Playoff round finalized at Viterra Championship

The elite eight has been set at the Viterra Championship for the 100th edition of the Manitoba men’s curling playdowns.

All of the top five seeds qualified for the eight-team playoff round on Friday at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie.

Top seed and defending champion Reid Carruthers (Granite) stayed unbeaten with a third straight win over Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) in an A-Event qualifying game in Friday’s morning draw. With the game tied, Carruthers scored a four-ender in the eighth for a 10-7 victory to nail down a playoff spot.

But second seed Jordon McDonald (Assiniboine Memorial) saw his undefeated run come to an end as they were upset by Steve Irwin (Brandon) 9-3.

The third-seeded Braden Calvert (Fort Rouge) foursome punched their ticket to the playoffs with four separate steals in an 8-3 win over Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge).

And the fifth-ranked Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) rink picked up the fourth and final playoff spot from the A-Side with an 8-5 upset of fourth seed Jacques Gauthier (West St. Paul).

But McDonald, Gauthier, Grassie and Stewart all bounced back from losses to win their B-Event qualifiers in the evening to finalize the playoff round. Gauthier stole a single point in an extra end to oust Justin Richter (Beausejour).

Teams skipped by Kelly Marnoch (Carberry), Daniel Birchard (Pembina), Jace Freeman (Virden), and Edward Barr (Carberry), Devon Wiebe (Charleswood), Marcus Titchkosky (Morden), and Jordan Peters (Fort Rouge) were also eliminated from the original 32-team field.

The playoff round starts later on Friday with Carruthers to face Gauthier, Calvert takes on McDonald, Walter is matched up against Stewart and it’s Irwin versus Grassie in the other contest.

Four teams will advance from the playoffs to the championship round. It’ll be a Page Playoff format which begins on Saturday at 6 p.m. The final is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday.