“The harder it is the sweeter”: Carruthers is tied with Brier, but just barely

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STONEWALL — It was more than just a ride, but it added a little juice to the celebration.

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Pre-Bonspiel favorite Reed Carruthers and his new skip Brad Jacobs did what they had to do at Stonewall on Sunday and won the Manitoba men's curling championship.

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How they did it – losing twice during the week, having to play in the Sunday morning semi-final, and then being edged in that game and in the afternoon final – was not necessarily expected.

“This is the toughest challenge I've ever faced in the province,” Carruthers said minutes after it was over. “Not saying some of the other battles were crazy, but overall…holy smokes. We had some crazy games against good young teams. It makes me want to retire.”

Instead, he and longtime teammates Derek Samagalski and Connor Niegovan will take Jacobs, a Northern Ontario transplant, to the Brier in Regina.

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Former Olympic champion Sault Ste. With Marie calling the shots, Carruthers' team needed a last-rock draw from Jacobs to pull off an upset and beat Braden Calvert's foursome, who came into the finals undefeated, 6-3.

“I feel bad for them, I really do,” Jacobs said. “They played great today and all week. It was the hardest final I've ever played going into the Brier. I played in many finals.”

After 13 Briers, Jacobs' final cliffhanger didn't diminish the power of his victory lap.

Carberry's favorite skip, who never went, added to the pain on his face.

“It's devastating,” Calvert said. “A childhood dream. At the top of our game, we can keep up with them. And we did. We have to keep knocking on doors.”

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Oh, they beat well.

The teams traded doubles to start and left third before Calvert was forced to take one out in the fourth.

He returned the favor and forced Carruthers to settle for one-sixth.

There was a turning point in the eighth, when Calvert missed a double that would have left him with two outs on the defense.

Instead, he left Carruthers as a pair.

Calvert's last rock got one, but not two, and a steal put Carruthers up 4-3.

Calvert finished ninth and finished 10th.

“We had a couple of misses,” the 28-year-old said. “They finally made all their shots in the 10th. That was the difference.”

It was a great week for the former world champion, including a win over Carruthers.

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Losing the latter tends to turn it all off.

Overcoming adversity to win puts you on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum.

“You saw us partying over there,” Jacobs said. “I don't think we can really help it. Usually, the harder it is, the sweeter it is.''

The 38-year-old said he proudly wears the buffalo jacket with Regina, who is hungry to climb the national mountain for the first time since 2013.

“Hunger is not a problem for me,” Jacobs said. “We can handle it. Why not? Somebody's got to win this thing.”

Carruthers' only win came in 2011 with Jeff Stoughton's team.

Together they pack a punch or two.

“We are always confident when we reach our next goals,” said Njegovan. “If we have these two throw the last four stones, we'll be in a good place.”

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They proved they can grind this week.

“You can't count us out,” Carruthers said.

The Brier is the ultimate test of that.

Jacobs calls it a tough measure of skill, patience and mental toughness

“And we welcome the invitation.”

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Teenagers will go toe to toe with the Olympic champion

The 20-year-old, a former Brier and Olympic champion, had all the signs of inconsistency in Sunday's semifinal at the Manitoba men's curling championships.

It was far from it.

Jordon McDonald's junior provincial championship team gave Brad Jacobs and Reid Carruthers their all at the Veterans Memorial Sports Complex in Stonewall.

Jacobs had to pull off a tough double kill with the final rock, scoring three goals to escape with a 10-7 win.

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“It was a battle,” Jacobs said. “I didn't know they had it in them. Thanks to them. This is a great team.”

The teams were tied, 7-7, in the 10th inning, with Team Carruthers hammering.

MacDonald forced Jacobs to swing the hammer with precision that made his teammates on the ice proud.

“It's a shame we lost there, but we gave it our all,” said the skip. “To throw them the last stone, it's not an easy shot, proud of it.”

McDonald will defend his provincial junior title in Karman later this month after becoming the 2013 Olympic gold medalist and Manitoba champion at Carruthers.

“It puts our confidence through the roof,” MacDonald said. “We know now that we can play with the best teams in the world.”

Backed by Dallas Burgess, Elias Huminicki and Cameron Olafson, McDonald's team will make another trip to the Junior National Championship.

“They play very smart,” Jacobs said. “They handle the rocks well. They talk well. They do everything a world-class junior team does. This team is probably playing beyond its years.”

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