Moose Jaw has five curlers in Whitewood for the 2019 Saskatchewan Tankard men's curling championship, which opened up with two draws on Wednesday.

Brock Montgomery and Team Heidt, skipped by Kerrobert's Josh Heidt, won their opening game 8-6 over Team Kleiter.

Team Heidt had to come back against the provincial junior champions after falling behind 5-1 after five ends. Heidt responded with three in the sixth to make it a one-point game. Kleiter answered back with one int he seventh, but Heidt tied the game with one in the eighth and a steal of one in the ninth.

A steal of two in the tenth gave Team Heidt the win in their opener, moving them into the 'A' Event quarterfinal against Team Comfort at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, Chadd McKenzie and Team Fell lost 8-6 to the defending provincial champions, Team Dunstone. 

The Matthew Dunstone rink stole three in the fourth to lead 6-1 and then moved in front 8-2 after six. McKenzie, Lloyd Fell and company fought back to make it a two-point game heading into the tenth, but they ran out of rocks in the final end.

Team Fell will be back in action against Fox Valley's Team Deis in the 3 p.m. draw on Thursday.

Derek Owens, Jason Ackerman and Team Gedak dropped a 12-4 game to Team Comfort. 

Team Gedak actually led 3-2 after stealing one in the third, but Team Comfort scored two in the fourth, then stole one in the fifth and three in the sixth. Brent Gedak and company struck back with a single in the seventh, but Team Comfort finished off the win with a single in the eighth and a steal of three more in the ninth.

Team Gedak returns to the ice against Team Kleiter at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Ben Gamble and Team Howard dropped a 4-2 game to Team Kody Hartung.

The close back-and-forth game saw the Steve Howard skipped rink holding a narrow 2-1 advantage heading into the eighth end. Hartung would score two in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead and then they stole one in the ninth for insurance.

Team Howard is back on the ice on Thursday afternoon against Team Kendel at 3 p.m.