Kleiter Wins Tour Challenge Tier 2 Title

Saskatoon's Rylan Kleiter (photo: Anil Mungal, GSOC) wins the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 2 title, defeating Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell 6-5 in an extra end. The Tier 2 win gives Kleiter and his team of Joshua Mattern, Matthew Hall and Trevor Johnson a place in the Co-op Canadian Open in January. The win also jumps Kleiter up to 16th overall on the World Curling Rankings, putting them in position for a berth into the next Grand Slam event in November in Nisku, Alberta. Starting with hammer, Kleiter scored 1 in the first end, then added a steal in the second end. Ramsfjell and Kleiter traded singles in the third and fourth ends, with the Norwegians scoring two in the fifth end to even the score at 3. Kleiter scored a single in the sixth end, then stole the seventh end to take a 2-point lead into the final end. Ramsfjell scored two in the eighth end, his last rock runback was close, though just not strong enough for three. Kleiter, needing a piece of the four foot on his last, went wide on the board side to draw around cover and catch enough to score a single point for the win. WATCH TIER 2 FINAL on HomeTeamLive: Kleiter vs. Ramsfjell In the semifinals, Kleiter defeated Whitby's Sam Mooibroek 5-3 and Ramsfjell defeated Danny Casper of Chaska, Minnesota, 9-4. In the quarterfinals, Kleiter defeated Halifax's Owen Purcell 8-6, while Mooibroek defeated Germany's Marc Muskatewitz, 9-6, Casper defeated Switzerland's Marco Hoesli 5-4, and Ramsfjell defeated Scotland's Kyle Waddell 5-3. Kleiter advanced through the A-event bracket going undefeated through qualifying. In their opening game, Kleiter defeated Mooibroek 4-3, then won 7-5 against Waddell and 7-5 against Muskatewitz in the A-event qualifier.