GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons varsity curling teams will officially get their 2023-24 season underway this weekend (Nov. 11-12) as they host the Gryphon Invitational at the Guelph Curling Club. It marks the first of two significant hosting opportunities for the Gryphons varsity curling program this season, with the Guelph Curling Club also serving as the host venue for the 2024 OUA Men's and Women's Curling Championships, which will take place in February of 2024 when the best collegiate curlers from across the province gather in Guelph to battle for OUA bragging rights. Should the Gryphons men's or women's teams earn a top-three finish at the 2024 OUA Curling Championships, they would then receive a spot at nationals in March, with the 2024 U SPORTS/Curling Canada Curling Championships set to take place in Fredericton, New Brunswick (March 12-16, 2024). We get you set for the university curling season ahead with a breakdown of our Guelph Gryphons men's and women's curling teams for the 2023-24 campaign.
2023-24 Gryphons Men's Curling
"Expectations are high, with goals of performing well at OUA's and getting back to national stage," says
Steve Szymanski, who enters his 9th season of coaching with the University of Guelph curling program, the past seven of which he has served as head coach of the men's curling team.
"The guys have a strong focus on representing Canada at FISU and have worked extremely hard leading up to this 2023-24 season, so it will be exciting to watch them compete over the next five months to see how far they can go."
While
Steve Szymanski (men's head coach) and
Geoffrey Johnson (women's head coach) both return for the 2023-24 university curling season, the Gryphons varsity curling program also added two key pieces to their coaching staff for the upcoming season with the addition of assistant coaches
Morgan Lavell and
Jennifer Cuddie. Lavell is a University of Guelph alum and a prominent name in the curling community with a long list of accomplishments on her curling resumé, including having competed at the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Jennifer Cuddie provides the Gryphons coaching staff with another knowledgeable and accomplished voice. Cuddie joins the Gryphon curling program having already established some personal connections and familiarity with some of the returning student-athletes, with Jennifer having coached current Gryphons
Jayden King and
Gavin Lydiate at the U21 nationals this past March.
The Gryphons men's curling team enters the 2023-24 university curling season with a talented and experienced group of student-athletes. Leading the way for the Gryphons on the men's side is veteran skip,
Jayden King, who enters his fourth season with the University of Guelph men's curling team.
King, a 21-year-old human kinetics major, is a two-time OUA All-Star, having earned OUA First Team All-Star status during the 2021-22 season, followed by an OUA Second Team All-Star nod during the 2022-23 season. The native of Courtland, Ontario has helped lead the Gryphons to a pair of 4th-place finishes at each of the past two OUA Curling Championships. Jayden has also impressed outside of his collegiate schedule, competing in full men's events outside of the university schedule, where Team King currently ranks 4th in the province in C.T.R.S. points (Canadian Team Ranking System). Jayden has also impressed off the ice, with the human kinetics major earning U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian status while also being involved with the Gryphon Leadership Academy.
Dylan Niepage, a 22-year-old accounting major from Oro Medonte, Ontario, enters his final season as a Gryphon after having served as the Gryphons skip in each of the past three seasons, including a memorable 2019-20 campaign in which he helped lead the Gryphons men's team
to an OUA bronze medal finish at OUA's followed by a
4th-place finish at nationals.
In 2022, Niepage also competed at the national level as part of an all-U of G squad at the 2022 New Holland Canadian U-21 Men's Curling Championships in Stratford, where he represented Ontario #2 alongside fellow Gryphons
Daniel Del Conte,
Jayden King and
Gavin Lydiate. Del Conte (OUA First Team All-Star in 2021-22) and Lydiate (OUA Second Team All-Star in 2021-22) both return to the Gryphons for the 2023-24 curling season.
Carter Bryant, a fourth-year marine and freshwater biology major, rounds out the 2023-24 men's squad as the team's 5th, with the Brantford native having contributed to the Gryphons men's team in 2022-23 that earned a 4th-place finish at the OUA Championships.
2023-24 Gryphons Women's Curling
"We are excited to get the new season underway this weekend with our home event at the Guelph Curling Club," says
Geoffrey Johnson, who enters his third season as head coach of the Gryphons women's curling program.
"We have a great mix of both new and returning athletes that bring a wealth of experience and pedigree to the team, which will bode well as we build towards OUA's in February. I fully expect to see our team compete with the 'best of the best' this season and anticipate that we will be in the mix for the OUA title."
Helping lead the way for the Gryphons women's curling team in 2023-24 is
Jillian Uniacke. The 22-year-old political science major takes over as the women's skip following the graduation of
Rachel Steele. Uniacke, a native of Perth, Ontario, enters her fourth-year academically, and third-year of eligibility. Uniacke served as the team's second a season ago, with the Gryphons posting a solid record of 2-2 in pool play at last season's OUA Curling Championships, only to fall just short of reaching the knockout stage.
Monica Tanguay returns to the Gryphons as the team's lead, with the Shawville, Quebec native now in her third year of studies at U of G (management) and second-year of eligibility.
Toronto native,
Abigail Parkinson, joins the team in 2023-24 as vice, with the 18-year-old mathematical science major entering her first year at the University of Guelph. Another Gryphon rookie to keep an eye out for is
Liana Flanagan, an 18-year-old native of Embrun, Ontario (just outside Ottawa) who took home silver while representing Team Ontario at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in P.E.I. Rounding out the 2023-24 Gryphons women's curling team is Markham, Ontario native,
Sarah Woodward, who was a late addition to the Gryphons a season ago, with the criminal justice major set to return for her sophomore year at U of G as the team's 5th.
Following this weekend's Gryphon Invitational, the Gryphon curling teams will also compete at the Brock Invitational in St. Catharines (January 20-21). The Gryphons will then be the host school at the 2024 OUA Men's and Women's Curling Championships, set to take place February 2-to-4, 2024 at the Guelph Curling Club. The last time the Guelph Gryphons were crowned OUA champions was in 1980, a year in which the Gryphons swept the provincial banner on both the men's and women's sides.
