0 and will face fellow Assiniboine curler Brett Walter in the A-side playoff Friday morning – the No. 5 seed.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Twenty-year-old Jordon Macdonald's stone throw has been compared to that of two-time world champion Jeff Stoughton.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Twenty-year-old Jordon Macdonald has compared his stone throw to two-time world champion Jeff Stoughton.

“I played mixed doubles with his daughter (Elizabeth) a while back, so I know Jeff a little bit,” said MacDonald, who is on the University of Manitoba golf team.

“It's just an honor to have such a name. It makes you want to work harder and keep getting better.”

This season's junior provincials will be held in Carman on February 21-25. This year, the focus was on holding the men's tournaments with their own belts. They won three semifinals and one final at the Manitoba Curling Tour in East St. Paul and the shootout in Selkirk.

“Playing with youth teams doesn't help us like it used to. Playing more men allowed us to play more under pressure with different strategies with more stones in play. If we make it to (junior) nationals (March 24-31 in Fort McMurray, Alta.) I hope it's similar to the teams we play at nationals,” said MacDonald, last year's Canadian junior bronze medalist.

Despite being the youngest team in the top five, McDonald is eager to make some noise at Stonewall.

“We are trying to get to the final eight. I think we should try to play as much as we can. “The pressure shouldn't affect us because I think we're a little bit young, but there's always going to be pressure here,” McDonald said. Stoughton's famous spin-o-rama is in her repertoire, but don't expect to see it this week or anytime soon.

“I do it in practice, but I've never done it in a game. I don't like to throw it in the game, it's a little bit too much,” McDonald said.

Carruthers survived Thursday's scare

The student almost overpowers the teacher.

Logan Ede is a 21-year-old import skip from Kipling, Sask. – Traveled to Winnipeg to attend Reid Carruthers' curling camp. The two met again at Stonewall on Thursday afternoon and pushed Ede Carruthers, who plays third Rhys Hamm, second Emerson Klimpke and Ryan Zapotochny from Stonewall, to the limit.

With Brad Jacobs missing, No. 1 seed Carruthers scored one goal in the 10th to get eight points off the scoreboard to win 3-2.

With the win, they will play Charleswood's Riley Smith in Friday morning's playoff qualifier.

In other playoff qualifiers, Assiniboine's Ryan Wiebe and Beausejour's Justin Richter face MacDonald Walters and Dauphin's Greg Todoruk faces Fort Rouge's Brayden Calvert.

“Great game. Yes, they're a great team, but at the end of the day, it's just curling. You have to try to avoid distractions, including the other team,” Ede said.

“Our goal was that somebody had to make the shot to win, it was either me or Brad, and he had the shot to win and he did.”

Ede is in his first year playing on the men's side after winning the 2023 Saskatchewan Junior Championship. Ede and Hamm, who won the junior championship in Manitoba last year with MacDonald, have played each other several times on the under-21 circuit.

“I was ready to try something new this year and play with a new team for the men's team,” Ede said.

“Obviously it's a strong province for men's curling and you have to play with the best to be good.”

After starting the season second, Ede Klimpke switched positions and accepted the skip, helping the team qualify for provincials in early December.

Ede took on Charleswood's Darren Persche in the B-side event on Thursday night.