William Lyburn won the Manitoba Curling Tour men’s championship on Sunday in Morris, but the man he beat was a big winner as well.

Lyburn scored a pair in the eighth end to edge Brandon’s Rob Fowler 6-5 in the championship match. He pocketed $5,000.

Since Lyburn had already qualified for the Safeway Championship provincial men’s playdowns, however, it was Fowler who earned the berth through the MCT Championship thanks to his semifinal victory.

Fowler, who used to play for Jeff Stoughton, will be in the field Feb. 9-13 in Beausejour.

The odd part about all of this is Fowler wasn’t even in Morris on the weekend. He was enjoying a Hawaiian vacation, so his team clinched a provincial berth without him.

Coincidentally, William Lyburn’s brother, Allan, plays third for Fowler and was the one who guided the team into the Safeway Championship.

The Fowler crew stole a point in the eighth and final end to beat Winnipeg’s David Bohn in one semifinal to wrap up its provincial berth, while William Lyburn downed fellow Winnipegger Mark Franklin 5-2 in the other semifinal.

Morden’s Chelsea Carey won the women’s title with a 6-4 triumph over East St. Paul’s Kim Link in Sunday’s final.

The Carey foursome took home $2,350.