Wark clinches at least a tiebreaker spot

Brennan Wark has won five straight games at the National Junior Men's Curling Championship, but still has a little work to do to clinch a playoff berth.

A 6-4 winner over Ontario's Brett DeKoning in his opening match of the day, the Thunder Bay skip powered his Northern Ontario squad to a 6-4 win over Newfoundland's Colin Thomas in his afternoon draw, improving to 8-3 in the process and clinching at least a spot in a tiebreaker.

Wark took a 4-0 lead in this one, stealing a single in three and two more in four, but Thomas struck back in the fifth, picking up a pair to cut the Northern Ontario lead in half.

Thomas grabbed another deuce in the seventh, leaving Wark with just a one-point advantage, but the Thunder Bay squad struck for three in the eighth to round out the scoring.

Alberta's Brendan Bottcher and Manitoba's Kyle Doering are first and second, with 10-1 and 9-2 records, respectively.

Team Northern Ontario wraps up round-robin play on Friday against New Brunswick's Josh Barry in the 1 p.m. draw.