It was a special Sunday in Kindersley when both the 2025 SaskTel Tankard and 2025 Viterra Prairie Pinnacle championships were handed to a pair of rinks that call the Nutana Curling Club home.
Team Kleiter won their first Tankard after finishing third in the round robin, beating Team Laycock 8-5 in the final and erasing the disappointment of their narrow loss a year ago.
“It’s a dream come true to come away from an event like that with the championship,” said Matthew Hall, second with Team Kleiter. “And to lift that Tankard at the end of it. Amazing to have the women there too, for the first time, to have that mixed event.”
Earlier in the day, in her fifth attempt at earning the green jacket, skip Nancy Martin and her team beat Team Jolene Campbell 9-7 for their first Prairie Pinnacle. The win earns them a trip to the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“I’ve been champing at the bit here for a long time,” said Martin. “I was at the final four other times, so it was time for us to get over that hump.”
Martin has been to the Scotties before, but it was during the 2021 “bubble” season as a third with team Sherry Anderson.
“The team that won the year before had changed two members, and so they weren’t eligible,” said Martin.
But despite reaching the pinnacle of Canadian curling, playing in front of an empty building lacked the energy and intensity that Martin appreciates so much about the sport.
“Really disappointing when we’d make some big shots, no one saw it, no one knew about it,” she said. “So it’ll be fun to have our family and friends there, those that can travel, and just to have fans in the stands. The cheering is what kind of gets you going, and the bells ringing, and the rivalries among the provinces is super fun.”
Joining team Kleiter at the 2025 Brier will be 2024 finalists and automatic qualifiers, Team McEwen.
That gives Saskatchewan, and the Nutana Curling Club, two teams and double the chances at winning the province’s first Brier championship since 1980.
“For a province like Saskatchewan where curling runs very deep in the community across the whole province, it’s a bit of a surprise that it’s been this long since we had champions,” Hall told CTV News. “A couple of close calls, especially last year with Mike [McEwen].”
And while Hall is sure his fellow Nutana rink would love to climb the final step on the podium, Team Kleiter has some lofty goals too.
“We have our own aspirations too,” said Hall. “And to be able to bring one home for Saskatchewan, especially with the history that this province has, would be something very special.”
With multiple past provincial and national champions coming from Nutana, Hall says it’s the perfect place to train.
“Everyone from the board down to the ice maker is fully supportive of any team that wants to come here and wants to put in the work to try to become champions,” said Hall. “They just put themselves out there and do a lot of work for people other than themselves and all the teams that come here. So it’s no surprise to me that a number of champions have come out of this rink, not only this year but in the last number of years.”
Up first is the Scotties Tournament of Hearts which begins Feb.14 from Thunder Bay.
The Brier starts Feb. 28 from Kelowna.
