GUELPH, Ont. - Being the host team for the OUA Curling Championships, the Guelph Gryphons put together strong runs from both their men's and women's teams. In the end, the Gryphons played to a pair of top four finishes with the men's team claiming an OUA bronze medal and a spot at the U SPORTS Curling Championships.

RESULTS / FINAL STANDINGS
 

After both sides advanced all the way to the semi-finals, they each wound up finding themselves in the bronze medal games following very close losses.

On the men's side, they were able to bounce back from a tight semi-final loss to the Laurier Golden Hawks with a tremendous performance in the bronze medal game. Taking on the Toronto Varsity Blues with not only an OUA bronze medal on the line, but also a spot at nationals as well, the Gryphons defeated Toronto 7-3 to earn their place at the U SPORTS Curling Championships. 

Playing a picture perfect first half, the Gryphs forced the Varsity Blues to singles in the 1st and 3rd ends, while securing two points of their own in both the 2nd and 4th ends. With a 4-2 lead at the break, Guelph continued to force Toronto's hand. After a blank in the 5th, the Gryphons held the Blues to just one in the 6th giving Guelph a 4-3 lead and hammer with just two ends to play. With only one rock remaining in the 7th, and Gryphon's skip Dylan Niepage staring at an opportunity for three, the Barrie, Ontario native made no mistake on a soft hit to put Guelph up 7-3 which led to the Varsity Blues deciding to shake hands.

"Going in to that shot we knew the ice there and we knew that path," Niepage said. "I was confident in our teams ability to make that shot and then once we did we were extremely ecstatic to see the result."

"It's been a great experience so far with myself being a first year with this program and we can't wait to continue it at nationals."

After finishing a back and forth round robin with a 3-4 record, the Gryphons picked up the last playoff spot in Pool 'A' and certainly went on to make the most of it.

Drawing a 6-1 McMaster Marauders squad that finished atop Pool 'B' in the quarter-finals, the Gryphons never quit attitude showed through. After giving up four points in the 3rd end, which put them down 5-2, the Gryphons went on to outscore the Marauders 7-1 over the final five ends en route to their 9-6 victory. Then in the semi's Guelph came up against a strong Laurier side that they couldn't quite get passed, falling 5-3, which ultimately set them up for their great bronze medal performance.

"It's a surreal experience," said Gryphon's head coach Steve Szymanski. "I've been with the program for five years and we've yet to have the chance to go to nationals on the men's side, and it's been quite a while. So to see the hand shakes at the end was a great achievement for our guys. It was so great to see the way they played throughout the final game."

The U SPORTS Curling Championship will take place in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba from March 11-15, which will now be marked on the calendars for everyone involved with the Gryphon's men's team.

For the Gryphon's women, the bronze medal match just simply wound up being not their day. With Laurier making seemingly every shot, easy or difficult, the Gryphons were unable to keep and despite their best efforts and tremendous shot making of their own, Guelph unfortunately found themselves on the wrong end of an 8-1 final. Although it was a tough way to finish, the team still put together a strong five days of work, that saw them just narrowly miss out on a spot in the gold medal game.

Getting themselves adjusted to the big stage of an OUA championship tournament, the Gryphons dropped their first three matches in the round robin. With their backs then against the wall as they tried to figure out a way to make a playoff push the team of Rachel Steele, Alyson Duguid, Melanie Ebach, Alice Holyoke and Rebecca Smith simply got to work. After the tough start, the Gryphons went on to win three of their last four matches and ultimately secured the final playoff spot in Pool 'A'. 

Taking on 6-1 and top seed from Pool 'B', the Waterloo Warriors, Guelph battled all game long and were rewarded for their efforts in the end. Scoring two points in the 5th end and stealing one more in the 6th, the Gryphons were able to establish a 4-2 lead. After Waterloo fought back and tied the game to force an extra end, the Gryphons were able to secure a single point with last rock and punch their ticket to the semi's where they would meet the defending champion Queen's Gaels.

Despite giving the Gaels nearly all they could handle in the match, it was Queen's sneaking out with a 5-4 win in an extra end.

"After a tough start to the week the girls had to fight hard, and they did just that," said Gryphon's head coach Byron Scott. "We played really strong to get into the playoffs and then had two spectacular games, but unfortunately in the end we just ran in to a really hot Laurier skip."