Rob LaCombe and Ralph Nespor (Stonewall) will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Stick Curling Championship, April 2-6, 2025, in Grand Prairie, AB.
Stolen points told the tale Sunday in the medal games of the Manitoba Stick Curling Association’s Sun Life Open Championship presented by Jim Anton.
The final game at Stonewall’s Access Credit Union Curling Club saw the hometown team of Rob LaCombe and Ralph Nespor steal singles on the third, fourth and fifth ends to lead Darlene Maywood & Kathie Allardyce (St Vital) 4-1 coming home.
It was the second finalist finish in two weeks for Maywood & Allardyce who lost the final of the MSCA’s Women’s Championship to Lynn Rehbein and Gwen Smith.
In the semi-finals, Nespor & Lacombe had defeated Lawrie Hogg & David Green (Stonewall) while Maywood & Allardyce were winners over Britta & Fred Spiring (St. Vital).
Hogg & Green played played Spiring & Spiring in the Bronze Medal game. A stolen single in the third end after a blanked second proved to be the difference in the game. It gave Hogg & Green a 2-point lead after three ends – and the same two-point lead coming home in a 3-1 victory.
The quarterfinalists, eliminated in the first round of play on Sunday, were last year’s finalist team Darren McMillan & Terry Proctor (Warren), Norm Magnusson & Resby Coutts (Fort Rouge), Don Fischer & Grant Nicolson (St. Vital), and Rick Willets & Larry Weatherburn (Eriksdale).
LaCombe & Nespor were also Open Champions of the 2025 Manitoba Stick Curling Tour while Maywood & Allardyce were Women’s Champions.
