Team Northern Ontario beats Quebec to win gold at national wheelchair curling championship

CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Team Northern Ontario skip Douglas Dean said the squad went to the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship successful Boucherville, Que. determined to bring location the gold. 

After winning metallic successful 2016 and 2023, Dean said they knew they had a first-place decorativeness wrong scope this year. 

"Just to get a medal astatine a nationalist title is simply a is a immense achievement. But aft doing it twice, we thought to ourselves, 'we're not going to bash it this year. We're not going to settee for silver. We're going to sprout for the gold'," Dean told CBC via telephone from Toronto Pearson Airport connected his mode location to Thunder Bay. 

Team Northern Ontario defeated Team Québec 8-5 successful the finals connected Saturday to capture their archetypal nationalist title. 

Dean said they went point-for-point with the location squad until scoring a three-ender successful the 4th round, which allowed Team Northern Ontario to commencement to propulsion ahead. 

Team Northern Ontario was capable to unafraid triumph erstwhile Dean scored a cleanable takeout, helium said.

"I got a treble instrumentality out. That enactment the nail successful the coffin for them, sealed it for us," said Dean.

WATCH: Team Northern Ontario wins 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship

Vice-skip Gino Sonego said determination were times erstwhile they weren't definite if they could propulsion disconnected winning gold. After losing the 2nd and 3rd games of the tournament, helium said the squad had to refocus to guarantee they won the remaining games.

"If you marque 1 small mistake sometimes and the different squad capitalizes, that's each it takes. Lots of bully contention retired there," Sonego said.

The team of Dean, Sonego, 2nd Rick Bell, pb Lola Graham, alternate Aimee Epp and manager Doug Gelmich signifier retired of the Fort William Gardens arena successful Thunder Bay. 

Sonego said the squad has been playing unneurotic for astir 10 years.

"It takes a batch of enactment to put the squad unneurotic and enactment together," helium said. "It conscionable takes a portion to find the close people, the close dynamics." 

Sonego said that portion the Fort William Gardens is afloat accessible for wheelchair users, determination presently aren't galore wheelchair curlers successful the area. 

"We're ever looking to instrumentality connected caller people... .if you're successful the Thunder Bay Area, we are much than consenting to assistance anybody retired that wants to try."