From the small-town ice of Coldwater to one of the biggest stages in curling, a Barrie, Ont., athlete is ready to compete in the 2026 Montana’s Brier. Dylan Niepage, 24, grew up in the Barrie area and first learned the game at the Coldwater and District Curling Club when he was just nine years old. Now, he is headed straight to the national men’s curling championship for the first time at the senior level. The Montana’s Brier brings together 18 of the top teams in the country and gets underway Friday at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, N.L. The field also features reigning champions, Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs of Calgary, who will arrive fresh from their appearance at the Olympics. For Niepage and his Ontario teammates, Jayden King, alongside Owen Henry, Victor Pietrangelo, Spencer Dunlop, and Morgan Lavell of Tillsonburg, earning that berth was years in the making. The 2026 Ontario Tankard champions that secured the team a place at the Brier wrapped up on Jan. 11. Niepage said he immediately turned to the stands in that moment. His parents, grandmother, aunts, and uncles were there to witness the victory. “Having that opportunity to run over to them and celebrate that moment not just for us winning and making it to the Brier, but also to celebrate everything that they’ve done for us in the past to get us to this point, it was really special,” he said to CTV News in an exclusive interview. The national stage will be new territory for the team. “This is going to be our first experience at the national stage at the men’s level,” Niepage said. It’s a fitting milestone for an athlete who has already overcome more than most. Born profoundly deaf, Niepage said he relies on cochlear implants to hear. Implanted on his right side just over a year old and again on his left side around age 10, he credits the technology with shaping his life. “For me it’s all I’ve known,” he said. “These cochlear implants are great technology that have paved the way for my life and my backstory.” Competing in a packed arena presents many challenges. Curling often involves raised voices and constant chatter, and the Brier atmosphere is known for its loud, rowdy crowds. “There’s so much yelling going on and playing in an arena with a big crowd can be challenging,” he said. Still, he’s prepared. The team has been practicing together at least once a week, while Niepage adds one or two solo sessions to prep for the game. He also works with a sports psychologist to strengthen the mental aspect of the competition. A final training camp took place this past weekend before the crew departed for Newfoundland on Wednesday. “It’s going to be mentally tough going into the championships, playing against some of the biggest teams in curling, some coming back from the Olympics,” he said. “Mentally, we’ve done all the work for this event. We just need to get out there and do it.” Niepage’s journey began in elementary school, when his grandmother, a longtime curler, brought him out to the Coldwater club. After a few games, he told CTV News he was hooked. By the following fall, Niepage was competing with a group of young curlers in the area. Now based in Guelph, Ont., for school and work, he balances his career with the weight of high-level sport. Nieage has represented Ontario before, including at the 2019 U18 Championships. But a shot at a national men’s title feels different to him. His family will once again flood the stands in St. John’s, with other supporters cheering from behind the TV screen. Looking back, Niepage offers simple advice to his younger self and a key message to all with a passion: “Just stick with it. Make sure you keep enjoying it. Don’t keep doing this because you feel like you have to; keep doing this because you enjoy it, and it’s going to all pay off in the end.” That mindset is what brought him right to this very moment. According to Curling Canada, the 18 teams will be divided into two pools of nine, each playing an eight-game round robin. The top three teams from each pool will advance to the playoffs.
