In her first career event, Casey Scheidegger and her Lethbridge rink pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling history.
Scheidegger, along with third Cary-Anne McTaggart, second Jesse Scheidegger and Stephanie Enright, captured the Meridian Canadian Open title with a dramatic 5-4 win over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni at the North Battleford Civic Centre Sunday afternoon.
“It’ll probably settle in once we drive home,” Scheidegger said.
“It’s been a roller coaster week for us with ups and downs, but that can sometimes lead to showing great character as a team, and we were able to battle through those challenges and play some good games.”
Having already upset Jennifer Jones and Val Sweeting in the playoffs, not to mention pulling off a dominant win over Rachel Homan earlier in the week, Scheidegger continued her excellent week with a solid performance in the final as she shot 86 per cent.
“We all knew that there would be some nerves coming into the final as this was a new experience for us,” Scheidegger said. “We were watching TV last night and saw ourselves in the highlights, which is something we’re not used to, but it’s exciting all the same.
“This was a great opportunity to put some pressure on us before going to our provincial playdowns in a couple of weeks. We played it like we would any other game and we made sure to have some fun.”
With the game tied up at four, Scheidegger drew around a guard and placed her final shot just on the edge of the four foot.
Tirinzoni, who was looking to win her second career Grand Slam, needed to get her last stone to the four foot for the win but it came up light.
“We made a good shot on my last, but we were all a little nervous there as Silvana’s a great draw thrower,” Scheidegger said.
“The final result wasn’t what we expected for sure, but sometimes that happens in curling and that’s what makes it such an exciting sport.”
This was the second straight runner-up finish for Tirinzoni, who finished second to Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson at last month’s Boost National in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Sunday’s win also had a couple of family connections, as the Casey and Jesse Scheidegger are sisters and Enright’s brother Geoff Walker won the men’s Canadian Open title earlier in the day.
“I guess they have a new statistic to make up I guess with siblings winning,” Enright said.
“This whole year has been a great one for us. We didn’t really have a lot of practice time before the season began, and then we won at The Shootout in Edmonton in September. Since then, we’ve been rolling right along.”
With the Meridian Canadian Open now in the record books, work has already begun to get the Civic Centre back into hockey mode.
The Battlefords North Stars will return to their home rink Friday night when they’ll host the Weyburn Red Wings.
