John Epping off to strong start with pair of wins at PointsBet Invitational

CALGARY — John Epping picked up a pair of wins to start off his schedule at the PointsBet Invitational curling tournament on Thursday.

Epping defeated Brad Gushue 10-9 in Draw 3 before returning for Draw 4 to top Calgary’s Kevin Koe 9-3.

Gushue’s team from St. John’s, N.L, scored two points in the 10th end before Toronto’s Epping put the back-and-forth contest away with a decisive point in the extra end. Gushue, who announced this will be the final season of his decorated career, fell to 1-1.

Against Koe (1-1), Epping’s team scored two points in the eighth and four in the ninth to turn a tie game into a six-point edge. Epping now sits atop the Pool A standings at 2-0.

Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone and Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen also remained undefeated at 2-0 in Draw 4. Dunstone topped Sam Mooibroek of Whitby, Ont., 9-6, while McEwen earned an 8-4 win over Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald (1-1). McDonald beat Saskatoon’s Ryan Kleiter (0-2) 8-3 earlier in the day in Draw 3.

Calgary’s Brad Jacobs also moved to 1-1 with a 12-0 win over Calan MacIsaac (0-2) in Draw 4.

In women’s action, reigning national and world champion Rachel Homan (2-0) earned an 8-3 win over Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes (1-1). Homan’s team from Ottawa scored three points in the eighth before the opposition conceded the game.

Earlier in the day, Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., defeated Kate Cameron of St. Adolphe, Man., 8-3, Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay downed Calgary’s Kayla Skrlik 7-6 and Edmonton’s Myla Plett beat Christina Black of Halifax 8-5.

Einarson, Cameron, Sturmay and Plett were at 1-1 while Black fell to 0-2.

The men’s and women’s PointsBet fields of 10 teams aside is divided into two pools. The top team in each pool meets in the championship games of the event that offers a prize purse of $300,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2025.