Koe, other high-end talent round out 2016 Brier lineup

The field for the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier is set to go.

Alberta's Kevin Koe, Manitoba's Mike McEwen, Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs and British Columbia's Jim Cotter claimed their spots in the Canadian men's curling championship on Sunday by winning provincial titles.

They join a group that already includes three-time defending champion Pat Simmons and Team Canada, Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador, four-time world champ Glenn Howard of Ontario, 2006 Brier champ Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec and Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock.

Also headed to Ottawa are New Brunswick's Mike Kennedy, Nova Scotia's Jamie Murphy, P.E.I.'s Adam Casey, the Yukon's Bob Smallwood, the Northwest Territories' Jamie Koe and Nunavut's Wade Kingdon.

Alberta

Koe, a two-time Brier champion, won his third straight provincial title, and second straight with his current lineup of third Marc Kennedy, second Brent Laing and lead Ben Hebert, with an 8-4 victory over two-time world junior champ Charley Thomas in a battle of teams from Calgary.

Manitoba

McEwen ended years of frustration with a 4-2 win over newly crowned Canadian junior men's champ Matt Dunstone in the all-Winnipeg final.

McEwen, backed by third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld, had lost five of the last six Manitoba finals but used a delicate inturn tap in the 10th end to remove Dunstone's protected shot stone that was biting the button.

Northern Ontario

Jacobs' team from Sault Ste. Marie, with third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden, will be looking to improve on its silver-medal result at the 2015 Brier.

Jacobs lost once in the round-robin portion of the Northern Ontario championship but got the bye to the final, and cruised to a 5-0 win over Sudbury's Jordan Chandler in the championship game.

British Columbia

Cotter, backed up by third Brad Kuhn, second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky, came away with a 7-6 win over Sean Geall of New Westminster in the B.C. final.

The 2016 Brier will take place March 5-13 in Ottawa.

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