Press Coverage

Playoffs approaching at Club Nationals in Illinois
March 7, 2013
Five of the eight playoff teams are now known as the round robin of the 2013 USA Curling Club National Championships winds down at the Exmoor Curling Club in Highland Park, Ill.

On the men's side, Washington's Doug Kauffman and Jeff Wright's Illinois rinks are moving on to the playoffs despite each having two games left to play in the round robin. The two teams share the top spot in the standings with 6-1 records. Wisconsin's Mark Olson rink is 5-2 and could clinch a spot with one more win.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond5.pdf

Illinois men, ND women lead the way at Club Nationals
March 6, 2013
Jeff Wright's Illinois rink and North Dakota II's Beth Bohlman are alone at the top of their respective divisions with more than half of the round robin now complete at the 2013 USA Curling Club National Championships.

Jeff Wright (Libertyville, Ill.) and teammates Russ Armstrong (Lake Bluff, Ill.), Sean Silver (Chicago), Steve Wright (Chicago), and Russ Brown (Lake Forest, Ill.) are showing no mercy on their home turf at the Exmoor Curling Club in Highland Park, Ill. The team handed Washington's Doug Kauffman rink its first loss of the event by an 8-4 score on Tuesday morning. In the nightcap, they defeated Dave Jensen's North Dakota rink, 8-3, to improve to 6-0.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond4.pdf

Czech Republic knocks USA women out of playoff contention
March 6, 2013
Czech mate was called on Team USA as their run at a playoff spot at the 2013 World Junior Championships came to an end this afternoon with a 7-3 loss to the Czech Republic at the Ice Cube Curling Center.

The loss drops the Americans to 3-5 in the round robin standings with one game remaining. Team USA switched its lineup around for this game with 2012 U.S. junior champion Cory Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) coming in to skip with Miranda Solem (Cohasset, Minn.) throwing last rocks. The front end remained the same with Karlie Koenig (Delafield, Wis.) and Chelsea Solem (Cohasset, Minn.). Vicky Persinger (Fairbanks, Alaska) moved to the alternate spot for this game. The team is tied for seventh place with Switzerland.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond15.pdf

U.S. men knocked out of playoff hunt
March 6, 2013
Team USA put on an impressive show tonight but it won't get them to the playoffs at the 2013 World Junior Championships, unfortunately.

Korey Dropkin and the American men had a convincing 8-1 win over China tonight but 30 minutes later were handed their fate - no chance for a tiebreaker game to get into the playoffs.

With the win, Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) and teammates Tom Howell (Brick, N.J.), Mark Fenner (Bemidji, Minn.), Alex Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and Connor Hoge (Southborough, Mass.) improve to 4-4 with one game remaining in the round robin.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond16.pdf

Five teams still perfect at 2013 Club Nationals
March 5, 2013
North Dakota II's Beth Bohlman rink took down two of the top seeded teams on Monday to improve to 4-0 at the 2013 USA Curling Club National Championships.

Bohlman and her Grand Forks Curling Club team of Kyleigh Smith, Amy Bushaw, Dawn Zimney, and Gail Ingwalson (all of Grand Forks, N.D.) defeated in-state rivals North Dakota I, led by Nicole Reiser (Bismarck, N.D.), 9-6, in the morning draw at the Exmoor Curling Club in Highland Park, Ill. They followed up by defeating two-time Club Nationals champion Norma O'Leary of Minnesota, 6-3, in the night session. Minnesota had a 3-2 lead after eight ends but North Dakota scored a deuce in the ninth and stole two points in the final end to secure the win to improve to 4-0 in the round robin.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond3.pdf

Canada upends American men at 2013 World Juniors
March 5, 2013
Inconsistent play plagued Team USA Tuesday afternoon at the 2013 World Junior Championships as they lost to Canada, 7-3.

Korey Dropkin, 17, and the American men were not able to build upon the momentum of last night's win and transfer it into today's game against Canada's Matthew Dunstone rink at the Ice Cube Curling Center.

The loss drops Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) and teammates Tom Howell (Brick, N.J.), Mark Fenner (Bemidji, Minn.), Alex Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and Connor Hoge (Southborough, Mass.) to 3-4 in the standings with two games remaining in the round robin.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond13.pdf

USA ladies fall to 3-4 in round robin in Sochi
March 5, 2013
It was a rough night on the ice for Miranda Solem and Team USA as Canada got the better of them at the 2013 World Junior Championships.

Solem (Cohasset, Minn.) and teammates Vicky Persinger (Fairbanks, Alaska), Karlie Koenig (Delafield, Wis.) and Chelsea Solem (Cohasset, Minn.) struggled with their draw weight and lost their fourth game of the round robin, 10-4, to Corryn Brown’s Canadian squad (2-5).

The U.S. ladies shot just 65 percent as a team tonight and fall to 3-4 in the standings with two games remaining in the round robin. However, with the standings being a total logjam, the U.S. still has a solid shot at making the playoffs.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond14.pdf

Big steal by Russia haunts USA ladies
March 4, 2013
One bad end doomed in Team USA and led to an early departure from the ice this afternoon at the Ice Cube Curling Center at the 2013 World Junior Championships.

Miranda Solem and the American ladies had been playing a solid game against Russia’s Alina Kovaleva rink, but got into trouble in the eighth end and lost the battle when Solem’s final draw came up short of the rings and Russia stole five points.

“In this last end we just missed a few shots, and I didn’t come through at the end,” said Solem, who at age 21 is playing in her final year of eligibility for junior competition. “We win as a team and lose as a team … and will learn from this experience.”

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond11.pdf