Jim Cotter and Rick Sawatsky have won a record 9^th BC title and 9^th trip to the Brier.

Cotter and Sawatsky have overtaken Bernie Sparkes as the BC men with the most provincial championship titles.

The Cotter rink from Vernon and Kelowna curling clubs is rounded out by Saskatchewan import Steve Laycock and second Andrew Nerpin. Nerpin, from Kelowna, went to the Brier in 2018 with Sean Geall, and Steve has been to the Brier once for BC and seven times for Saskatchewan.

The team beat Team Tardi from Langley and Victoria  curling clubs 10-6 with the help of four stolen ends. It was the first provincial men’s playoffs for the Tardi rink that features skip Tyler Tardi, third Sterling Middleton, second Jordan Tardi and lead Alex Horvath.

Cotter said: “I’m lost for words. It’s an incredible feeling. It’s hard to put into words at this time. Hats off to the Tardi team. We knew it was going to be a phenomenal game. Those guys are going to win 15 of these.

“It feels great in the moment but at the same time you sort of feel for those guys because I’m close with them too.”

“It’s not an easy feat. It’s a real honour to wear a purple heart and to represent your province.”

The 2020 BC Men’s Curling Championship, presented by Nufloors Penticton, took place at Cranbrook’s Western Financial Place. It featured the top 16 men’s curling rinks in BC.

Although this was the first provincial men’s final for the Tardi rink, they all have gold medals from world junior championships.

Team Cotter will represent BC at the Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, Ont., from Feb. 29 to Mar. 8.

Earlier in the day, the Brown rink of skip Corryn Brown, third Erin Pincott, second Dezaray Hawes, lead Ashley Klymchuk, and coach Allison MacInnes defeated Sarah  Wark’s Abbotsford rink 8-7 in a nail-biting extra end game of the 2020 Scotties BC Women’s Curling Championship, presented by Best Western

Team Brown will now represent the province in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, for the Canadian Scotties Tournament of Hearts from Feb. 15-23, with the winner of that representing Canada at World Women’s Curling Championship in Prince George.

To see linescores and team rosters visit http://playdowns.curlbc.ca.

Event information for both the men’s and women’s championships is available at https://www.curlbc.ca/cranbrook-2020/.