Team Kleiter excited to wave Saskatchewan flag at Kelowna Brier

There won’t be any shortage of Saskatchewan content at the Brier this year in Kelowna.

While much of the attention might be on last year’s runner-up Mike McEwen and his Saskatchewan rink, they’ll be joined by another Saskatoon team which also curls out of the Nutana Curling Club.

Team Kleiter will also be waving the Saskatchewan flag.

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Team Kleiter is made up of skip Rylan Kleiter, third Josh Mattern, second Matt Hall and lead Trevor Johnson.

Kleiter and his team are all in their 20s, and will be making their Brier debut this year in Kelowna.

“It’s big for us. It’s been one of our goals for a while and we put a lot of work in this year,” Kleiter said.

“We felt like we were in a good spot to take it (the provincial tankard) home and we’re just excited to represent Saskatchewan.”

Team Kleiter clinched its spot in the Brier last January at the provincial tankard in Kindersley.

The road to the tankard title wasn’t as dominant as you might expect for a team heading to the Brier. Team Kleiter finished the round-robin portion with a 5-3 record and were the third seed heading into the playoffs.

In the semi-final, Kleiter defeated Dustin Kalthoff 7-5 to advance to the final. In the final, Team Kleiter beat Steve Laycock’s rink 8-4 to win the provincial title and book its ticket to Kelowna.

Right before the provincial tankard, the team was promoted to the Grand Slam of Curling tour.

Mattern said since the guys got back to Saskatoon from provincials, there’s been a lot of attention on them at the Nutana Curling Club.

“It’s been amazing. I think all four of us, the amount of messages and texts from everybody has been pretty cool,” Mattern said.

“Everyone knows what the Brier is. Even at the club, there’s more people talking to you than usual so it’s pretty cool.”

Although Team Kleiter will be heading into new waters and curling against some of the best in the world, they think they have an advantage other teams don’t have.

That advantage is their friendship.

The trio of Kleiter, Mattern and Johnson have all curled together for the last 13 years.

Although Team Kleiter might not have the same experience as the Mike McEwen’s, Brad Gushue’s or Kevin Koe’s of the world, they’re hoping close friendship with each other will be able to propel them to new heights.

“I think just over the years we really enjoy hanging out together and working hard together,” Kleiter said. “We push each other in the gym and on the ice and I think that’s been our recipe for success.”

“I think what we have going that most teams might not have is our friendship off the ice. You spend so much time off the ice that you have to be good friends to last this long,” Johnson said.

Coaching Team Kleiter is Rylan’s dad Dean. Dean curled at two Brier’s previously in 2001 and 2003 as an alternate.

Team Kleiter will also have John Mattern serving as its alternate.

The team can’t wait to get to Kelowna and play against the best of the best.

“We’re just really excited,” said Mattern. “I think we’ve had a great season and we’ve been getting more and more experience against the top teams in the world, but at the same time, I think we all know it’s going to be a little different that week. It’s going to feel pretty cool.”

Team Kleiter will make its Brier debut on Saturday afternoon against Nova Scotia. They’ll take part in an all-Saskatchewan showdown on March 4 against Team McEwen.