Press Coverage

USA men pick up second win at 2012 World Juniors
March 4, 2012
USA's Stephen Dropkin rink split today's action at the 2012 World Junior Championships at Z-hallen in Oestersund, Sweden.

Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) and teammates Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), Thomas Howell (Brick, N.J.) and Derek Corbett (Rochester, N.Y.) are now 2-1 and in a three-way tie for third place as the second day came to a close.

The American men suffered an extra-end loss to Canada's Brendan Bottcher rink in the morning draw but bounced back in the evening session to earn a 6-5 win over China's Xiuyue Ma team.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconsunday.pdf

USA men get off to strong start at World Juniors
March 3, 2012
It was a rocky start for Cory Christensen and the American ladies as day one got underway at the 2012 World Junior Championships at Z-hallen in Oestersund, Sweden.

Christensen and her team of Elizabeth Busche, Anna Bauman and Sonja Bauman (all of Duluth, Minn.) fell to Switzerland's Melanie Barbezat rink in the morning session, 9-5, and to the Czech Republic in the evening draw to drop to 0-2 in the round robin standings.

In contrast, Stephen Dropkin and the American men opened strong with a convincing 9-2 win against Italy's Andrea Pilzer rink. Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) and teammates Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), Thomas Howell (Brick, N.J.) and Derek Corbett (Rochester, N.Y.) got the on the scoreboard with a deuce and limited the Italians to a single in the second end. After that it was mostly USA doing the scoring. The Americans scored three in the third end and took a 5-2 lead into the break. After scoring three more points in the sixth end, the Dropkin rink, which is making its first World Juniors appearance, stole a single in the seventh and the game ended shortly thereafter as the U.S. earned the 9-2 win.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconsaturday.pdf

2012 Club Nationals begin Saturday in Mankato
March 2, 2012
Twenty of the top curling teams in the U.S. will battle in a weeklong competition to determine the top club teams for the season as the 2012 USA Curling Club National Championships begin this weekend in Mankato, Minn.

The five-sheet Mankato Curling Club will host the event for the third time since it began in 2005. A welcome reception followed by practice will kick off the action on Saturday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m. The first round of action gets underway at 8 a.m. Sunday with the first women's draw. The opening ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The Club Nationals field features 10 men's and 10 women's teams representing their respective clubs and regions. Teams advance to the Club Nationals via regional playdown events. Teams will play in a round robin with the top four teams from each division advancing to the playoffs. This event does not lead to a world championship. The playoffs begin Friday, March 9 followed by the medal games on March 10. A complete draw schedule and live end-by-end scoring, courtesy of CurlingZone, can be found at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks in the scoreboard section.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconpreview.pdf

2012 World Juniors begin Saturday in Sweden
February 28, 2012
Cory Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) and Stephen Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) are set to make their rookie appearances as the 2012 World Junior Championships get underway Saturday at Z-hallen in Oestersund, Sweden.

Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), 21, and his team of Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), Thomas Howell (Brick, N.J.), Derek Corbett (Rochester, N.Y.) and Cameron Ross (Princeton Junction, N.J.) have had an impressive season so far winning just about every event they entered in the 2011-12 season including two Ontario Junior Curling Tour events, two Great Lakes Curling Tour events, and went undefeated in the regional junior playdowns as well as the recent 2012 USA Curling Junior National Championships. In addition, Korey Dropkin, 16, earned USA’s first-ever Youth Olympic Games curling medal in January when he won bronze in mixed doubles. In the team component, which also featured Howell, 17, the Americans finished fifth in Innsbruck after an impressive undefeated run in the round robin.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconpreview.pdf

USA finishes 5th at 2012 World Wheelchair Championship
February 23, 2012
After a strong start to the week, things unraveled for Team USA on the final day of the round robin of the 2012 World Wheelchair Championship at the Uiam Ice Rink in Chuncheon, South Korea.

USA's team of Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) finished fifth in the field of 10 teams. The 6-4 overall finish qualifies the U.S. for the 2013 World Wheelchair Championship and earns pivotal 2014 Paralympic-qualifying points for the Americans.

"I couldn't be more proud of them," said Steve Brown (Madison, Wis.), Team USA head coach. "Here's a team that was so inexperienced and had really hardly ever played together. Their team dynamics have been fantastic. Their effort throughout the year, their practice and preparation just exceeded all their expectations. Obviously, it's going to be extremely frustrating at this point to have played so well and then lose. All four games they lost, every single game was lost on the last shot so it is just really tough for them."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconthursday.pdf

USA in 5-way tie for first place
February 22, 2012
With one game now remaining in the round robin, the Americans are one win away from the playoffs at the 2012 World Wheelchair Championship at the Uiam Ice Rink in Chuncheon, South Korea.

USA's team of Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) split Wednesday's results with a loss to Russia (6-2) in the morning and a win in the evening session over Norway (2-6).

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconwednesday.pdf

Americans lead the field in South Korea
February 21, 2012
Despite suffering its first loss of the week, Team USA remains on top of the leaderboard as the round robin of the 2012 World Wheelchair Championship continued today at the Uiam Ice Rink in Chuncheon, South Korea.

USA's team of Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) defeated Scotland's Aileen Neilson, 6-4, in the morning session. USA trailed 4-3 at the halfway mark but kept the Scots off the scoreboard in the second half and sealed the win with a steal of two in the seventh.

"We love Scotland. We're great friends. We play hard, and it's always a close game," Joseph said after the team picked up its fifth win. "We expected this from these guys, and we had to get that steal, and we did in the seventh, which was huge. Then we just had to execute our shots in the final end, which we did and got the big W which was massive for us."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icontuesday.pdf

USA improves to 4-0 at World Wheelchair Championship
February 20, 2012
Team USA remains undefeated after four rounds of action at the 2012 World Wheelchair Championship at in Chuncheon, South Korea.

USA's team of Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) improved to 4-0 with two wins today at the Uiam Ice Rink.

USA defeated Italy's Andrea Tabanelli rink, 8-3, after getting off to a great start with three points in the first end and capitalizing on steal opportunities in the middle ends.

To read the complete press release,

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconmonday.pdf