His third time was the charm, and Matt Dunstone will be the first to tell you it was worth the wait.
The 30-year-old skip popularly known as the Sheriff, who’d lost in two previous Montana’s Brier finals, took his long-desired step to the top level of the medal podium Sunday evening at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, N.L., as his Manitoba team from Winnipeg won the 2026 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI.
Dunstone, backed up by vice-skip Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden (who will retire from competitive curling after this season), lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Jacob Horgan and coach Caleb Flaxey, defeated Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe (Calgary) 6-3 to set off a wild celebration with friends and family in the stands.
After six ends of close-to-the-vest curling and trailing 2-1, Dunstone, who lost gold-medal games in 2023 at London, Ont., and last year in Kelowna, B.C., scored a game-turning three in the seventh end that all but locked down his first national men’s championship and a trip to Ogden, Utah, for the 2026 LGT World Men’s Curling Championship March 27-April 4.
If you could ever say a team was due — taking into account those Montana’s Brier final losses as well as a loss to Team Brad Jacobs in November at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax — it was this one.
“It’s been a lot of heartbreak, you know, over this quadrennial, losing two of these, and then the Trials,” said DunstoneManitoba’s Team Matt Dunstone are 2026 Montana’s Brier champions after a 6-3 victory over Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe in the final. From left, skip Matt Dunstone, third/vice-skip Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden. (Photo, Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver). “It’s a very special moment for this group. We’ve put a lot of work into what we do, obviously. This moment feels way more incredible than I ever would have imagined that it would.”
It was a nailbiter for much of the evening, as the teams kept things tight and waited for mistakes that rarely happened.
The first end, though, could have swung the early momentum as Koe took on a risky soft-weight raise double-takeout, trying to split his shooter onto the rings, although being off target would have resulted in a steal of two for Manitoba. In the end, he was able to get his single and take the early lead.
Koe made a double takeout in the second that snuffed out a chance at multiple points for Team Dunstone, who was forced to draw for a single, and, after a blanked third, the favour was returned two ends later when Koe needed to make a draw for one looking at three Manitoba counters.
Dunstone needed to make tough shots to remove partially buried stones for blanks in the fifth and sixth, but finally got his opportunity to pounce in the seventh and made the best of it when Koe was light on his freeze attempt to limit Team Dunstone to a deuce.
“Yeah, massive, huge shift in the game,” said Dunstone, who is the fourth man in Canadian curling history to skip a Canadian junior men’s champion (2013, 2016) and a Montana’s Brier champion — all three times with Lott as his vice-skip. “I thought we controlled most of the game, most of the front half of the game. And, eventually we got our opportunity and capitalized on it.”
After holding Team Koe to a single in the eighth, Dunstone delivered the knockout blow with a wonderful slash double takeout for a deuce to complete the scoring. In the 10th, he sunk to his knees in relief and jubilation when he ran Team Koe out of rocks.
It will be Dunstone’s fourth time with the Maple Leaf on his back, including the two World Juniors (he won bronze both times) and the 2015 Winter Universiade.
“(It’s been) far too long — 10 years, man,” said Dunstone, shaking his head. “And I feel very honoured, very blessed to be able to go and represent Canada on the world stage, especially after seeing Team Jacobs go and do what they did (winning gold at the Winter Olympics in Cortina last month). It was very inspirational. I feel very fortunate and just can’t wait to do the same.”
For E.J. Harnden, who was named the winner of the Hec Gervais Award as the playoff Most Valuable Player, it means an extension to his competitive curling career that has seen him win the Montana’s Brier five times, including Sunday.
“I’m not done yet, that’s amazing,” he marvelled. “Oh my gosh, it’s everything (to win the Montana’s Brier). I never imagined, just being my last Brier and to win it — you know, that was the goal, but to actually do it and knowing how hard it is to win a Brier, this is incredible. I couldn’t be happier for Matt, and Colton, and Ryan. It’s been 13 years for Ryan, and it’s the first Brier for Colton and Matt. I said I really want to be a part of that. And now I am — this is incredible.”
Ryan Harnden last won the Montana’s Brier in 2013 with E.J. Harnden on a Northern Ontario team skipped by their cousin Brad Jacobs.
The gold-medal game attracted a sellout crowd of 6,201, bringing the total for the 2026 Montana’s Brier to 143,100.
Team Dunstone (with its pending replacement for E.J. Harnden) will get a return trip to the Montana’s Brier playing as Team Canada.
The 2027 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, will be the 100th anniversary of the Canadian men’s curling championship, and will be played Feb. 26-March 7 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. CLICK HERE for ticket information.