Icebreaker in Morris featured star-studded finals

The action inside the Morris Curling Club was as hot as the weather last weekend, as the club hosted their annual Manitoba Curling Tour “Icebreaker Challenge” event, attracting teams with Olympic dreams.

The tournament drew some of the game’s rising stars, with 2026 world junior champions Team Hebert defeating fellow American rink Team Dunnam in the men’s final Aug. 30.

A four-point outburst in the third end after Dunnam’s final stone of the end slid to the back of the house was more than enough for the Eau Claire, Wisconsin based rink to take home top prize.

Hebert was aggressive from the beginning, throwing early guards in each end before the big breakthrough in the third.

“We like to play all eight ends, we don’t run rocks up and down, blanking isn’t the most fun thing,” skip Caden Hebert said.

“We like to battle it out and see who can be the best team.”

Team Hebert is eligible to play at the world junior championships again, but also has big dreams for this quadrennial cycle.

“We have our eyes set on men’s nationals as well,” he said.

“The next four years is a long time from now… What more could you want, a nice American battle here in Morris, Manitoba.”

Dunnam was undermanned, with their lead having to leave before the final to make his travel back to Philadelphia.

While Americans dominated the men’s bracket, the women’s bracket saw an all-Albertan final, with a pair of recognizable names battling for a full eight ends.

Team Gray-Withers and Team Sturmay played to the final rock, with Sturmay needing a short runback to clinch a 6-5 win in the eighth.

Gray-Withers couldn’t roll the shooter out on a blank attempt with her final rock of the seventh end, leaving Sturmay in the driver’s seat in the eighth end with the hammer in a tied game. Both teams played at the University of Alberta at the same time.

Sturmay won bronze at the Scotties last season, and are another team looking to make some noise in this curling cycle. The team has stuck together in an attempt to make a run at the Canadian Olympic Curling trials.

“It’s a little bit of a points chase in the first couple years, then you settle in for the next couple,” skip Selena Sturmay said, noting they have a jam-packed schedule this fall.

“We’re just trying to play as much as we can and keep learning and keep growing.”

The purse for the event was over $10,000, but it wasn’t just the solid prizing that draws teams to the Morris event.

“Morris always holds really great events, the hospitality here is great, the ice is great so we’re happy to be here,” Sturmay said.

The club is also the host of the Asham International Curling Development Centre.

The centre re-branded this summer and is one of the only places in Western Canada that produces top-level curling ice year-round.

Steph Berard, who manages the centre said the rebrand to being sponsored by Asham was perfect, as Morris is now the summer home for many of the teams sponsored by the equipment company.

“We’ve got a lot of top Olympian teams who played (this summer),” Berard said.

“We’re the only one (with ice) in Manitoba.”

The dehumidifiers were working extra hard in Morris this year with how hot the year has been, but Berard said they only had to halt play one day this summer.

The Morris Superspiel is set for Nov. 28-30 this year, with a $60,000 purse up for grabs.