Kyle Kurz
Curler
Born (1995-04-10) April 10, 1995
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Team
Curling clubDeer Lodge CC,
Winnipeg, MB[1]
SkipBraden Calvert
ThirdCorey Chambers
SecondKyle Kurz
LeadBrendan Bilawka
Curling career
Member Association Manitoba
Top CTRS ranking12th (2018–19; 2019–20)
Medal record
Men's Curling
Representing  Canada
World Junior Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Tallinn

Kyle Kurz (born April 10, 1995) is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba.[2] He currently plays second on Team Braden Calvert.

Career

Kurz won his first provincial junior title in 2014 as third for the Braden Calvert rink. The team, also including front end Lucas Van Den Bosch and Brendan Wilson represented Manitoba at the 2014 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. There, the team lost just one game, en route to their first national junior title.[3] In the final, they defeated New Brunswick's Rene Comeau to earn the right to represent Canada at the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships.[4] At the Worlds, they had less success, finishing the round robin with a 6–3 record.[5] This put the team into the playoffs, but they lost to Switzerland in the 3 vs. 4 game, and then lost to Norway in the bronze medal game, settling for fourth place.[6]

The team won their second-straight provincial junior crown in 2015 and represented Manitoba again at 2015 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. Again, the team lost just one game in the round robin, and again won the national title.[7] This time they had to beat Saskatchewan's Jacob Hersikorn rink to earn the right to represent Canada at the 2015 World Junior Curling Championships.[8] They would fare much better at the 2015 World Juniors, losing just one game in the round robin. In the playoffs, they beat Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller twice to claim the gold medal.[9]

Team Calvert played in their first men's provincial championship in 2015 at the 2015 Safeway Championship. Despite just being a junior team, the rink posted a 5-1 record in the knockout tournament, making it to the championship round, where they lost to former World Champion Jeff Stoughton in the 3 vs. 4 game.[10] During the 2015–16 season, Team Calvert had two playoff appearances on the tour. They reached the final of the North Autocorp Thanksgiving Charity Open and the quarterfinals of the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic. The team also competed in the Manitoba Junior provincials where they looked to defend their title for a third straight year but lost in the page playoffs to Derek Oryniak.[11] The next season, the team won their first tour event at the Man Curl Tour Classic.[12] They also reached the finals of the MCT Championships and the Ken Kurbis Galaxy Bonspiel. At the 2017 Viterra Championship, the team missed the playoffs with a 1–2 record.

In their first event of the 2017–18 season, Team Calvert won the Icebreaker at The Granite.[13] Elsewhere on tour, they made the semifinals of both The Sunova Spiel at East St. Paul and the King Spud Classic and the quarterfinals of the MCT Championships and the KKP Classic. Despite their tour success, Team Calvert lost both of their opening games at the 2018 Viterra Championship and were eliminated.

Team Calvert revamped their front end for the 2018–19 season, bringing on Ian McMillan to play second and Rob Gordon to play lead. The team had a fairly successful first season together, beginning with the 2018 Icebreaker at The Granite where they won the event title for a second year in a row.[14] They also won The Sunova Spiel at East St. Paul and the Thistle Integrity Stakes the following two months and had semifinal appearances at both the DeKalb Superspiel and the KKP Classic.[15] The team also played in three Grand Slam events, the 2018 Tour Challenge, 2018 National and the 2019 Canadian Open, failing to qualify for the playoffs in any of them. At the 2019 Viterra Championship, they were eliminated in the championship round.[16] The following season, the team would only win one tour event, the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic, where they went undefeated to claim the title.[17] Elsewhere on tour, the team had semifinal appearances at the 2019 Cargill Curling Training Centre Icebreaker, the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic, the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic and the 2019 China Open where they represented Canada.[18] Team Calvert only qualified for one slam that season, the 2019 Tour Challenge Tier 2, where they missed the playoffs with a 1–3 record. At the 2020 Viterra Championship, the team failed to qualify for the championship round as they were knocked out in the B Qualifier by 2020 World Junior champion Jacques Gauthier.[19]

During the abbreviated 2020–21 season, Team Calvert played in two events, reaching the semifinals in the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic and missing the playoffs in the MCT Cargill Curling Training Centre Fall Classic.[20] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba, the 2021 provincial championship was cancelled. As the reigning provincials champions, Team Jason Gunnlaugson was chosen to represent Manitoba at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier.[21] However, due to many provinces cancelling their provincial championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Curling Canada added three Wild Card teams to the national championship, which were based on the CTRS standings from the 2019–20 season.[22] Team Calvert ranked three places to low in the rankings to qualify for the event, ranking just below Glenn Howard, Tanner Horgan and Scott McDonald.[23] The team began the following season with two finals appearances at the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic and the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic, winning the latter.[24] The team also had enough points to qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials for a chance to qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.[25] At the Pre-Trials, they finished with a 2–4 record, missing the playoffs.[26] Due to their early success, Team Calvert qualified for the 2021 National Grand Slam event, where they finished with a 1–3 record. At the 2022 Viterra Championship, the team qualified through the A event with two straight victories, and then won their first championship round game to reach the 1 vs. 2 page qualifier. They then lost two straight games to Mike McEwen and Ryan Wiebe, not qualifying for the playoffs.[27] They wrapped up their season at the 2022 Best of the West where they lost in a tiebreaker to Karsten Sturmay.

Personal life

Kurz is employed as a construction electrician at Allco Electrical. He is married to fellow curler Melissa Gordon.[2] His brother Colin Kurz is also a curler who won the 2019 World Mixed Curling Championship.

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead
2012–13[28] Kyle DoeringConnor NjegovanDerek OryniakKyle Kurz
2013–14 Braden CalvertKyle KurzLucas Van Den BoschBrendan Wilson
2014–15 Braden CalvertKyle KurzLucas Van Den BoschBrendan Wilson
2015–16 Braden CalvertKyle KurzConnor McIntyreColin Kurz
2016–17 Braden CalvertKyle KurzLucas Van Den BoschBrendan Wilson
2017–18 Braden CalvertKyle KurzLucas Van Den BoschBrendan Wilson
2018–19 Braden CalvertKyle KurzIan McMillanRob Gordon
2019–20 Braden CalvertKyle KurzIan McMillanRob Gordon
2020–21 Braden CalvertKyle KurzIan McMillanRob Gordon
2021–22 Braden CalvertKyle KurzIan McMillanRob Gordon
2022–23 Braden CalvertKyle KurzIan McMillanRob Gordon
2023–24 Braden CalvertCorey ChambersKyle KurzBrendan Bilawka

References

  1. ↑ "Kyle Kurz Profile". Curling Canada. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "2022 PointsBet Invitational Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Manitoba headed to men's final at 2014 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors". Curling Canada. January 22, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Manitoba's Braden Calvert wins Canadian curling juniors". CBC Sports. January 26, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  5. ↑ "World Junior Curling Championships 2014". World Curling Federation. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Junior men will play for bronze". Curling Canada. March 4, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Braden Calvert wins 2015 Canadian junior curling championship". CTV News. February 2, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Calvert's Manitoba men repeat gold-medal win at M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors". Curling Canada. February 1, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Canadian men, women win gold at world junior curling championships". TSN. March 8, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  10. ↑ Jim Bender (February 7, 2015). "Calvert, Stoughton to face off in 2-2 Page playoff". Canoe.com. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  11. ↑ "A day of surprises at Manitoba junior curling championships". Winnipeg Free Press. January 9, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  12. ↑ "2016 Man Curl Tour Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  13. ↑ "2017 Spider Performance Icebreaker at The Granite". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Calvert Wins 2018 GOLDLINE Icebreaker at The Granite". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  15. ↑ "WCT Recap: Team Anderson wins Boundary Ford Curling Classic". TSN. November 28, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  16. ↑ Laurie Macdonell (February 9, 2019). "Viterra Championship Playoff Update". Curl Manitoba. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  17. ↑ Jonathan Brazeau (November 4, 2019). "Eight Ends: All you need to know for GSOC Tour Challenge". Sportsnet. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Big victory for Team Jacobs!". Curling Canada. December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  19. ↑ Laurie Macdonell (February 7, 2020). "2020 Viterra Championship Day 3 Recap". Curl Manitoba. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Team Calvert 2020–21". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  21. ↑ Devin Heroux (December 21, 2020). "Ontario, Manitoba cancel playdowns for Scotties, Brier". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Three wild-card teams added to Scotties, Brier". TSN. January 13, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  23. ↑ "2019–20 CTRS Standings". Curling Canada. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Curling tours update". Curling Canada. October 4, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  25. ↑ Gregory Strong (October 24, 2021). "A capsule look at the 14-team men's field for the Home Hardware Curling Pre-Trials". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Picture Perfect Paul!". Curling Canada. October 29, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  27. ↑ Laurie McDonell (February 13, 2022). "2022 Viterra Championship – Day 4 Recap". Curl Manitoba. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Kyle Kurz Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
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