 Minnesota's Daniel Casper (photo: USA Curling) defeated Alberta's Kevin Koe 4-2 to claim the AMJ Masters Tier 2 event Title in London, Ontario. By Connor Simms, #16 World-Ranked Daniel, with Luc Violette at third, Ben Richardson and Aidan Oldenburg on the front end, are off to a hot start of the 2025-2026 season. On tour this season, Casper has gained 63.4 points in the World Rankings. Finishing in second place at the Trentino World Cup in Italy, as well as a semi-final finish at the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic. This week, they are at the AMJ Master Tier 2 event. This will be Daniel, Ben and Luc at the Tier 2 Grand Slam event over the last three seasons. Claiming the Tier 2 title back in 2023 in Niagara, Ontario. Casper finished 2-2 in the round robin. In their opening game, they defeated Chezcia's Lukas Klima 8-6. They then went on to lose back-to-back games against Ontario's Jayden King, 10-5, and Switzerland's Michael Brunner, 7-6. Casper won their final round robin game against Scotland's Cameron Bryce 8-2. In the quarterfinals, they won their rematch against King 6-3. In the semi-finals, they defeated country rival John Shuster 4-2. This led to the final matchup with Alberta's Kevin Koe. Koe's rink includes Tyler Tardi at third and Aaron SLuchinski and Karrick Martin on the front end. Koe started with the hammer due to their better round robin record (3-1). After a blank in the first end, Casper gained control in the second end, but after back-to-back doubles from Aaron, it resulted in another blank. There was another blank in the third end, as the end did not have very many rocks in play. In the fourth end, Casper secured a single point via a steal, following Koe's unsuccessful runback attempt. Koe regained the lead in the fifth end, executing a successful pick on a back four stone, resulting in a two-point gain and a 2-1 lead. Casper successfully defended with a lightweight takeout for two points, despite Koe's precise hit and roll attempt in the sixth end. In the seventh end, Koe elected to give up the steal of one to maintain the hammer in the eighth end. Casper ran Koe out of stones in the eighth end to grab the 4-2 victory. Following this victory, currently ranked at #16, they are in a position to potentially qualify for the next Tier 1 Slam based on their accumulated points. This marks Aiden's inaugural Tier 2 championship, while the remaining competitors each secure their second title. Casper's next event will be at the St. Paul Cashspiel in St. Paul, Minnesota, from October 9th-12th. |
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Manitoba's Matt Dunstone(Photo: Grand Slam of Curling) took down defending champion Ross Whyte 6-4 in extra-end fashion to claim the AMJ Masters title in London, Ontario.
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