Jacobs tops Dunstone at trials, Canadian curling finals bye

Calgary’s Brad Jacobs has advanced to the men’s finals bye at the 2025 Canadian Curling Trials in Montana.

Jacobs (5-1) moved into sole possession of the top spot in the men’s standings with a draw to go after a 6-2 victory over Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone in Wednesday morning action.

Jacobs ended the game with a steal of two in the 10th end.

Dunstone tied for second at 4-2 with Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen and Brad Gushoe of St. John’s, NL McEwen beat Gushoe 9-7 Wednesday morning.

Jacobs, the ’14 Olympic champion, was set to face Gushue, the 2006 gold medalist, in a pivotal game in Wednesday evening’s final round-robin draw.

The winner of the men’s and women’s events receive a direct bye to their respective best-of-3 finals, while the second- and third-placed teams will meet in the knockout semi-finals.

The winners of the tournament will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

In other early results, Toronto’s John Epping beat Calgary’s Kevin Coe 8-4 and Winnipeg’s Jordan MacDonald beat Saskatoon’s Ryan Claytor 7-6.

Coe entered the final draw at 3-3, Epping at 2-4 and MacDonald and Claytor at 1-5.

The final women’s draw was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, with elite skips Kari Anerson of Gimli, Maine, and Rachel Homan of Ottawa facing off against the top seeds in the line-up.