NIPAWIN — It stands to reason that if two of the most successful curlers in Saskatchewan in recent history were to join forces for the Mixed Doubles provincial championship, things would go pretty well for them.
As it turns out, that’s exactly the case.
The Saskatoon Nutana duo of Nancy Martin and Steve Laycock won eight of their 10 games at provincials in Nipawin over the weekend, going on to a 9-6 victory over Martensville’s Melissa Remeshylp and Dylan Derksen in the championship final on Sunday afternoon.
The new provincial champs need little introduction to curling fans in province — Martin led her foursome to a women’s provincial championship in 2025, while Laycock has seven Tankard men’s titles under his belt, including three in a row from 2014 through 2016.
The duo put together a solid round robin, finishing tied for first place with a 6-1 record, with their only loss coming at the hands of Remeshylo and Derksen, who also capped the preliminary round with a 6-1 mark.
That sent the two teams into the Page Playoff 1-2 game, where the Martensville crew would find the win column again, blowing open a 3-3 tie with four in the fifth and then stalling a Martin / Laycock comeback with three in the eighth for a 10-6 victory.
The Page 3-4 game saw Moose Jaw’s Shelby and Grady Lamontagne (5-2 in the round robin) take on Langenberg’s defending champions Jessica and Matthew Lang (3-4), with a four spot in the fourth leading the Lamontanges to a 7-3 victory.
That set them into the semifinal against Martin / Laycock, and that would end up as a close contest. After exchanging deuces, the Lamontanges would steal points in back-to-back ends and then get the force in the fifth to hold a 4-3 edge at the break. Martin/Laycock stole two in the sixth to take the lead, though, and the teams would exchange single points the next two ends to see the Nutana duo take a 6-5 win and advance to the final.
As it turns out, the third time was the charm for Martin and Laycock against Remeshylo and Derksen, but it was still a battle. Remeshylo / Derksen picked up single points in the first three ends, but Martin / Laycock would get all that back in the fourth before stealing two in the fifth for a 5-3 lead. Remeshylo / Derksen came back with a deuce of their own to tie things again, and after the teams exchanged points the next two frames, the game would be tied 6-6 coming home.
Martin and Laycock would put the hammer to good use in the deciding end, scoring three to take the 9-6 win and claim the provincial title. It’s the first mixed doubles provincial championship for both players.
Martin and Laycock will now represent Saskatchewan at the Canadian Mixed Doubles championship Mar. 21-27 at the Cloverdale Curling Club in Surrey, B.C.
