KELOWNA, B.C. — Manitoba's Matt Dunstone came back for a 7-6 win over Canada's Brad Gushue on Thursday to hand the three-time defending champion his first loss at the Montana's Brier.
The result left both teams with 7-1 records in Pool A but Dunstone took the top seed since head-to-head play was the tiebreaker.
Manitoba's Reid Carruthers, who was idle for the group's last round-robin draw at Prospera Place, took the other playoff spot in the nine-team pool. Carruthers was tied with Northern Ontario's John Epping at 6-2 but held the tiebreaker.
Dunstone will have hammer in the qualification round Friday ahead of the weekend playoffs.
The seeding order in Pool B was to be determined on Thursday night.
Alberta's Brad Jacobs was to play Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen in a battle of 7-0 teams for the top seed.
Ontario's Sam Mooibroek and Nova Scotia's Owen Purcell both posted morning victories to improve to 4-3. That set up an evening showdown between the Brier rookies for the third seed.
Mooibroek defeated Prince Edward Island's Tyler Smith 8-4 while Purcell kept pace with a 7-4 win over Aaron Bartling of the Northwest Territories.
Epping, meanwhile, scored six points in the eighth end of a 13-3 rout of Nunavut's Shane Latimer. He joined friends and family in the stands to watch the last few ends of the Gushue-Dunstone game, but the result he needed to advance didn't materialize.
Gushue attempted a blank in the ninth end but his stone remained in the rings. That gave Dunstone the hammer coming home and he made a single for the victory.
In other afternoon results, New Brunswick's James Grattan beat British Columbia's Cameron de Jong 7-5 and Alberta's Kevin Koe defeated Ty Dilello of Newfoundland and Labrador 5-1.
In the morning draw, Jacobs beat Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard 6-4 and Yukon's Thomas Scoffin upset Saskatchewan's Ryan Kleiter 8-6.
The final will be played Sunday night. The winner will represent Canada at the BKT world men's curling championship starting March 29 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
