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It was another big day at the Brier for Saskatchewan curling fans.
Mike McEwen is off to the semifinal after a close win on Saturday against Matt Dunstone’s Manitoba rink.
The excitement got young fan Summer Reifferscheid up on her feet.
“I was already jumping up and screaming when they won because it was close,” she said. “I feel relieved. It was stressful.”
Her stress will be short-lived, as the Green and White hit the ice again Sunday at noon against Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher.
She’d like to see McEwen take on Team Canada’s Brad Gushue in the finals.
“We did beat him once, so I think maybe we could beat him again,” Reifferscheid said.
Reifferscheid came from Humboldt with her family to watch the game.
“I’m here with my grandma, my grandpa and my little sister,” she said. “My mom’s at home with my other little sister. So she’s watching on the TV cheering for Saskatchewan too.”
She admits she wasn’t always a big curling fan.
“I used to think it was boring because my grandma would always watch it and I’d be like, ‘Ugh! Curling again.’ And now that I kind of can understand it more, I’m excited to be watching it,” Reifferscheid said.
Her grandma lives in St. Gregor, where Reifferscheid plays in a curling “fun-spiel.”
“I’m not this level of curling, but I am pretty good,” she said with a laugh.
She plays a little bit of everything but prefers the role of skip. She thinks going pro would be fun.
“It would be pretty busy,” she said. “But we’ll see. I’ll keep practising at the fun-spiel and we’ll see where I end up.”
She’s optimistic for a big win for the green and white.
“I feel very excited,” she said. “(This win) means we get to stay in the Brier and have more chances at winning and becoming Team Canada next year. So I have hope.”
Reifferscheid will be watching the rest of the tournament at home.
“I’m really happy I could come,” she said. “I’m feeling good.”
Her grandpa, Andrew Rauert, is pumped about the big win too.
“I’m so happy Saskatchewan won,” he said. “We made it the farthest we did in a lot of years, so hoping for continued success.”
He hopes Team McEwen will end the 44-year drought.
“The final win would end the drought ever since Rick Folk,” he said.
“We are a great province for curling; we always have been. A win would finally show it again so that the whole country realizes it one more time.”