CAMROSE, Alta. - The 2017 CCAA Curling National Championships at the Rose City Curling Club in Camrose, Alta., got underway Wednesday with a morning and afternoon draw. With eight sheets of ice available, all 16 teams are in action for every draw of the round robin and several colleges are returning from last year's competition including the 2016 CCAA men's gold medalists, the Humber Hawks.

Women's Draw:

In the morning draw on the Women's side, the Niagara Knights who were defeated by the Humber Hawks in the OCAA final, got their revenge by downing the Hawks 7-4. After eight ends, the NAIT Ooks and Fanshawe Falcons closed down their opponents, the Red Deer Queens and Lakeland Rustlers, respectively, while the Concordia Thunder ran the Augustana Vikings out of rocks in the 10th.

The afternoon draw saw several blank ends and a few singles exchanged between Concordia Thunder and Red Deer Queens with Concordia coming out on top 3-2. Lakeland Rustlers sealed the deal against the Humber Hawks with a triple in the 10th and it was the triple for the NAIT Ooks in the ninth that overtook the Augustana Vikings. Fanshawe Falcons ran the Niagara Knights out of rocks in the 10th for a 6-4 victory.

Men's Draw:

An upset at the Men's morning draw went in favour of the Lakeland Rustlers who, having failed to qualify for this year's ACAC provincials, handily defeated the 2017 OCAA gold medalists, the Humber Hawks by a score of 8-2 after eight ends. Fanshawe Falcons and Mohawk Mountaineers clashed in a close game exchanging mostly singles but it was Fanshawe who came out ahead with the 4-3 win. Olds Broncos surprised the NAIT Ooks with two late three-enders and Augustana Vikings were unable to recover from giving up a triple in seven to the Red Deer Kings.

Host Augustana Vikings took little time after a seven-ender this afternoon to hand the NAIT Ooks their second loss of the tournament. In other play, Lakeland Rustlers tried to keep pace with the Fanshawe Falcons after a five-point deficit but were unable to hold on and the Falcons walked away with a 7-4 win. Olds Broncos secured their second win of the day over a close game with the Red Deer Kings and Humber Hawks finished off the Mohawk Mountaineers by a score of 5-2.

Action gets underway again Thursday morning at 9 a.m. MT for Draw #3. Tickets are available at the door.

Standings after Day 1:

Sheet 8 will be televised throughout the 2017 CCAA Curling National Championships and will be available for viewing online via ACACtv. All broadcast games have a $5 charge to view. Opening ceremonies and the awards presentation are free of charge.

Source: University of Alberta-Augustana/CCAA Communications