Corey Chester

Corey Chester
Born (1992-03-15) March 15, 1992 (age 32)
Team
Curling clubVictoria CC,
Victoria, BC[1]
SkipCameron de Jong
ThirdCorey Chester
SecondAlex Horvath
LeadBrayden Carpenter
Mixed doubles
partner
Taylor Reese-Hansen
Curling career
Member Association British Columbia
Brier appearances1 (2022)
Top CTRS ranking42nd (2019–20)

Corey Chester (born March 15, 1992) is a Canadian curler from Victoria, British Columbia.[2] He currently plays third on Team Cameron de Jong. He also plays mixed doubles with Taylor Reese-Hansen.

Career

Youth

Chester first achieved success in 2007 when he won the BC juvenile boys' championship.[3] Later on in juniors, he represented British Columbia at two Canadian Junior Curling Championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, his team, led by Josh Hozack, finished at the bottom of the standings with a 1–11 record, defeating Newfoundland and Labrador in their sole victory.[4] The following year, his rink, now skipped by Tyler Klymchuk, qualified for the championship round and finished in seventh with a 4–6 record.[5] Also, while attending the University of Victoria, Chester skipped the Victoria Vikes to a bronze medal at the 2016 CIS/CCA Curling Championships.[6]

Men's

Out of juniors, Chester joined the Chris Baier rink at second. In their first season together, this team qualified for the 2014 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championship through the open qualification round and finished with a 1–3 record. The next season, the team found success on the BC tour, reaching the semifinals at both the Cloverdale Cash Spiel and the Vancouver Island Shootout.[7] They also qualified again for the provincial championship, however, finished 0–3 in the triple knockout bracket.[8]

From 2015 to 2018, Chester played second on the Glen Jackson rink which also included Andrew Komlodi and Joel Cave. After qualifying for the 2016 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championship through the final qualification event, the team went 5–2 through the triple knockout, advancing to the playoff round.[9] They then lost 5–2 to Dean Joanisse in the 3 vs. 4 game, eliminating them from contention.[10] The following season, Team Jackson again had a strong provincial run, this time reaching the semifinals where they were again eliminated by Team Joanisse, settling for third.[11] In their final season together, they were eliminated by the Joanisse rink for a third time in the C qualifier of the 2018 belairdirect BC Men's Curling Championship.[12]

Chester reunited with his junior skip Tyler Klymchuk after parting ways with Team Jackson. This arrangement only lasted one season, however, with Chester then joining the Jeff Richard rink for the 2019–20 season. This proved to be the correct move as Team Richard reached the final of the Kelowna Double Cash, the semifinals of the King Cash Spiel and Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic and the quarterfinals of the Red Deer Curling Classic.[13] At the provincial championship, the team started with two straight wins before losing their next three games to be eliminated.

After the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the majority of the 2020–21 season, Chester joined the Paul Cseke rink for the 2021–22 season. This team had some tour success, reaching two semifinals in Kelowna and Maple Ridge.[14] In the new year, the team played in the 2022 BC Men's Curling Championship where they defeated the higher ranked Jim Cotter and Tyler Tardi rinks to become the A qualifier.[15] This qualified them for the 1 vs. 2 game where they beat Chester's former skip Jeff Richard. Facing Richard again in the final, the Cseke rink lost their first and only game of the week, giving up three in an extra end to lose 11–8.[16] Despite this, Chester still got to participate in the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier as alternate for Team Richard, his first appearance at the Canadian men's championship. There, Team BC finished fifth in their pool with a 4–4 record.[17] Chester continued playing with Cseke for the next two seasons, however, they never attained the same level of success as in 2022, missing the playoffs at the provincial championship in both 2023 and 2024.

Mixed doubles

Chester found his first success in mixed doubles when he won the 2020 BC Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with partner Stephanie Jackson-Baier.[3] Because the 2020 national championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair represented BC the following year at the 2021 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.[18] There, they finished in last place in their pool with a 1–5 record, defeating Nancy Martin and Tyrel Griffith in their lone win.[19] He then started playing doubles with Taylor Reese-Hansen for the 2022–23 season. This pairing found immediate success by going undefeated to claim the Nanaimo Double Doubles Spiel.[20] Later that season, they made it to the provincial final where they were defeated by Sarah Loken and Cody Tanaka.[21]

To begin the 2023–24 season, Reese-Hansen and Chester won the Victoria Mixed Doubles Cash Spiel and reached the semifinals of the Chilliwack Championship.[22] Chester then paired with Hannah Durrant to reach the semifinals of the Parksville Double Doubles Spiel before reuniting with Reese-Hansen to reach the final of the first Alberta Curling Series doubles event.[23] In December, the duo won their first mixed doubles provincial as a team, downing Gabby Brissette and Sterling Middleton 10–2 in the championship game.[24] This sent them to the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where they topped their pool with a 6–1 record, earning a direct bye into the quarterfinal round.[25] They then lost 7–5 to Madison and Rylan Kleiter, eliminating them from contention.[26] The following season, Chester won in Victoria with Mahra Harris and in Parksville with Reese-Hansen, giving him two more tour titles. Despite not winning one of the direct-entry berths into the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials, Reese-Hansen and Chester qualified for the Trials as the third highest ranked team on the points standings that was not already qualified.[27]

Personal life

Chester is employed as a financial analyst for the ministry of environmental and climate change strategy at the Government of British Columbia.[2] He graduated from the University of Victoria with a commerce degree.[6][28]

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead
2010–11[29] Stu Merrifield Corey Chester Ian Hardy Tyler O'Brien
2011–12 Josh Hozack Corey Chester Nolan Reid Zachary Capron
2012–13 Tyler Klymchuk Corey Chester Sanjay Bowry Rhys Gamache
2013–14 Chris Baier Josh Hozack Corey Chester Andrew Komlodi
2014–15 Michael Johnson (Fourth) Chris Baier (Skip) Corey Chester Sanjay Bowry
2015–16 Glen Jackson Andrew Komlodi Corey Chester Joel Cave
2016–17 Glen Jackson Andrew Komlodi Corey Chester Joel Cave
2017–18 Glen Jackson Andrew Komlodi Corey Chester Joel Cave
2018–19 Tyler Klymchuk Corey Chester Kyle Habkirk Rhys Gamache
2019–20 Jeff Richard Tyler Klymchuk Corey Chester Rhys Gamache
2020–21 Paul Cseke Tyrel Griffith Corey Chester John Cullen
2021–22 Paul Cseke Corey Chester Jay Wakefield Ryan Cassidy
2022–23 Paul Cseke Corey Chester Jay Wakefield Ty Russell
2023–24 Corey Chester Paul Cseke Jay Wakefield Ty Russell
2024–25 Cameron de Jong Corey Chester Alex Horvath Brayden Carpenter

References

  1. ^ "2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship Teams". Curling Canada. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "2022 Tim Hortons Brier Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Victoria reigns at Mixed Doubles". Curl BC. March 2, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "2012 Canadian Juniors Teams". Canadian Curling Association. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships – Draw Schedule". Canadian Curling Association. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Mario Annicchiarico (March 23, 2016). "Vikes men's curling team third at university nationals". Times Colonist. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "Team Chris Baier: 2014–15". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "2015 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championship – Draw". cdimens2015.curlbc.ca. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Cotter rink rolls into Page Playoff at 2016 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championships". The Boundary Sentinel. February 12, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "BC CDI Men's Championship: Playoffs". Sportsnet. February 10, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Corey Fischer (February 12, 2017). "Morris/Cotter Team Win BC Final". Vernon Matters. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  12. ^ JR Rardon (February 1, 2018). "Defending champ moves into BC Men's curling playoffs". Nanaimo News Bulletin. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Team Jeff Richard: 2019–20". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  14. ^ "Team Paul Cseke: 2021–22". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Cseke win A Final and are into the playoffs". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  16. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (January 9, 2022). "Provincial curling championships tracker: Latest coast-to-coast updates". Sportsnet. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  17. ^ Gregory Strong (March 10, 2022). "Kevin Koe, Brad Gushue post wins to lock up top spots at Brier". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  18. ^ "Mixed Doubles to start". Curl BC. March 16, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  19. ^ Jackie Spiegel (March 26, 2021). "Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2021: Results, standings, schedule and TV channel". Sporting News. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "2022 Nanaimo Double Doubles Spiel". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  21. ^ "Team Loken/Tanaka crowned champs at 2023 BC Mixed Doubles". Curl BC. February 13, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  22. ^ "Team Taylor Reese-Hansen / Corey Chester: 2023–24". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  23. ^ "Walker-Muyres win mixed doubles event; Inglis and Epping win on Tour". TSN. November 26, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  24. ^ "2024 BC U18 & Mixed Doubles Championships – Wrap-up". Curl BC. December 31, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  25. ^ Cleve Dheensaw (March 22, 2024). "Victoria's Chester downed in quarter-finals of Canadian mixed doubles curling championship". Times Colonist. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  26. ^ "Down to four!". Curling Canada. March 21, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  27. ^ "The Road to Italy!". Curling Canada. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  28. ^ Cleve Dheensaw (November 9, 2024). "Chester, Reese-Hansen shooting for 2026 Winter Olympics". Times Colonist. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  29. ^ "Corey Chester Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved December 11, 2024.