BY SCOTT
HADDOW
Experience counts for a lot in curling.
The Wayne Matheson Rink out of the Copper Cliff Curling Club
(CCCC) is hoping its experience will propel them to ultimate
victory at the 2007 Northern Ontario Senior Men's Curling
Championships in Sault Ste. Marie from Feb. 22 to 25. The event
will be hosted by the Soo Curlers.
The Matheson foursome isn't the only local team going to
compete for the right to participate in the Ontario senior
championship.
The Bud O'Donnell Rink from the Sudbury Curling Club (SCC) also
qualified. The SCC team features Bud O'Donnell, Alan
Arkilander, Doug Rollins and Bruce Reynolds.
The CCCC squad features skip Wayne Matheson, vice Bob O'Brien,
second Rom Sawa and lead Steve Garrett.
The Matheson Rink has been eagerly awaiting a crack at the best
of the best in Northern Ontario.
They received the opportunity by going 5-1 in the association
play downs in Blind River recently.
"We put this team together last year with the goal of making it
to the championship...in the association play downs, we made
the final four but lost," said Garrett. "This year, we made it
to the final four again, but this time, we won. Our next goal
is to win the Northern Ontario championship and go on to the
provincial championship."
The Matheson team is rocking and rolling right now.
"We've been performing well...and we're confident going into
the tournament," said Garrett. "We're not intimidated and we
have the ability. We have a good shot. We also have great
experience. Wayne has been curling for over 40 years and has
been to three Briers. I have 28 years and Bob has 25 years.
Rom's the rookie with six years.
Experience counts at this level. We have five games in two-and-a-half days. We have to leave it all out on the line.
This is a big deal for me...I've never been to a big event
like this."
Sawa is also feeling excited about the event.
"I'm thrilled...I took up curling six years ago and to have an
opportunity like this, a Northern Ontario championship, is just
awesome. I'm excited to curl with these guys at this high
level. It's an honour to be on the team."
The team is razor sharp.
"We're solid right now and we can play with anyone," said Sawa.
"We've been on a tear recently. We ironed out some problems we
had at the start of the season and our consistency is great."
The men will stick to their game plan in the tournament.
"We need to keep up our consistency and throw well," said
O'Brien. "We're not just going there to show up. We're going
there to play hard and win. We want to make the playoffs, and
then we'll see what happens."
