The 2018 Ontario Tankard, known as the Dairy Farmers of Ontario Tankard for sponsorship reasons, was the 2018 provincial men's curling championship for Southern Ontario, was held from January 31 to February 4 at the Canada Summit Centre in Huntsville, Ontario. The winning John Epping team represented Ontario at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The event had a triple knockout format, rather than the traditional round robin event as done in previous years. The number of qualified teams increased from 10 to 12.
Qualification process 12 teams qualified from two regional qualifiers (three each), a challenge round (three teams), the winner of the Colts competition, plus the top two southern Ontario teams in the CTRS standings (as of December 10, 2017). The east and west 'provincial qualifiers' were preceded by four regional qualifiers in which three teams qualified for the provincial qualifiers, plus the teams ranked 3-10 on the CTRS standings.
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team CTRS leaders 2 John Epping Glenn Howard East Qualifier 3 Greg Balsdon Mark Kean Michael McLean West Qualifier 3 Mark Bice Rob Retchless Codey Maus Challenge Round 3 Richard KrellJoe FransWayne Tuck Jr. Colts Champion 1 Sebastien Robillard
Teams
The team lineups are as follows: Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Club(s) Greg Balsdon Don Bowser Jonathan Beuk Scott Chadwick Cataraqui Golf & Country Club, Kingston Mark Bice Aaron Squires Tyler Morgan Steve Bice Sarnia Golf & Curling Club, Sarnia John Epping Mathew Camm Patrick Janssen Tim March Leaside Curling Club, East York, Toronto Joe Frans Mike Anderson Scott Foster Sean Harrison Oakville Curling Club, Oakville Glenn Howard Adam Spencer David Mathers Scott Howard St. George's Golf & Curling Club, Etobicoke, Toronto Mark Kean Colin Dow Brad Kidd Scott Brandon Woodstock Curling Club, Woodstock Richard Krell Evan Lilly Jonah Mondloch Robert Currie Kitchener-Waterloo Granite Curling Club, Waterloo Codey Maus Scott McDonald Wesley Forget Jeff Grant Highland Country Club, London Michael McLean Jason Camm Kevin Lagerquist Nathan Crawford Navan Curling Club, Navan Rob Retchless Alex Champ Terry Arnold Scott Clinton Royal Canadian Curling Club, Toronto Sebastien Robillard Ryan McCrady Bowie Abbis-Mills Andrew Denny-Petch Ottawa Curling Club, Ottawa Wayne Tuck Jr. Chad Allen Kurt Armstrong Matt Pretty Brant Curling Club, Brantford
Knockout draw brackets The draw is listed as follows:
A event
B event
C event
Scores
Draw 1 January 31, 2:30pm
Draw 2 January 31, 7:30pm
Draw 3 February 1, 9:30am
Draw 4 February 1, 2:30pm
Draw 5 February 1, 7:30pm
Draw 6 February 2, 9:30am
Draw 7 February 2, 2:30pm
Draw 8 February 2, 7:30pm
Playoffs
A vs. B February 3, 1:00pm
C1 vs. C2 February 3, 6:30pm
Semifinal February 4, 9:30am
Final February 4, 2:30pm
Qualification
The following teams have qualified for the east or west provincial qualifiers based on their ranking on the CTRS standings and will not have to play in the regional qualifiers:
Greg Balsdon (Cataraqui) Codey Maus (Highland) Mark Kean (Woodstock) Wayne Tuck Jr. (Brant) Richard Krell (Kitchener-Waterloo Granite) Dayna Deruelle (Brampton) John Steski (RCMP) Steve Allen (Ottawa)
(Regional) qualifiers
Qualifier #1 December 15–17, at the Renfrew Curling Club, Renfrew
Teams entered:
Connor Duhaime (Cookstown) Willie Jeffries (Ottawa) Mike McLean (Navan) Spencer Richmond (Huntley) Joseph Smith (Quinte)
Brackets:
Qualifier #2 December 15-17, at the Dixie Curling Club, Mississauga
Teams entered:
Rob Ainsley (Royal Canadian) Roy Arndt (Dixie) Matt Glandfield (High Park) Rob Lobel (Thornhill) Dennis Moretto (Dixie) Gregory Park (Oshawa) Michael Shepherd (Richmond Hill) Brandon Tippin (Cookstown)
Brackets:
Qualifier #3 December 16–17
Teams entered:
Mark Bice (Sarnia) Ryan Brown (North Halton) Ian Dickie (Mississaugua) Andrew Fairfull (Listowel) Pat Ferris (Grimsby) Joe Frans (Oakville) Brent Gray (Kitchener-Waterloo Granite) Nathan Martin (Oshawa) Rob Retchless (Royal Canadian) Brent Ross (Harriston) Daryl Shane (Listowel) Damien Villard (Galt)
Brackets:
Qualifier #4 Teams entered:
Dale Kelly (Chatham Granite) Craig Van Ymeren (St. Thomas)
(No event necessary, both teams qualify for provincial qualifiers)
East qualifier January 12-14 at the RCMP Curling Club, Ottawa
Brackets:
West qualifier January 12-14, Brant Curling Club, Brantford
Brackets:
Colts Championship December 6-10 at the Midland Curling Club, Midland
Qualified teams:
Andrew Fairfull (Listowel) Chris Van Huyse (Scarboro) Chris Wai (High Park) Ian Dickie (Mississaugua) John Young Jr. (Chatham Granite) Michael Shepherd (Richmond Hill) Sebastien Robillard (Ottawa) Terry Corbin (Brantford)
Standings Team W L Robillard 6 1 Van Huyse 6 1 Shepherd 5 2 Dickie 4 3 Fairfull 4 3 Corbin 1 6 Wai 1 6 Young 1 6
Tie-breaker: Robillard 7-2 Van Huyse
Regional qualifiers Qualifiers in bold. Two teams qualify from each event for the provincial Colts Championship.
Qualifier 1 November 18, Gananoque Curling Club, Gananoque
Teams entered: Bill Sobering (Cornwall) Billy Woods (Dalhousie Lake) Chris Wai (High Park) Sebastien Robillard (Ottawa)
Qualifier 2
Teams entered: Andrew Skelton (Guelph) Chris Van Huyse (Oshawa) Craig Schinde (Dixie) Derek Dobson (Richmond Hill) Michael Shepherd (Richmond Hill) Nathan Martin (Oshawa) Ryan O'Neil (Annandale)
Qualifier 3 November 18-19, Penetanguishene Curling Club, Penetanguishene
Teams entered: Andrew Fairfull (Listowel) Darryl Hartman (North Halton) David Ellis (Leaside) Gregory Park (Oshawa) Ian Dickie (Oakville) Scott Jennings (Parry Sound)
Qualifier 4 November 18-19, St. Marys Curling Club, St. Marys
Teams entered: Bill Buchanan (Welland) Dale Kelly (Chatham Granite) Derek Shackleton (St Marys) John Young Jr. (Chatham Granite) Jonathan Duguay (Oakville) Terry Corbin (Brantford)
Challenge round January 19-21 at the Lindsay Curling Club, Lindsay
Triple knockout results:
New teams: Gary Grant (Lindsay) Mac Calwell (Navy)
Brackets:
References
External links Official site