Foothills curling is once again on top of the national curling scene.
Diamond Valley’s Michael Keenan and Team Wipf took home the New Holland U21 Canadian Curling Championships with a dramatic 7-6 victory over Nova Scotia’s Team MacIsaac on Sunday afternoon in Fort McMurray.
“This is huge, this has been a goal since I started curling,” Keenan said. “This is a big one to tick off the list, it was a grind so it was good to pull it out.”
Team Wipf, featuring Calgary skip Kenan Wipf, Rocky View County third Ky Macaulay, Keenan at second and Cochrane lead Max Cinnamon, polished off the victory with a draw for the win in the 10th end.
“That’s the shot you want, full-four for the win,” Keenan said. “You’re kind of in that zone and you just know what to do, you’ve been throwing that path all game. It’s the same path we threw a couple of ends before.
“I looked down and had full confidence (Wipf) was going to make it. I knew exactly from the moment he set up in the hack that we had that shot made.”
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The Alberta 1 squad posted a 7-1 record in pool play and opened the competition by downing Team MacIsaac by the same 7-6 score.
“They’re such a good team,” Keenan said. “Credit to them, they had a good week and we knew at the beginning of the (final) that it was going to be a battle and we went in there with grit and it paid off.”
Team Wipf, the University of Calgary Dinos varsity squad, brings considerable history to the pebbled ice.
“I think that’s a huge part of our success, we’ve been able to ride the highs and lows together, we’ve been through probably every single situation together,” Keenan said. “We all know each other really well and that really helps to pull through in those tough moments to stay in it.”
The squad represented Alberta at the U18 nationals in 2022, and accrued big game experience that can’t be bought.
“It just helps to know what to expect, all of the people that are there, the format, what the pressure is like,” he said. “That experience really helps you build on that and you can use that.
“This time was a little different, we’re older, maybe a little mentally stronger.”
Keenan grew up around the game in the Foothills with his father Peter an icemaker in Black Diamond and Okotoks while also learning the sport through the Okotoks Junior Curling Academy.
“I think of my mom and my dad, my family, we’ve been close with the Libbus family for years and I’ve been looking up to Jacob in my curling career and I think of them when I’m curling,” Keenan said. “I credit a lot to the Okotoks academy and the curling club for my success.
“You don’t get somewhere without a start and they’ve really helped me grow as a curler and got me to where I am today.”
