'It's the dream': Sudbury brothers off to auspicious start in second appearance at curling championship
Team Northern Ontario got off to an auspicious start this weekend at the Canadian men's curling championships in Kelowna, BC.
The team, led by Toronto's John Epping and featuring Sudbury brothers Tanner and Jacob Horgan and Dryden-born lead Ian McMillan, defeated New Brunswick 7-6 on Friday evening and Alberta 9-5 on Saturday before losing 6-5 to Team Canada on Sunday.
It's the second trip to the championships for the Horgan brothers, who represented Northern Ontario in 2023 with Jacob as skip.
"It's awesome," Jacob said of the return to the championship.
"It's everything. Like growing up curling in Canada, the Brier's the pinnacle of Canadian sport. So it's awesome. It's the dream."
The Epping rink is currently ranked 10th in the world curling team ranking, two spots behind Team Canada's Brad Gushue, making this their best season to date on tour.
"We've racked up a whole bunch of wins," Tanner said.
"Five WCT wins plus our provincials. We've racked up a bunch of points … This has been exactly what we wanted to do, exactly what we had in mind when we put the team together. And we're, yeah, exceeding our expectations."
Team Epping won its berth in the championships by breezing through the northern Ontario playdowns in January, defeating competitors by wide margins and winning the final against Thunder Bay's Dylan Johnston by a score of 10-2.
The brothers— whose sister, Tracy Fleury, plays third on Rachel Homan's team, which was just crowned national women's champions for the second straight year— are experienced competitors and have learned to enjoy the presence of crowds and TV cameras, Jacob said.
"No pressure anymore," he said.
"Honestly, [the] more people in the crowd, the better. More cameras, the better. [We] just can't get enough of it, really. It's awesome out there now."
The curlers' mother serves as the cheering squad for the team, filling the arena with the sounds of a moose call, that's long been used by Northern Ontario curling fans.
"You need a can, like a juice can," Kathy Horgan explained.
"And you put a hole in one end. … and you have a string, preferably a thin string like a shoelace. And you wet it — like you tie it in there, you wet it, and then you just drag your hand on it."
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