Justin Nillson’s reputation as a heavy hitter served him well Sunday when the Kelly Cup men’s curling championship came down to the last rock at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
He needed to pack plenty of wallop into his final shot in the 11th end — and that’s exactly what he did. His double takeout sent two yellow rocks flying out of the house, and Nillson and his Quesnel crew scored three for a 10-7 victory — the first Kelly Cup title for the 33-year-old grade school teacher.
“That’s kind of my favourite shot all weekend — the high hard one,” Nillson said. “Put the broom down, let it be straight, and we got a little fortunate. This ice is a bit straighter than what we’re used to, so I was throwing a little harder, which takes some of the guesswork out of it.”
“It was a close game. They’re a great team, and that’s our first Kelly Cup final. It was a great game, and for it to come down to the last shot, I think that’s how we teed it up because we actually lost to them in the B-final. It’s our first one, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Dahms put the pressure on Nillson when he drew nearly to the button behind cover, and the Quesnel skip elected not to peel the guards with his first shot.
The game was slow to develop, but there were plenty of fireworks in the final ends.
Nillson had a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth, but he miscalculated on a triple-kill attempt, which set up a three-point end for Dahms and a 5-4 lead.
In the ninth, with Nillson holding three counters, Dahms tried to raise for a double but missed, allowing Nillson to draw for three.
With Dahms trailing 7-5 coming home with the hammer, Nillson’s third, David Henderson, wrecked on a guard with his first shot but took out three of his own blue rocks. Third Matthew Steventon went heavy on his draw, trying to set up a big end for Dahms, but his shot stopped just outside the rings. He made up for it with his second shot, tapping out one of Nillson’s rocks to leave it nudging the button as shot rock.
Nillson tried for the double and an aggressive roll with his second shot but couldn’t get to the shot stone, which opened the door for Dahms to draw for his deuce. The shot was well-covered by Steventon’s outlier at the back of the house. For fun, Nillson picked up the rock with his hand just before Dahms’ shot made contact, but everyone knew it was heading for an extra end.
In the 11th, Nillson was looking at three yellow guards after Dahms made a tough draw to the button. Nillson aimed left around the guards with his heater and executed his takeouts perfectly, ending the game with a spectacular triple. Dahms knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent that.
“Going to the extra, I did what I could there, put one on the pin with my last shot, and Justin picked it off. I’d been struggling with draw weight, but he made a pistol, and kudos to them,” Dahms said.
“We kind of had control early, not a lot of scoring in the first four ends, and I think the crowd was probably not interested, but then we started getting some rocks in play,” Dahms said. “We got three in the eighth end and handed them three right back, which wasn’t the ideal situation. We had a chance in the 10th and overswept one, which would have been the winning point, but we ended up getting two.”
Dahms won the Kelly Cup in 2010 with his current lead, JT Blanchett, and was a finalist in 2011 and 2019. He added some experience to his current team with third Cory Eberle (who threw second in the order) and Steventon.
The B-final, won by Dahms, was another game determined by the last stone.
Both teams had supercharged front ends, handling the brooms whenever needed. Nillson’s crew played 34 ends in four games Saturday, and his sweepers showed no signs of fatigue in Sunday’s final.
Nillson, Henderson, second Colorado Marr, and lead Daryc Langlois just started curling together this season. Henderson and Langlois are both teachers, while Marr works as a mill labourer in Quesnel. Nillson has been in two previous Kelly Cup finals and won back-to-back C-event titles.
The Peckham Cup, named after local curling legend Wilf Peckham, went to the youngest of the 26 teams entered in the tournament. Colby Wilson’s junior team, which won bronze at the under-20 provincials in Cleverdale, defeated Mike Peterson in the A-final.
They lost their first game in the Kelly Cup round but had a successful season. The 18-year-old skip and his crew — third Casey Patterson, second James Bieganski (both 20), and 18-year-old lead Isaac Villeneuve — also won the Vanderhoof and Prince George bonspiels, were B-finalists in Dawson Creek, and were runners-up in the Dawson Creek provincial men’s qualifier.
“We’re talking about playing men’s together next year and trying to go to a couple of qualifying events for that. We’re definitely doing well together for this being our first year,” Wilson said.
Chris Moir defeated Ian Baker of Kitimat in the C-final.
Brent Pierce, the men’s world champion third in 2000 with Greg McAuley, teamed up with former Kelly Cup champs Scott Sherba, Darren Smale, and Geof Magrath to defeat Floyd Crowley in the D-final.
