Site Logo Hamburger

Tickets

Shop

Donate

fr

  • Curling Canada

  • Search
  • Generic selectors
    Exact matches only
    Search in title
    Search in content
    Post Type Selectors
    Search in posts
    Search in pages

  • Scores

  • Shop

  • Safe Sport

  • About Curling

  • Our Organization

Donate

STUDENT ATHLETES HEAD TO WORLD GAMES

The University of Alberta (skipped by Serena Gray-Withers – right) will represent Canada at the FISU World University Games. They won the right at last year’s U SPORTS National Championship in Fredericton. (Photo – Curling Canada)

THREE CANADIAN TEAMS COMPETE AS WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES RETURN TO TORINO 

Eighteen years ago, the 2007 World Universiade took place in Torino, Italy. The Canadian representatives for curling qualified by winning a national tournament that was technically not sanctioned by either Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) or the Canadian Curling Association (CCA). 

Nonetheless, with the blessing of both organizations, Steve Laycock took his team from the University of Saskatchewan to represent Canada. They lost to American (and eventual Olympic champion) John Shuster in the semifinal. 

The women’s entry, on the other hand, took home gold. Brittany Gregor, from the University of Calgary, defeated Russia’s Liudmila Privovkova in the final, taking home one of Canada’s four medals from the multi-sport games. 

This year, the Universiade – now called the World University Games – returns to Torino, officially running from January 13 to 23. The competition features three disciplines of curling on the 11-sport schedule, including men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles. 

The mixed doubles event gets underway on Saturday, January 11, two days before the Games officially open. Representing Canada will be Jessica Zheng (University of Waterloo) and Victor Pietrangelo (Brock University). 

The duo, both from Niagara Falls, Ont., won the right to represent Canada at a 20-team national qualifying tournament in Edmonton this past October. Zheng and Pietrangelo ran the table, to finish with an unblemished 7-0 record.  

Pietrangelo and Zheng at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curing Trials (Photo – Curling Canada/ Michael Burns)

With their recent participation in the Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials, and their two title wins at the U-25 NextGen Classic, the pair certainly has the experience and the tools to compete with the world’s best. They will have Curling Canada’s Helen Radford on the bench as coach. 

The men’s and women’s four-player curling will follow the mixed doubles event. The Canadian teams won the right to wear the Maple Leaf at the 2024 U SPORTS (formerly CIS) Championships, last March in Fredericton, N.B. 

The University of Alberta, skipped by Serena Gray-Withers, won the women’s entry. The Pandas team consists of Gray-Withers, vice-skip Catherine Clifford, second Brianna Cullen, lead Zoe Cinnamon. Gracelyn Richards will accompany as a fifth player, while Rob Krepps will coach. 

This U of A squad has competed heavily on the women’s tour over the past few seasons and also won last year’s U-25 NextGen Classic in Edmonton. 

Finally, the men’s team come from the University of Regina. The Cougars, skipped by Josh Bryden, will have a slightly different lineup than the one who won the championship last year. Lead Ryan Grabarczyk has aged out of eligibility, so alternate Ayden Wittmire will replace in the the lineup, while Carter Williamson will play second, and Adam Bukurak will throw third. Grabarczyk will play the role of bench coach, alongside team coach Jamie Schneider.  

The Mixed Doubles event will wrap up their medal round on Saturday, January 14, while the men’s and women’s medals will be presented on the last day of the Games, January 23. 

Playoff games will be streamed on FISU.tv. For results and schedules, visit: https://wugtorino2025.microplustimingservices.com/#/general-reports