KELOWNA, B.C. — Alberta’s Brad Jacobs is the winner of the Montana’s Brier.
He beat Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone 5-3 in Sunday’s dramatic final of the Canadian men’s curling championship at Prospera Place.
It’s the second career Brier title for the veteran skip, who also won in 2013.
This is Jacobs’ first full season with the team, which includes vice Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert.
Dunstone has made three podium appearances at the Brier but has yet to win it.
The Alberta team will represent Canada at the world championship starting March 29 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Dunstone, with the hammer, blanked the first four ends before scoring a deuce in the fifth. Jacobs was held to a single in the sixth and then stole one in the seventh.
Dunstone blanked the eighth end, but Jacobs forced him to count one in the ninth with his final rock facing three Alberta rocks in the rings. In the final end, with last rock, Jacobs hit Dunstone’s counter out of the rings and counted three to win the game.
Earlier in the day, Jacobs ended Canada’s Brad Gushue’s Brier reign in a stunning 7-5 semifinal win.
Gushue had a chance to win with his final throw of the 10th end. However, his tap attempt was heavy and the rock slid by Alberta’s shot stone. The result ended Gushue’s bid for a record fourth straight Brier title and seventh overall.
“We got the biggest break of the year,” said Jacobs, after the semifinal thriller. who won his lone Brier crown in 2013.
Dunstone is looking to win it for the first time.
The result ended Gushue’s bid for a record fourth straight Brier title and seventh overall.
Jacobs was the only skip who went 8-0 in round-robin play. Both Gushue and Dunstone were 7-1.
Jacobs earns a berth in the 2026 playdowns in St. John’s and will represent Canada at the March 29-April 6 BKT world men’s curling championship in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Ottawa’s Rachel Homan won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last month in Thunder Bay, Ont. She will wear the Maple Leaf at the world women’s playdowns starting Friday in Uijeongbu, South Korea.