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Kirk Muyres (Left), and Matt Dunstone (Right) track a rock down the ice at the 2018 SaskTel Men's Tankard. (Submitted Photo/CurlSask)
Joining Forces

Kirk Muyres announces move to play second for Team Dunstone

Apr 9, 2020 | 2:00 PM

There’s been a big shakeup in the Saskatchewan curling landscape as teams prepare for the 2020-2021 season, and the 2022 Olympic games.

St. Gregor, Sask. native Kirk Muyres announced on Thursday, April 9 he would be joining forces with Team Matt Dunstone and play second. Team Dunstone recently represented Saskatchewan at the 2020 Brier and came home with a bronze medal.

The team featuring Dunstone at skip, Braeden Moskowy at third, and Dustin Kidby at lead decided to part ways with second Catlin Schneider, leaving a spot on their team open. Muyres said he was contacted almost a week ago regarding the opportunity, and after hearing the Colton Flasch was coming back to Saskatchewan, they knew things were going to change.

Muyres had lost in the provincial final to Dunstone this year, one year after the result was flipped in the 2019 provincial final leading Muyres to go to the Brier that year. He said seeing the success of Dunstone’s rink at the Brier this season had an effect on his decision.

“Really just seeing them excel in those big games, against the top teams,” Muyres told northeastNOW. “That was an exciting proposition for me kind of as I go into this next part of my career.”

Dunstone’s rink also won the 2019 Master’s tournament.

Muyres was previously a teammate of Dunstone’s for a couple of seasons when they were skipped by Steve Laycock, they would go on to represent Saskatchewan at the Brier a couple of times. Muyres was also a teammate of Moskowy and Kidby’s as well. Moskowy and Muyres played together when the pair was part of the 2011 Canadian Junior winning team. Muyres and Kidby were then teammates in 2012, Muyres first year in the men’s circuit.

“Certainly eased the stress of making the decision,” he said. “I knew what we were getting into, I knew we had really good dynamics and I knew we could be really good on the ice, we’ve had that success before, so that certainly helped make the decision.”

Muyres (second from right) and Dunstone (second from left) were part of Team Steve Laycock for a few years, and won the 2018 SaskTel Tankard. (Submitted Photo/CurlSask)

Another change for Muyres with his new team will be the position. Muyres will now be throwing second stones, something he said he has done in the past, but his previous experience as a skip and third should be big helps to his new rink.

“I’m excited to kind of play the caddy role,” he said. “I know what it’s like to play third and skip, so I know kind of what Braeden and Matt might be going through at any given time, so I’m really excited to kind of just be there to support them, to help them through, to kind of give them the right thing at the right time hopefully when we get into the games.”

With joining a new team, comes leaving a previous team, something Muyres had to do with this move. He had been a skip for the past two seasons on a team that featured Dan and Kevin Marsh who Muyres calls “two of the best guys in curling”, and his brother Dallan.

“We’ve played together for 10 years, he’s my best friend, he’s my big brother, we played together growing up,” Muyres said. “It’s going to be really weird playing without him over the next couple of years, but he was supportive of the decision, and I’m just grateful for his support as I kind of go into this new part of my career.”

As for what’s next for Muyres and his new team, he said they’ll have some conversations over video chat to all get on the same page and get ready for the 2020-2021 season, even with COVID-19 putting a pause on the sports world.

“Prepare as normal, prepare to be ready for Sept. 1,” Muyres said. “And like all sports, we’ll see how it plays out because as we all know; curling is a minor part of what’s going on in the world right now.”

Muyres has represented Saskatchewan at the Brier five different times, winning bronze in 2015. Muyres and Team Dunstone are also expected to stick together as teams prepare for the Olympic trials and the Olympic Games in 2022.

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6

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