GUELPH, Ont. - Serving as hosts of the 2024 OUA Curling Championships, the Guelph Gryphons curling teams put together strong showings at the Guelph Curling Club, with the U of G men capturing the bronze medal while the Gryphon women earned a spot in the quarterfinal stage before falling just short to the eventual OUA bronze medalists from the University of Waterloo. While the 2024 curling season comes to a close for the Gryphons women's curling team, the Gryphon men will now set their sights on the national stage thanks to their 3rd-place finish, which books them a spot at the 2024 U SPORTS/Curling Canada Curling Championships in March, hosted by the University of New Brunswick.
RESULTS / FINAL STANDINGS
After a narrow loss to the Brock Badgers in the OUA semifinals, the Gryphon men were able to bounce back with a tremendous effort in the OUA bronze medal match versus the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday evening at the Guelph Curling Club. The Gryphons opened the bronze medal match with points in each of the first three ends before the Varsity Blues tied things up in the fourth.
They would then respond by scoring two in the fifth end and stealing one in the sixth before allowing just two points the remainder of the match to earn a 6-5 over the Varsity Blues and return to the podium.
"I was really proud of this team and how we bounced back after the semifinal loss and came out really sharp," says Gryphon skip
Jayden King, who will be representing the Gryphons at nationals for the first time in his collegiate career. "We put rocks in great spots and we knew they'd make some shots. They're a great team but we knew we just had to keep doing what we were doing and the results come."
"It's great being on the podium and we love the opportunity to curl at nationals and play for the chance to represent Canada at FISU, it's going to be a lot of fun."
The Gryphons opened the tournament facing off with the eventual repeat OUA Champion Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, falling 6-4 in a tightly contested game that came down to final two ends. The opening match of pool play would prove to be the Gryphons only loss before the knockout round, with the team completing a convincing win against the TMU Bold, before defeating the Carleton Ravens and Algoma Thunderbirds to advance to the quarterfinal round with a 3-1 record.
In the quarterfinal round the Gryphons faced off with the Carleton Ravens for the second time of the tournament, taking a much more convincing win the second time around and advancing to the semifinals with a 6-2 win.
For their efforts in helping lead the Gryphons back to the provincial podium
Gavin Lydiate was named a first-team OUA All-Star alongside teammate
Daniel Del Conte, who earned second-team OUA All-Star status.
"Making it to nationals is every team's dream. We've had back-to-back fourth-place finishes so to break through was astronomical for these guys," says Gryphons men's curling head coach
Steve Szymanski who has led the Gryphons back to the U SPORTS Championships for the first time since the 2019-20 season. "The bronze medal match was a hard fought game. U of T is a strong team, we've battled them before and been on the wrong side of the things but today we we were back on the right side. After taking an early lead we let them back into the game, but then we held strong and finished strong with a two and a steal to secure this bronze medal. Assistant coach Jennifer Cuddie was also amazing with these four guys out on the ice today."
On the women's side it was a strong weekend performance for the Gryphons who reached the quarterfinal round after narrowly missing out last season.
In the quarterfinals, the Gryphons faced off with the eventual OUA bronze medalist Waterloo Warriros. In what was their second meeting of the tournament, the Gryphons and Warriors played a tightly contested match which would go to a 9th end. In the extra frame, the Warriors would score the go-ahead point and take the win 3-2.
Despite the quarterfinal loss the Gryphons still impressed at the Guelph Curling Club, earning their first two wins over the Carleton Ravens and Windsor Lancers by way of 11-2 and 8-1 victories that saw the opposing teams concede in the fifth and sixth ends. Saturday proved to be a much more difficult day for the Gryphons, who fell to the TMU Bold 6-4 before ending pool play with an 8-3 loss to the Waterloo Warriors.
For more information on the 2024 OUA Curling Championships, head to oua.ca.
2024 OUA Men's Curling All-Stars
First Team
Skip: Chris Inglis, Trent Excalibur
Vice: Victor Pietrangelo, Brock Badgers
Second: Gavin Lydiate, Guelph Gryphons
Lead: Patrick Sipura, Brock Badgers
Second Team
Skip: Daniel Hocevar, Toronto Varsity Blues
Vice: Landon Rooney, Toronto Varsity Blues
Second: Grant Schnurr, Queen's Gaels
Lead: Daniel Del Conte, Guelph Gryphons
2024 OUA Women's Curling All-Stars
First Team
Skip: Celia Evans, Waterloo Warriors
Vice: Michaela Robert, Queen's Gaels
Second: Kayla Gordon, Queen's Gaels
Lead: Sadie McCutcheon, Queen's Gaels
Second Team
Skip: Julia Markle, Brock Badgers
Vice: Evelyn Robert, McMaster Marauders
Second: Clara Dissanayake, McMaster Marauders
Lead: Emma McKenzie, Laurier Golden Hawks
