Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone continued his flawless streak at the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax by securing a 9-7 victory against St. John’s Brad Gushue during Monday’s evening session, extending his record to 4-0.
Dunstone expressed his thoughts on the intense matchup, stating, “That was 11 ends of complete and utter mayhem. I thought we controlled the majority of that game. Again, didn’t start with hammer, we just did what we do. We flipped hammer right away, you know, cracked it open in seven, and then Brad took his turn doing what he does, and that’s being Brad Gushue late in games, and he put relentless amounts of pressure on us.”
Meanwhile, Brad Jacobs, the 2014 Olympic champion, led his Calgary team to a 6-3 victory over Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald, who is still in search of his first win. In another match, Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen defeated Calgary’s Kevin Koe 9-7, with both teams standing at 2-2. Saskatoon’s Ryan Kleiter improved to 1-3 by claiming a 10-7 win over Toronto’s John Epping, who also holds a 1-3 record.
Gushue, the 2006 Olympic champion, secured a 5-3 win over Epping in the opening draw of Monday’s competition. Gushue strategically stole points in the third and sixth ends, leading his rink to victory without conceding a steal to Epping.
Dunstone started his day with a 7-3 win over Kleiter, dominating the match by reaching a 5-1 advantage after five ends and securing a comfortable victory thereafter. In other early results, Koe managed to score three crucial points in the ninth end, securing an 8-7 win over McDonald, while Jacobs defeated McEwen with a score of 6-3.
On the women’s side, Rachel Homan bounced back from a recent setback with a convincing 12-5 win over Selena Sturmay in the afternoon draw. Homan, a two-time defending Canadian and world women’s champion, improved her record to 3-1, swiftly recovering from an extra-end loss to Kayla Skrlik that ended her 32-game winning streak against Canadian opponents.
Homan’s team from Ottawa dominated the match against Sturmay from Edmonton, particularly with a five-point third end that propelled them to an 8-2 lead. Homan emphasized the importance of starting each game strong in the short round-robin format, focusing on delivering their best performance daily.
Additionally, Kerri Einarson from Gimli, Man., maintained her unbeaten streak at 4-0 with a 6-4 victory over Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes. The winners of both the men’s and women’s events at the curling trials will earn the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.