Team Dunstone and Team Koe victorious in Page 1-2 Qualifiers at 2026 Montana’s Brier

Ever since skip Matt Dunstone saw the announcement that the Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, would be coming to the Newfoundland and Labrador capital of St. John’s, he knew he wanted to be at the big dance in contention for his first Canadian men’s curling crown.

But it wasn’t enough to simply be in the mix — Dunstone had higher aspirations of wanting to take down the local heroes in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Team Brad Gushue.

So, when the playoff schedule aligned and the teams were set to square off in the Page 1v2 qualifier match on Friday afternoon at the Mary Brown’s Centre, the Winnipeg skip got his dream request and made good on the chance to play villain, earning a 7-5 victory over Team Gushue on Friday afternoon.

Not only did Dunstone, alongside third/vice-skip Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Jake Horgan, and coach Caleb Flaxey, fulfill his goal, he did so with a triumphant 10^th-end shot for the win.

“Ever since I knew this Brier was going to be in St. John’s, that’s the moment I wanted,” said Dunstone. “Very cool. Curling, often times, there’s not many home and away teams or arenas, matchups, things like that, but today we had one and we were the obvious away team. Probably a moment I’ll remember for a very long time.”

The shot to win, a high and hard heater at a staggered pile of freezes and counter-freezes that crawled it way up from the tee line to the top of the 12-foot, was tactfully thrown by Dunstone and left nothing but yellow stones after contact for the win.

It’s a shot that nearly didn’t exist for Dunstone after Gushue hogged his final offering trying to guard the pile.

“Yes — that just does not happen,” said Dunstone of the Gushue miss. “That side of the sheet was tricky. In the eighth end, we had two picks in that spot, so there was a little bit of action going on that side of the sheet. Just a massive break, obviously.”

The other difference-maker in the match was a two for Dunstone in the fifth. A real chip-and-chase affair proved fruitful for Dunstone, scoring his team’s first deuce after a Mark Nichols draw offering over-curled and opened the gate for Dunstone, who arguably could have taken more than just the two, but was limited by a Nichols in-off recovery shot.

“Had to have it,” said Dunstone of the extra points. “That was looking like a three-ball for a lot longer than they were probably comfortable for but massive to get back into it. If you get forced after five, it’s tough, man. It’s a grind; especially against a really good team. The deuce there was massive — probably was the turning point in the game.”

Meanwhile, just a sheet over in the other Page 1v2 qualifier, Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe led his undefeated cavalcade of young talent to a 7-4 win over Team Canada, skipped by Brad Jacobs (Calgary).

Like Team Dunstone, the win earns Team Koe a Page 1-2 match berth against an opponent to be determined.

The 51 year-old skip has been on an absolute heater at the 2026 Montana’s Brier and is proving that he still has the chops to be a contender at the national men’s level as he pursues a fifth Montana’s Brier title.

“We’re in a good spot, obviously,” said Koe. “We’ve won all our games, but still need two wins. It’s still nice to have that extra life going into tomorrow and hopefully we can play good again tomorrow.”

Koe’s thin double in the seventh produced a three-score on Team Canada, proving to be the biggest blow of the game en route to the victory.

It was a brave shot, but not outwardly risky either. An array of catchers on the wing ensured that it would have only ever been, at worst, a steal of one should Koe miss the intended first-target stone, but vintage Koe simply doesn’t miss the high-hard offerings.

“It wasn’t easy, but I think we all felt when you’re playing (Jacobs), that if you have a chance, sometimes you just gotta take it and make it, because you don’t get those opportunities against them too often,” said Koe. “They’re a good defensive team, as well as being the (world’s) best.”

The loss doesn’t spell the end for Team Jacobs and Team Gushue, however. Both teams will drop down into the Page 3-4 qualifier match, where Team Gushue will face Ontario’s Team Jayden King (Tillsonburg) and Team Jacobs will face Manitoba’s Team Braden Calvert (Winnipeg) at 7:30 p.m. (all times NL).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2026 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2026 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2026 Montana’s Brier, go to www.curling.ca/2026brier/tickets/

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2026brier/nouvelles/