DEKALB Super League

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Hamblin Wins DEKALB Super League Title
David Hamblin and his Morris team of Ross Derksen, Ryan Thomson and Mark Georges are the 2009-10 champions of the DEKALB Super League. 9The champions are pictured with Monsanto's Trish Jordan.) A three-win day Saturday, January 23 in Portage included victories over a pair of teams who will compete in next month's Safeway Championship.  In the final, Hamblin defeated former league champion Ryan Hyde of Portage.

The final game shifted momentum on the second end when, facing five, third Ross Derksen made a draw to the top of the four foot circle to cut the end down to a more acceptable two. When Hyde covered the other side of the four-foot, Hamblin played a runback double to lie. The two skips were both slightly heavy on last rock draws but Hamblin won a measure for two. Another deuce on the fourth gave the Hamblin team a 4-1 lead enroute to a 5-3 victory.

For their league championship the Hamblin team earns a $4,000 cheque to go with the $1,200 in round-robin earnings (6 wins @ $200).

The day began with a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Brian Pallister's team which was skipped by Bill North. In the semi-final, Hamblin was a 6-5 winner over Randy Neufeld, who defeated the Morris team in the Zone 1 final a week ago.

Allan Gitzel and the other Morris team in the league opened the day with a quarterfinal win over Rob Fleming-Morden (4-3) but lost an extra end 5-4 game to Ryan Hyde in the semifinal. In their third place playoff game, Gitzel and Neufeld also went an extra end with Gitzel scoring one and a  7-6 victory.

Following are the linescores for the complete playoff day in Portage.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL......HAMBLIN 1st - $4,000 & Hyde 2nd - $2,000
David Hamblin - Morris  
020 200 01 = 5
Ryan Hyde - Portage
001 001 10 = 3
 
RANKING PLAYOFF (3-4).....GITZEL 3rd - $1,000 & NEUFELD 4th - $600
Randy Neufeld - La Salle
020 120 01 0 = 6
Allan Gitzel - Morris
102 002 10 1 = 7
 
RANKING PLAYOFF (5-6).....Pallister 5th - $500 & Fleming 6th - $300
Brian Pallister-Portage (Skipped by Bill North)
210 040 1x =8
Rob Fleming-Morden
001 206 0x =4
 
CONSOLATION FINAL.....Spriggs 7th - $300 & Tom Hyde 8th - $200
Don Spriggs - Portage (skipped by Barry Pugh)
111 11x xx =5
Tom Hyde - Portage
000 00x xx = 0

RANKING PLAYOFF (9-10).....Findlay 9th - $100 & Bartley 10th - $50 
Bob Bartley - Carman
002 110 20 = 6
Rob Findlay - Carman
210 002 02 = 7

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PLAYOFF GAMES 
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION - SemiFinals
Randy Neufeld-LaSalle
010 200 11 = 5
David Hamblin-Morris
202 011 00 = 6

Allan Gitzel-Morris
111 001 00 0 =4
Ryan Hyde-Portage
000 210 01 0 =5

Championship Division - QuarterFinals
David Hamblin - Morris
010 002 2x = 5
Brian Pallister -Portage (team skipped by Bill North)
000 010 0x =1
  
Allan Gitzel - Morris
100 030 00 = 4
Rob Fleming - Morden
000 102 00 = 3
 
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CONSOLATION DIVISION SemiFinals
Bob Bartley-Carman
011 010 x =3
Tom Hyde-Portage
400 201 x =7
 
Rob Findlay-Carman
100 103 x =4
Don Spriggs-Portage (Skipped by Barry Pugh)
024 020 x =8

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(Jan. 11-10) Ryan Hyde - Randy Neufeld Top DEKALB League at 8-1

Ryan Hyde's Portage team and Randy Neufeld's LaSalle entry both won two on the final round-robin evening to share top spot in the league standings going into the January 23 championship round. Hyde defeated Tom Hyde-Portage 6-0 and Allan Gitzel-Morris 7-4 while Neufeld was a 9-3 winner over Rob Findlay-Carman and Don Spriggs-Portage 9-1. Neufeld scored a rare 7-ender in winning the game over Spriggs on the late draw in Morden. Gitzel split his games, winning his opener 6-4 over Spriggs. The two losses dropped Spriggs record to 4-5, out of the championship round. At 6-3 Gitzel finishes in the top four for playoff and will be joined by David Hamblin-Morris who also split his two games in Morden, losing 4-3 to Brian Pallister-Portage and defeating Rob Fleming-Morden 7-3.

All ten teams will compete in league playoffs January 23 in Portage. The second group of four in the playoff round will include Fleming, Pallister and Bob Bartley who all split their Morden matches along with Spriggs. Tom Hyde and Rob Findlay-Carman, who like Spiggs lost both Morden games, have the final two spots in the standings.

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(Dec.3-09) Ryan Hyde Tastes First Loss - Tied with Neufeld in First

Ryan Hyde's Portage team tasteed loss for the first time this season in DEKALB SuperLeague play Thursday in Carman. Hyde's 8-3 loss to David Hamblin on the opening draw was one of two Hamblin wins on the evening. Oo the late draw, Hamblin defeated Rob Findlay (10-3) to improve the Morris teams record to 5-2. Randy Neufeld's LaSalle team also scored a pair of victories. Neufeld's 6-2 win over Rob Fleming and 8-2 win over Allan Gitzel improved his record to 6-1 for a share of first place with Ryan Hyde, who won his second of the evening 5-4 over clubmate Don Spriggs. Spriggs record is 4-3 after losing a pair Thursday. His opening loss  this week was 7-5 to Brian Pallister. In addition to the pair of wins by Neufeld and Hamblin, Tom Hyde also scored two W's - 8-3 over Rob Findlay and 9-3 over Rob Fleming. They were the elder Hyde's first two wins of the year. On the early draw, Allan Gitzel beat Bob Bartley 3-2. Bartley bounced back to beat Pallister 7-3 on the late draw. Neufeld and Ryan Hyde share the league lead at 6-1. Hamblin and Gitzel are 5-2. Spriggs is the other team with a positive W-L record at 4-3 with two games to play January 11 in Morden.

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(Nov. 12-09) Ryan Hyde Moves Alone into First Place

Ryan Hyde's Portage team were the only one among four league leaders to win two games in this week's DEKALB SuperLeague action and as a result they are alone in first place at 5-0.  Hyde defeated  Brian Pallister (6-4) and Randy Neufeld (7-5). The loss on home ice on the late draw was Neufeld's first. Earlier he had defeated David Hamblin 7-4. Hamblin bounced back to give Allan Gitzel his first loss (6-3) after Gitzel had won his first match, 5-1 over Tom Hyde. In Carman, Don Spriggs also had a split. The Portage team beat Bob Bartley 7-3 before losing 9-3 to Rob Fleming. Fleming was the only other team to win two games this week. He beat Rob Findlay 5-1 on the early draw. Brian Pallister and Bob Bartley bounced back from first draw losses to win their first games of the league season. Pallister beat Tom Hyde 8-0 while Bartley was an 8-1 winner over Findlay.

(Nov. 5-09) Four Double Winners in Morris

The re-launch of the DEKALB Super League features three new teams for the 2009-10 season and all three of them came away with losses from the opening draw October 29 in Portage.

Rob Fleming's Morden team came home without hammer tied 3-3 with Allan Gitzel (Morris) and saw the Morris team keep the end mostly clean. With each skip's last rock to come, the only rock in play was a Fleming stone on the centre line in the top of the eight-foot circle. The Morden skip attempted a tap to the button but overcurled and left his rock wide open in the four foot for Gitzel to hit and stick for a 4-3 win.

Brian Pallister and his Portage team took on the always tough-to-beat Randy Neufeld (LaSalle) and the two spent the evening up to their eyeballs in granite. Neufeld led 3-2 in the third end. Considering his first stone (pictured-Pallister throwing yellow), and without last rock,  Pallister faced the potential for Neufeld to score a huge end. With a first rock hit and a second stone angle bump to the four-foot, Pallister got away with Neufeld scoring only three. Pallister fought back to tie 6-6 but lost the match 8-6.

The other newcomer, Rob Findlay (Carman) lost his opener in a run-away to Ryan Hyde (Portage).

In the other two games, David Hamblin (Morris) and Bob Bartley (Carman) were tied coming home. Hamblin had the hammer but didn't have to throw it in a 7-6 win  AND Don Spriggs (Portage), whose team was skipped by Dean Moxham, scored a 7-4 win over clubmate Tom Hyde.

(Oct. 28-09) DEKALB Super League Returns
After a one year hiatus, the DEKALB Super League is returning to provide a competitive outlet for teams in the Central Plains and Red River Valley region of rural Manitoba.  Teams from LaSalle and Morden will join a pair of teams from each of Carman and Morris along with four teams from Portage in the re-vitalized ten-team league. The league will continue its traditional pattern of playing games in each of the towns represented in the league.

League play begins Thursday, October 29 with one five-game draw at the Portage Curling Club.

DEKALB - Monsanto's branded seed division - returns as the title sponsor of the league which has re-organized under the chairmanship of Don Owen of Carman.

"We are delighted the DEKALB Super League is returning to the curling clubs in the region," says Monsanto's Public Affairs Director Trish Jordan. "Curling is an important part of the social fabric of rural Manitoba and we are pleased to be able to support the local curling clubs while providing a competitive outlet for curlers in this important agricultural region."

Monsanto's support of curling across Canada includes the presenting sponsorships of the Tim Hortons Brier, the Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials, The Continental Cup and the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts. They are also the official team sponsor of Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones, Canada's reigning Women's Champions.

"In the past, the DEKALB Super League was an important competitive outlet for some of the top teams in our region. The return of the league gives several returning teams and a number of new teams an opportunity for high-level competition close-to-home to help prepare for provincial zone playoffs," says Committee chairman Don Owen.

The teams competing in the DEKALB Super League include:
CARMAN: Rob Findlay, Bob Bartley
LA SALLE: Randy Neufeld
MORDEN: Rob Fleming
MORRIS: David Hamblin, Allan Gitzel
PORTAGE: Don Spriggs, Ryan Hyde, Tom Hyde,  Brian Pallister

Except for the opener on October 29th, the league will play its games as double headers with league play to be completed over five evenings of curling. A full day of playoffs is scheduled in Portage on January 23, 2010.

DEKALB Super League Schedule
October 29: Portage - 5 Games (ONE Draw 7:30pm)
November 5: Morris - 5 Games (TWO Draws 7pm & 9:15pm)
November 12: LaSalle -3 Games; Carman - 2 Games (TWO Draws 7pm & 9:15pm)
December 3: Carman - 5 Games (TWO Draws 7pm & 9:15pm)
January 11: Morden - 5 Games (TWO Draws 7pm & 9:15pm)
January 23: Portage - Playoffs (THREE Draws 10am, 1pm, 4:30pm)