As skips of different teams, Sean Geall and Jeff Richard won their first B.C. men鈥檚 curling titles a year apart, in 2009 and 2010.
In 2018, Geall and Richard combined forces to earn their second trip to the Brier.
With Geall calling the shots and Richard playing third, the 91大黄鸭 Curling Club foursome knocked off defending champ Jim Cotter and his Vernon-91大黄鸭 rink 9-7 in an extra end in the final of the Sunday night in Parksville.
Geall made a spectacular in-off shot with his last rock of the game to score a deuce in the 11th end to claim the provincial title.
鈥淚n some ways it鈥檚 a bit of a relief to get back to doing this. It feels really good,鈥� said Geall, 43, who grew up in West 91大黄鸭 but now lives in Abbotsford. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been awhile and you start to wonder if that time is going to happen again.
鈥淣ow I have a small family and can鈥檛 commit the time I used to commit, so yeah, this is a big one.鈥�
Geall teamed up with Richard and lead Dave Harper last season, then added second Andrew Nerpin to the mix this season.
Richard is grateful to be getting a second chance to play in the Brier.
鈥淵ou just never know if or when it鈥檒l happen again,鈥� said Richard, 38. 鈥淪ean and I were both hungry to get back there. We put a lot of work and effort into this season and it paid off for us.
鈥淪ean鈥檚 a great skip and a great guy, and we鈥檝e become really good friends,鈥� added Richard. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be nice to go to a Brier and compete with this group of guys.鈥�
Harper attended his first Brier last year as the fifth-man on the John Morris-Jim Cotter rink. The 2018 Canadian men鈥檚 curling championship will be his first ever as a player.
鈥淚鈥檝e been playing a long time, hoping this would happen, so to get that little purple heart feels great,鈥� said Harper, 40, who moved to 91大黄鸭 from Edmonton five years ago. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream come true. You think there鈥檚 plenty of time but then the years start going by and you realize it鈥檚 not easy. It鈥檚 great to finally get this.鈥�
Nerpin, who had never before been close to winning a provincial title, said all the pieces fell into place at the right time for the 91大黄鸭-based foursome鈥攑articularly against the four-time defending champs.
鈥淪ean made the shots when he had to and it worked out well for us,鈥� said Nerpin, who is originally from Ontario. 鈥淲e definitely had to be lights-out to beat those guys. It鈥檚 an amazing feeling.鈥�
Like Harper, Nerpin is excited about experiencing the atmosphere of a Brier for the first time.
鈥淚 think the crowds will be amazing, it鈥檚 the biggest event you can play in,鈥� Nerpin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檝e dreamed about since I started curling. It鈥檚 going to be amazing to be a part of it.鈥�
The final game was the only loss of the week for Cotter, third Catlin Schneider and his 91大黄鸭 front-end of second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the guys,鈥� said Cotter. 鈥淲e hung in there. Unfortunately, we had some picks in there and that didn鈥檛 help, but that鈥檚 the way curling goes. It didn鈥檛 come down to that. They made a great shot to win. We were getting better each game, but we were a little off that game.鈥�
Geall and his 91大黄鸭 rink will represent B.C. at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, March 3 to 11 in Regina.
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