CurlingZone: Kleiter vs McDonald For the Title

Rylan Kleiter and Jordan McDonald (photo: Curling Canada) Set for Speedy Creek Shoot-out Final in Swift Current.

By Connor Simms,

Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter will take on Manitoba's Jordan McDonald in the final of the Curling Stadium Speedy Creek Shoot-out in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

Kleiter, alongside third Joshua Mattern, second Matthew Hall, and lead Trevor Johnson, looks to add another title to an already impressive season. Kleiter finished 4-1 in the 18-team qualifying round.

Kleiter opened the event with a 4-2 victory over Josh Bryden (Regina, SK), followed by a 7-5 win against Wouter Gosgens (Zoetermeer, NED) and a dominant 9-3 performance against Takumi Maeda (Kitami, JPN). He continued his strong play with an 8-3 win over JaeBeom Lee (Uiseong, KOR) before suffering a 9-4 loss to Xu in his final qualifying match.

In the quarterfinals, Kleiter defeated Steve Laycock 10-3. Facing Alberta's Jacob Libbus in the semifinals, Kleiter had the hammer due to his superior round-robin record.

In the first end, Kleiter came up heavy on a draw to the button, giving up a steal of one. He responded by drawing to the eight-foot for a single. Libbus was forced to draw for a single in the third end. In the fourth, Kleiter hit the pin for another single, while Libbus came up light, surrendering a steal of two. Trying to recover, Libbus missed an angle runback and had to settle for a single. The seventh end saw Kleiter come up light on a draw, giving up a steal of three. In the eighth, Kleiter executed an open hit and stick for three points, securing a 7-6 victory.

Jordan McDonald's team, consisting of third Dallas Burgess, front-end players Elias Huminicki and Cameron Olafson, and veteran replacement Derek Samagalski (filling in for Huminicki), finished the round robin at 3-2.

McDonald started with an 8-3 loss but bounced back with a 7-2 win over Dustin Kalthoff (Saskatoon, SK). He then lost 9-3 to Lukas Klima but responded with an 8-1 win over Laycock and a narrow 6-5 victory over Mooibroek to close out the qualifying round.

In the quarterfinals, McDonald defeated China's Xiao Ming Xu 6-4. He then faced Czechia's Lukas Klima in the semifinals, where Klima held the hammer.

In the first end, Klima missed a draw to the four-foot, settling for a single. After a blank second end, McDonald executed a one-foot runback for a single in the third. Klima was forced to draw the button for a single in the fourth. A turning point came when Klima flashed his final shot, allowing McDonald to score two. In the sixth, Klima came up light on a draw against two, giving up a crucial steal.

Klima managed to draw for a single in the seventh. In the eighth, McDonald removed one of Klima's stones to seal a 5-4 victory.

McDonald holds a 2-0 record against Kleiter this season, having defeated him 6-4 at the Red Deer Curling Classic and 6-5 at last weekend's Curling Stadium Martensville Invitational.

Watch the final live on the CurlingZone YouTube page or follow the linescores on the CurlingZone website.

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