Banner Season: Gryphons, Golden Hawks soar above competition
Welland, Ont. (C/O Brock Badgers) - It was a fierce final day at the 2026 OUA Curling Championships at the Welland Curling Club on Sunday, Feb. 8. The day concluded with the Guelph Gryphons taking home the women’s title, while the Laurier Golden Hawks captured the men’s banner.
The Guelph Gryphons reigned supreme in the women’s competition, defeating the McMaster Marauders 6-4 in the gold medal match. Starting with the hammer, the Gryphons took a 2-0 lead to close out the first end. McMaster battled back, tying the match 2-2 in the third end and taking a 4-2 advantage in the sixth. Guelph did not back down, scoring four in the seventh end to go up 6-4, leading McMaster to concede. This marks Guelph’s first OUA women’s title since 1980 and books them a trip to the U SPORTS Championships in Regina, Sask., taking place from Feb. 17-21.
“It comes down to all the experience that a lot of these players have individually and then just how well they get along and how much they play for each other,” said Guelph Gryphons women’s head coach Morgan Lavell. “This group is young, they’re building and they already have so much experience. It was awesome to see how it turned into this gold medal performance this weekend.”
Last year’s OUA champions, the McMaster Marauders, earned silver this year, finishing the competition with a 5-2 record and also securing a spot at the U SPORTS Championships.
The bronze medal match saw the Queen’s Gaels earn a commanding 6-3 victory over the Trent Excalibur in seven ends. With the Excalibur leading 2-1 after three frames, the Gaels went on to score a deuce in the fourth and fifth ends to take a 5-2 advantage. After the Gryphons’ lead extended to 6-2 in the sixth end, the Excalibur cut the deficit to 6-3 but ultimately conceded. This bronze medal performance earns the Queen’s Gaels a trip to the national competition.
In the semifinal round, there were two closely-contested matchups. The McMaster Marauders scored in four different ends, including a deuce in the fifth, to defeat the Trent Excalibur 5-4. In the other semifinal, the Guelph Gryphons bested the Queen’s Gaels 8-6 in an extra end, scoring twice in the third, seventh, and ninth frames.
To start the day, the No. 1 seed Trent Excalibur defeated the No. 8 seed Waterloo Warriors 5-3 in the quarterfinals. That same round, the No. 2 seed Guelph Gryphons bested the No. 7 seed TMU Bold 8-5 in seven ends. The other two quarterfinal matchups saw the No. 3 seed Queen’s Gaels topping the No. 6 seed Brock Badgers in six ends 9-4, while the No. 5 seed McMaster Marauders edged the No. 4 seed Laurier Golden Hawks 6-5.
In a rematch of the 2025 men’s gold medal match, the Laurier Golden Hawks reversed the outcome, defeating the Carleton Ravens 8-5. Laurier scored three points in the first end but found themselves down 4-3 through three frames. The Golden Hawks scored in four of the final five ends to claim their 14th provincial title, earning a spot at the U SPORTS Championships in Regina, Sask. from Feb. 17-21.
“It was special this year with three of our guys graduating,” said Laurier men’s head coach Matthew Wilkinson. “I think we showed resilience in the second half, playing well to get back in front. In those last three ends, the guys played at the level we were at all weekend, and that’s probably the biggest thing, to stay in that mindset moving forward.”
Carleton claimed the silver medal, winning their first six matches of the weekend and only dropping the gold medal game. The Ravens’ season will continue as they aim for national excellence in less than two weeks.
With a spot at the U SPORTS Curling Championships on the line, the York Lions edged out the Toronto Varsity Blues 4-3 in an all-Toronto bronze medal game. The match was knotted at three apiece through six ends, but Toronto stole a point in the seventh frame. York held the coveted hammer advantage in the eighth and capitalized, scoring two points to secure the bronze medal as well as punching their ticket to the national tournament.
In the men’s bracket, the semifinals featured two exciting games. The York Lions fell 11-5 to the Laurier Golden Hawks as Laurier pulled off a five-ender in the fourth end and maintained their lead until York conceded after six frames. The other semifinal matchup resulted in the Carleton Ravens besting the Toronto Varsity Blues 5-3. Carleton held a 4-3 lead through seven ends and utilized the hammer in the eighth to protect the button and advance to the gold medal game.
Over four games of quarterfinal action, three of the top seeds advanced in the No. 1 Laurier Golden Hawks, the No. 2 Carleton Ravens and the No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues. Laurier took a 10-2 decision over the No. 8 Trent Excalibur in six ends, Carleton bested the No. 7 Laurentian Voyageurs 7-3, while Toronto narrowly beat out the No. 6 Waterloo Warriors 4-3. The York Lions, who came into the bracket as the No. 5 seed, won their match 9-3 in seven ends over the No. 4 Guelph Gryphons to advance to the semifinals.
See below for a full list of OUA All-Stars and major award winners from the 2026 OUA Curling Championships.
Women’s Award Winners and All-Stars
Most Valuable Player – Katrina Frlan – Guelph
Rookie of the Year – Katrina Frlan – Guelph
Coach of the Year – Dillon Muldoon – Trent
First Team All-Stars
Lead – Kaitlyn Dumoulin – Brock
Second – Aila Thompson – Guelph
Vice – Dominique Vivier – Laurier
Skip – Lauren Rath – Trent
Second Team All-Stars
Lead – Ella Wang – McMaster
Second – Riley Puhl – Queen’s
Vice – Violet French – Waterloo
Skip – Adriana Cule – Trent
Men’s Award Winners and All-Stars
Most Valuable Player – Kibo Mulima – Laurier
Rookie of the Year – William Jewell – Trent
Coach of the Year – David Blair – York
First Team All-Stars
Lead – Victor Zhong – Toronto
Second – Daniel Del Conte – York
Vice – Landan Rooney – Laurier
Skip – Owen Nicholls – Carleton
Second Team All-Stars
Lead – Colsen Flemington – Guelph
Second – Wyatt Small – Laurier
Vice – Jordan McNamara – Carleton
Skip – Kibo Mulima – Laurier