RDC men open curling nationals with a win

Day 1 at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Curling National Championships is complete, and as expected the Rose City Curling Club in Camrose featured strong play from the top collegiate curlers in the nation. 

The Red Deer College Men's Curling team opened the national championships against the host University of Alberta (Augustana) Vikings at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, and they put forth a strong effort against a challenging team. The Vikings picked up gold at the ACAC Curling Championships while the Kings earned bronze. Augustana, led by skip Andrew Klassen, scored 1 in the 3rd end, added 2 more in the 5th and a single in the 6th. RDC skip Ryan Dahmer helped his team pick up 2 in the 4th end, 3 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and a single in the 9th for an important 7-4 victory. 

At 2:00 p.m., the RDC Kings competed against the Olds College Broncos, who placed 4th at the ACAC championships. Broncos skip, Dustyn Wozny, helped his squad score 2 in the 4th end, 1 in the 6th, a single in the 8th and 1 more in the 10th. The Kings picked up 1 in the 5th end, scored a single in the 7th and added another 1 in the 9th but Olds picked up a close 5-3 win. The Red Deer College men's team finished the 1st day with a 1-1 record.

At 9:00 a.m., the RDC women's team competed against the NAIT Ooks. At the ACAC Curling Championships, the NAIT Ooks picked up bronze while the RDC Queens earned silver. The Ooks, skipped by Emily Clark, counted 3 in the 5th end. NAIT added singles in the 6th and 7th. RDC skip Marla Sherrer helped the Queens score 1 in the 8th but NAIT picked up a 5-1 win. 

The RDC Queens faced the ACAC gold medalists, the Concordia Thunder, in a close battle at 2:00 p.m. Thunder skip, Veronica Maschmeyer, helped her team pick up 1 in the 2nd end, score 1 in the 6th and add another single in the 9th. The Queens showed persistence and tried to rally. In the 7th end, the RDC women got on the board with 1 and scored another 1 in the 10th but the Thunder edged the Queens 3-2. The Red Deer College Women's Curling team finished the day 0-2, but will look to get into the win column on Thursday. 

Both Red Deer College Curling teams will hit the ice on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. against the Humber Hawks. In an afternoon matchup, the RDC men's and women's teams will compete against the Fanshawe Falcons at 2:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., the RDC women will face the Niagara Knights while the RDC Men's Curling team will play the Lakeland Rustlers.

As the tournament progresses, the level of play and intensity is expected to rise. Live stats can be viewed at http://ccaa.ca/sports/curl/2016-17/schedule. 

Women's Standings

Concordia (2-0)

NAIT (2-0)

Fanshawe (2-0)

Niagara (1-1)                                                         

Lakeland (1-1)                                                         

RDC (0-2)                                                        

Augustana (0-2) 

Humber (0-2)                                                        

Men's Standings

Olds (2-0)

Fanshawe (2-0)

RDC (1-1)

Lakeland (1-1)

Humber (1-1)

Augustana (1-1)

Mohawk (0-2)

NAIT (0-2)