By Martin Cleary

Charlotte Wilson, the skip for the Rideau Curling Club, had a clear vision as she headed into the Ontario girls’ U18 curling championship last month, marking her third attempt in this event.

“We wanted a bye to the final. That was our goal,” Wilson stated confidently during a recent phone conversation.

To achieve that ambitious target, Team Wilson needed to win all seven of its round-robin matches. While they didn’t manage that feat entirely, they did navigate through some tense moments to get there.

After finishing tied for second in the round-robin with a 5-2 record, she led Team Wilson to two decisive playoff victories, clinching their first Ontario U18 title at the Penetanguishene Curling Club. Previously, she finished second in 2025 and fourth in 2024.

With this victory, Team Wilson continued Ottawa Valley Curling Association’s impressive streak of six consecutive titles at the Ontario girls’ U18 championship dating back to 1999. There were no competitions held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other past winners include Katrina Frlan from Huntley Curling Club (2025, 2023), Dominique Vivier from Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club (2024), Emma Acres from RCMP Curling Club (2022), and Emily Deschênes from Manotick Curling Centre (2019).

Charlotte Wilson is 16 years old and leads Team Wilson with Amelia Benning (14) as third, Abby Rushton (17) as second, and Sydney Anderson (16) as lead. The team’s coach is Iain Wilson. Anderson joined Team Wilson last season after playing on Vivier’s championship team in 2024.

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Benning celebrated double success at the Ontario U18 event because her brother Aaron was part of the boys’ championship team skipped by Tyler Mac Tavish from Kitchener-Waterloo Granite Club. Brian Benning coached Team Mac Tavish which won their third consecutive provincial boys’ title.

“We won our first three games but lost both games on Friday,” Charlotte shared regarding two narrow losses against Madeleine Garrie from Westmount Golf and Country Club (4-3) and Kylie Hewitt from Stroud Curling Club (5-4).

“We actually thought we were out or close to being out. But we still had two more round-robin games left.”

Team Wilson bounced back with wins over Lauren Penston of Ayr Curling Club (11-5) and Jayme Galardo of Barrie Curling Club (11-7), finishing second in the round robin with a record of 5-2 alongside Penston. Garrie secured first place with a record of 6-1.

“We didn’t achieve our goal so we had to take the tougher path. It was a long week,” she added.

During playoffs filled with pressure, Team Wilson dominated both matches: defeating Penston decisively at 9-1 within six ends during semifinal play and then overcoming Garrie by an impressive score of 8-2 also within six ends. They took control early leading by six points after four ends against Penston and scoring five against Garrie in the fifth end.

“It was very stressful. Every game felt like must-win,” recalled Wilson. “Our focus was on making every shot count; when it came time for playoffs, we really stepped up.”

By reaching the final match successfully meant that they qualified to represent Ontario at Canadian girls’ U18 championships taking place over eight days starting Sunday in Timmins, ON. However, they aimed for victory to secure their position as top Ontario team heading into nationals. “It was such a relief,” said Charlotte reflecting on winning her first provincial U18 title “We treated it like a must-win game while following our original strategy which worked well.”
“We stayed close all week; maintained positivity; acted like one cohesive unit.” This approach has paid off for Team Wilson who only faced four losses throughout this season – winning three events within Ottawa Junior Curling Series along with two events featured under Junior Grand Slam followed by success noted previously achieved during Stu Sells Tankard held at Oakville. Their win during U20 Junior Slam Series Sapphire Event hosted Niagara Falls resulted automatically qualifying them into upcoming women’s provincial tournament occurring between February twenty-fifth till March first set up Waterdown area while also preparing themselves further participating within upcoming Winter Games scheduled February eighteen until twenty-second located Orillia.

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Curlers Triumph Remains Unforgettable!

“This is my favorite quote.”

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