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54 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 12, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Both rinks have provincials experience Continued from page 53 "We feel proud to be representing Region 2. Our region was tough and it is a big accomplishment to make it through," she said. "The Oakville Curling Club has always been supportive of our team and we feel proud to be representing such a great club." While this is the team's first appearance at junior provincials, each player has years of curling experience and some serious accomplishments to her credit. Lindsay was a 2005 champion at the Toronto Curling Association's annual tournament and a runner-up at bantam provincials in 2007. Wasylkiw enjoyed the same bantam success in `07 and won OFSAA high school gold in `06. Bernier was also second at `07 bantams and third at the `06 Gore Schoolgirl championships, where she was also named MVP. Thompson was also named MVP at the Gore event in `08 and has medals from a variety of events over the past three years. Walker rink trying to stay sharp The Oakville junior men's team also has plenty of experience, as some of the players are returning to provincials for the third or fourth straight year. Walker, the team's skip, admitted his squad is thrilled by the opportunity to play for the Ontario championship. "It's satisfying enough to be making it back to provincials. Once there, satisfaction will be doing better than the previous year (a 3-4 record with Team Matt Mapletoft)," he said. "Overall, it is satisfying to be one of the top eight teams in the province and be a contender for the provincial title. "The most we can do now is stay healthy, don't break anything, don't eat too much turkey at Christmas and try to get out and practice a couple times a week," he said, admitting the hardest goal to meet might be having just a little turkey. "The key point here is to stay healthy so that we can be at our prime for provincials in January." The team's experience is likely to be an advantage at the provincial level. This is Walker's third straight trip to the Ontario tournament, following on the heels of bantam provincial appearances, including a championship in `05. The team's vice, Jamie Parker, has also been to an Ontario junior, bantam or OFSAA championship each year since 2005. Parker, a former student at Iroquois Ridge who will attend George Brown College in the new year, said he feels proud and accomplished by his string of provincial appearances. "It always feels good representing Oakville and the Oakville Curling Club," he added. "They are really supportive and positive." Rounding out the Oakville squad is Kyle Steele (who has previous junior or bantam provincial experience in 2005, 2006 and 2008); and Rob Fry (who played junior provincials last season and made it to OFSAA finals in 2006). Walker said this experience has been a key motivation for the team. "We know we're a good enough team to represent our province... All four of us made it to provincials (before on different teams), so we knew that we could do it. As well, this is Rob's last year as a junior so his personal inspiration is to make the best of his junior career." WINNING WRANGLERS: The Oakville novice red Wranglers won the championship at the recent Parkdale Flames William Reynolds Christmas Tournament. Novice Wranglers roast competition To say the Oakville novice red Wranglers will remember their experience at the recent Parkdale Flames William Reynolds Christmas Tournament would be an understatement. Not only did the Wranglers win all three of their games and outscore their opponents 30-9, they even enjoyed a marshmallow roast in the dressing room before the championship game. Well, not exactly. The power went out two minutes before the game was to start, causing a 20-minute delay. Oakville players and coaches retreated to the dressing room and extended their sticks over a flash light in the centre of the room, also exchanging ghost stories as cell phones lit up the room. Aidan Williams, Tristian Valadao, Austin Winn, Jake Cuthbert, Christopher Sdao, Oliver Matta, Alec Burns, Mark Sinclair, David Gunner, Christopher Banfi and Casson Speziale all scored at least one goal in the tournament. Jeremy Higa, Cameron Arnold and Jack Swanson also contributed to the championship. Greg Davis and Leo Speziale coach the team, with Manny Valadao serving as trainer.