West St. Paul’s Reid Carruthers wins Safeway Championship

BRANDON – Despite being the top ranked team at this year’s Safeway Championship, Mike McEwen’s Fort Rouge foursome is once again a bridesmaid.

McEwen and company lost their fifth provincial men’s curling title in six years as they fell 5-3 to West St. Paul’s Reid Carruthers. The 2015 Manitoba title is Carruthers’ first as a skip with his newly formed foursome. The bison crest joins the three others he won with Jeff Stoughton.

“A little different feeling this time around,” said Carruthers. “(Stoughton) is the best mentor I could have asked for. For us though, it’s unbelievable. We had heart”

McEwen left the ice immediately following the loss and refused to speak to media. He also blew off the closing ceremonies leaving the other three members of his team alone to accept the runner-up trophies.

“It’s not ideal what he did,” said McEwen’s third B.J. Neufeld. “But it’s not like Mike is a bad teammate. Obviously this loss is pretty hard for him”

Carruthers along with third Braeden Moskowy, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson will now represent Manitoba at the 2015 Brier in Calgary. The national men’s curling championship runs February 28 to March 8.