Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

B.C., LaBounty capture national wheelchair curling title

B.C. rolled to the 2015 Canadian Wheelchair curling title Sunday with an 11-1 victory over host Quebec.

B.C. rolled to the 2015 Canadian Wheelchair curling title Sunday with an 11-1 victory over host Quebec.

The rink, skipped by Gerry Austgarden from Kelowna, and includes third Darryl Neighbour of Richmond, second Frank LaBounty from Prince George and lead Allison Duddy of Quesnel, scored eight points in the final four ends en route to the victory against Quebec's Benoit Lessard in Boucherville.

Lessard scored a single point in the first end with hammer, and Austgarden responded with a deuce in the second end and stole a single in the third end.

Quebec blanked the fourth end and gave up a steal of one in the fifth, three in the sixth and four more in the seventh end before finally being run out of rocks by B.C. in the eighth.

Quebec was the top team all week, going 8-1 in the round-robin. It defeated Manitoba 12-3 in the page playoff 1 vs 2 game to secure its spot in Sunday's final.

Meanwhile, Austgarden and his B.C. team posted a 6-3 record in the round-robin and edged Saskatchewan's Darwin Bender 8-7 in Saturday's 3 vs 4 game to advance to the semifinal.

B.C. cruised to a 10-3 victory against Dennis Thiessen's Manitoba rink in Sunday's semifinal to advance to the final.

It's the fourth national title for LaBounty, 48, who curls out of the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.

He had previously won the national crown three times between 2007 to 2009 as part of rinks skipped by Jim Armstrong and Neighbour.

At the 2014 Canadian championship, LaBounty was part of Neighbour's B.C. team that won the silver medal after a final loss to Manitoba. LaBounty has finished second four times at the national championship.