A Meadow Lake athlete’s love for curling nearly nabbed him a provincial championship. Joshua Kirilenko, who graduated from Carpenter High School in 2024 and who still resides in the local community, joined his peers from Saskatoon-based Team Robinson (skip Ethan Robinson, third Nathan Weiss and second Lewis Macdiarmid along with coach Craig Robinson) at the 2026 Pharmasave U20 provincial championships in Swift Current recently where they ultimately captured the silver medal.

“We’re a first-year team,” Kirilenko told Northern Pride. “The four of us never met before this year.” In spite of this, the foursome quickly found success by making it to the final at two Sask Cup competitions and by placing fourth overall in the Regina City Men’s Bonspiel, an event that included 52 teams in total. The 2026 Pharmasave U20 provincial championships was the squad’s fourth competition.

“On Feb. 26, we beat Team Snow 7-4 and Friday (Feb. 27) we beat Team Derksen 8-5,” Kirilenko noted. “Starting 2-0 was a huge accomplishment against two of the top U20 teams in the province. Friday evening, we faced off against Team Weiss, which was also undefeated. We struggled the first half, trailing 4-0 after five ends, but came back to tie the game. In the end, we lost a close one 6-4.” Kirilenko’s team entered Saturday morning (Feb. 28) play sitting in second place. “We played our first game Saturday against Team Olson and struggled to start, but scored five in the seventh end to come out with an 8-5 win,” Kirilenko said. “Our second game Saturday was against Team Heisler, and, with an 11-5 win, we clinched first place in the round-robin.” Saturday evening, Team Robinson faced Team Snow in the 1-2 page playoff with the winner advancing to the final. Team Robinson fell short, losing 5-4. Sunday morning, the semi-final saw Team Robinson face Team Derksen. “We had one of our best games of the weekend, controlled the whole game and came out with a 5-2 victory,” Kirilenko said. This win clinched a spot for the team at the U20 Nationals, as two teams from Saskatchewan were selected to participate. Nationals will take place March 28 to April 4 in Sudbury, ON.

Meanwhile, Sunday afternoon in the provincial U20 final, Team Robinson once again met Team Snow, falling this time by a score of 7-5. “Although we fell short of a provincial championship, we are very happy with the success we have had in such a short time,” Kirilenko said. “U20 nationals are being held in Sudbury March 28 to April 4… I am very excited to be representing the province and Meadow Lake at nationals.” Kirilenko has been curling since he was three years old. “He enjoys the people he has met along the way, and the friendships in the curling family,” stated Kirilenko’s father, Jason Kirilenko. Kirilenko met his current teammates through a Facebook post looking to put a team together. While Kirilenko is from Meadow Lake, two of his teammates are form Saskatoon and the other is from Regina. “This team has been very successful,” Jason Kirilenko said. “Joshua is very happy with how he and the team played at provincials, especially in the semi-final Sunday morning.”