We’re only three days into the 2026 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, and Nathan Young has already accumulated a lifetime of memories.
The 23-year-old skip for the Newfoundland and Labrador champions from St. John’s — who are officially sharing host-team duties this year with their clubmates at the RE/MAX Centre/St. John’s Curling Club with Team Brad Gushue — added to those memories in dramatic fashion Sunday afternoon at the Mary Brown’s Centre.
In the last game on the ice, with nearly all of the sellout crowd still in the house and a national television audience watching on TSN, Young coolly navigated a tricky port to remove shot stone belonging to Prince Edward Island’s Team Tyler Smith and score a winning three in the 10th end for a crowd-pleasing 9-8 triumph.
With the win, Young, vice-skip Colin Thomas, second Nathan Locke, lead Ben Stringer, alternate Jeff Thomas and coach Cory Schuh improved to 2-1 after the opening weekend.
“That was a pretty special moment,” said Young, a former For The Love of Curling Scholarship recipient, with a wide smile. “I think the crowd really helped the sweepers sweep that past the guard — they did a great job and a great line call and great team shot. Very happy about that. My heart, you probably wouldn’t register on a heart rate monitor right now, it’s going very fast, but (I’m) just so happy.”
He had reason to be after a tight game with the Islanders, who had scored nice deuces in the seventh and ninth ends, while holding Team Young to a single in the eighth.
Still, though, Young believed his team was in good shape in the back half of the game after adjusting to the swingy ice and stones.
“At the fifth-end break we said we had to get a better handle on the curl; we got to stay ahead of it on the brooms, and we did that better in the second half and it paid off in the last shot,” said Young. “We weren’t getting ahead of the curl with the broom. We’re throwing it good, the weight’s pretty close, we just have to keep the brooms down and give ourselves a chance.”
They did that in the 10th, and as a result, they’re in good shape in the Pool A standings after the opening weekend, tied for third place at 2-1 with Ontario’s Team Jayden King (Tillsonburg) behind the unbeaten Team Gushue and Team Canada, skipped by Brad Jacobs (Calgary).
Even more important is the confidence gained from Sunday’s effort, including the dramatic game-winner.Team Newfoundland and Labrador-Gushue lead Geoff Walker (left) and second/vice-skip Brendan Bottcher (right) in action on Sunday at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s. (Photo, Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver)
“Hopefully we have even better ones left to come, but I’ll definitely remember that one and the reaction from our team and the crowd for sure,” said Young. “I think what really stands out there is how we didn’t start off the strongest, but we were able to get together and play well enough in the second half to take out the win. That’s a huge confidence boost going forward because sometimes you’re going to be down against these good teams —you have to stay in it.”
In other games Sunday afternoon, Team Newfoundland and Labrador-Gushue doubled Ontario 8-4; Team Canada remained perfect with an 11-2 win over Nunavut’s Team Derek Samagalski (0-3; Iqaluit); and Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp (1-1; Regina) turned back Nova Scotia’s Team Kendal Thompson (0-2; Halifax) 8-5.
Quebec’s Team Jean-Michel Ménard (1-1; Des Collines, Glenmore, Belvédère, Etchemin, Valleyfield) had the Pool A bye on Sunday afternoon.
The 2026 Montana’s Brier continues Sunday with the late draw at 7:30 p.m. (all times NT).
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 20256 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.