Edward Werenich (born June 23, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

curler from

Holland Landing, Ontario Holland Landing is a community in the town of East Gwillimbury, located in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of York, in south-central Ontario, Canada. Its major road is Yonge Street (bypassed by the former Highway 11) and the commun ...

. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter.

Career

Werenich was born and raised in the town of

Benito, Manitoba Benito is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Swan Valley West, Manitoba, Canada. Prior to 1 January 2015, Benito was designated as a village. The community is situated in the Swan River Valley, southwest of Swan River, ...

but moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

after finishing high school. He began curling at age ten. In 1972, Werenich joined Paul Savage's team as his second. The following year they would play in their first

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Bri ...

. They would return again in 1974 and then in 1977 with Werenich as Savage's third. Without a championship, Werenich skipped his own team to the Brier in 1981, but still could not win. In 1983 Savage joined Werenich as his third and they would go on to win the Brier title that year over

Ed Lukowich Edward R. "Ed" Lukowich (born March 1, 1946; nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke") is a former Canadian champion curler. Lukowich is a two-time Brier champion, having won the Brier Tankard for Alberta as skip of both the 1978 and 1986 Canadian champion ...

of Alberta. At the

World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's a ...

of that year, Werenich defeated

Keith Wendorf Keith Wendorf (born 20 December 1949) is a former German curler and a curling coach. Wendorf began his participation in curling in 1966 at the high school level in New Brunswick. He would go on to graduate from the University of New Brunswick ...

's team from Germany in the final. Werenich returned to the Brier in 1984 and again in 1988 before winning for the last time in 1990 this time without Savage- defeating Jim Sullivan's New Brunswick team. During the

1987 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The 1987 Labatt National Curling Trials were held April 19-25, 1987 at the Max Bell Arena in Calgary, Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three pra ...

, Werenich was "humiliated" by the

Canadian Curling Association Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of Curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

threatening to disqualify him if he didn't "shed a few pounds" At the 1990 World Championships, Werenich defeated Scotland, skipped by David Smith. Werenich returned to the Brier in 1995 and then in 1997 before announcing his first retirement from curling in 2000. Werenich came out of retirement in 2004, and made it to the Ontario men's championship for one final time. Werenich was named to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1988. The other three members of his 1983 world championship rink, Paul Savage, John Kawaja and Neil Harrison are also in the Hall of Fame. In 2009, Werenich, Savage, Kawaja and Harrison were inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

References

Sources

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Curleast biography
(web-archive)
Historica biography
(web-archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Werenich, Ed Canadian people of Ukrainian descent 1947 births Living people People from Parkland Region, Manitoba Curlers from Toronto World curling champions Brier champions Curling broadcasters Canadian male curlers People from East Gwillimbury