Dave Merklinger’s Canwest Propane collected a clutch deuce in the eighth end to brush back Jenn Gerow’s CanHealth/A&G Supply 6-5 in Baron Insurance Super League play Wednesday night at the Vernon Curling Club.
With Gerow and Canwest skip Darren Heath junking it up with multiple guards, the 2-2 CanHealth crew crept out to a 4-2 lead after five ends, but Merklinger, also 2-2, equalized on a deuce in six.
Gerow responded with a single in seven to take the lead going into the final end.
Sherry Heath’s Trademark Packaging opened with a solid three-pointer, but couldn’t hold the lead in a 7-5 loss to Jim Cotter’s Woodland Equipment.
The two rinks traded singles in the second and third ends before Cotter (2-1), with Marc Fillion at skip, equalized with a triple in four and took the lead with singles in five and six.
Heath (1-2) just missed a long raise for three in the seventh end. Fillion drew to the four-foot in eight to secure the win.
Robbi Kuhn continued her North Enderby Timber’s hot streak with a 9-4 win over Mark Longworth.
Leading by a point after four ends, Kuhn, now 3-1, capitalized with a steal of two in the fifth after Longworth (1-3) was slightly heavy on his final draw attempt. Longworth bounced back with a great cross-house double for two in six, but he got caught pressing in seven, allowing Kuhn to rack up a four-ender.
Brad Wood’s Nufloors improved to 3-0 with a resounding 12-0 win over Alyssa Kyllo’s Armstrong Optometry.
After opening with a three-ender in one, Nufloors stole five more points in two and never looked back.
Kyllo, with Zetteh Gunner and Amy Edwards subbing for Scott and Heather Kyllo, is 0-4.
Meanwhile, Vernon’s Trevor Perepolkin’s pocketed $4,000 at the Crown of Curling last weekend in Kamloops.
After opening with a loss to an American rink, Perepolkin – supported by third Ryan LeDrew, second Tyler Orme and lead Chris Anderson – peeled off five straight wins to advance to the semifinals, where he bowed 5-4 to Grant Olsen of Kamloops.
Leading by a point going into the final end, Perepolkin had a peel attempt tick a corner guard, and ended up taking out his own rock in the four-foot. Olsen buried his own rock and was then able to remove Perepolkin’s freeze attempt for the win.
“We dug ourselves a hole early by giving up three in the second end. Our team showed a lot of moxy in staying in the game, not getting frustrated and just grinding it out,” said Perepolkin, a local investment advisor.
“It was a very positive weekend for us overall. We got better and better each game, which was the key for us. In the B semi we played against the local Brad Wood rink, had a solid close game that we pulled out in the end and that really gave us some confidence.”
Perepolkin also earned wins over Russia’s Andrei Drozdov (10-4) and Korea’s Chang-Min Kim (5-3)at the 24-team, $34,000 spiel.
Meanwhile, 32 rinks are competing at the 62nd annual Silver Star Ladies Bonspiel this weekend at the Vernon Curling Club.
The event features teams from as far as Williams Lake, Maple Ridge and Trail. The first draw goes today at 4 p.m. with two more draws later tonight.
Saturday action begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Playoffs are Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. with trophy presentations at 4 p.m.
