CHAMPIONSHIPS Teens prevail at U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship


By Terry L. Kolesar, Editor, terry.kolesar@ usacurl.org


National Championship in Eau Claire, Wis., and it was a pair of 19-year-olds who emerged with the title when all the stones were thrown at the Eau Claire Curling Club. College students Korey Dropkin (Southbor-


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ough, Mass.) and Sarah Anderson (Broomall, Pa.) defeated 2012 mixed doubles champions Pe- ter Stolt and Maureen Stolt (Plymouth, Minn.), 7-3, to win the national title. “Tis was the best game we played all week


and we felt pretty solid and continued it through- out the game,” Sarah Anderson said. “We had re- ally good communication out there, which helps a lot.” Te Stolts, who also made the championship


final last year, struggled in the early ends and spotted the Dropkin-Anderson rink an early lead that the duo never gave up. “All you can really do is look forward to the


next shot and hope it goes well. Tankfully, it did,” said Dropkin, who won the U.S. junior title in 2012 and 2013 as well as a bronze medal in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics Games. “We played well, she made her draws and things went really well.” In the second end, Maureen Stolt was a little


too heavy with the final draw and Dropkin swept it behind the tee-line out of scoring position to help his team steal two points and extend their lead to 3-0. Peter Stolt attempted a runback with the final stone of the third end but couldn’t con- vert and Anderson and Dropkin stole another point aſter the official measurement. In the fourth end, Dropkin played the per-


fect weight to tap his stone into the four-foot to cut down what looked to be an end in which the Stolts would score multiple points. Maureen Stolt’s runback attempt failed and Anderson used her team’s final stone to guard their rock touch- ing the button. Peter Stolt attempted a takeout with the last rock but the young duo ended up stealing yet another end. Trailing by six, the Stolts cut the lead in half


with a critical draw for three points in the sixth end. Anderson and Dropkin had a shot at two to put the game away in the seventh end, but came up short with the final draw and took a single


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Anderson & Dropkin will represent U.S. at 2015 World Mixed Doubles Championship in Sochi


point instead. In a four-point hole, the Stolts tried in earnest


to build a big end in the eighth. Dropkin used his team’s second stone to clear the center guard and tuck a stone behind it on the top of the button for shot stone. Maureen Stolt, however, tapped it back to put three of her team’s stones in scoring position. Dropkin followed down with a double takeout, leaving one Stolt stone on the button behind the center guard. Maureen Stolt’s draw was a little heavier than intended, setting up the double takeout for Dropkin but his stone hit the center guard. Tat allowed Maureen Stolt to place a third stone back in the house and keep their hopes of tying the game alive. Sarah Anderson went down to prepare to


throw her stone without realizing their time clock was nearing zero. With two seconds re- maining, Anderson noticed the clock and quick- ly called a timeout and threw a double takeout to win the game. Tis was the first time Anderson and Dropkin


competed in this national event. Te duo went through the competition with a perfect 7-0 re- cord. “Te Stolts gave us a great game today. I’m proud that we were able to pull it out,” Anderson


he youth-dominated playoffs set the tone for the final day of action at the 2015 USA Curling Mixed Doubles


ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS: Pool A:


Brady Clark-Cristin Clark Mike Peplinski-Laura Roessler Michael Bera-Nicole Bera


Sharon Vukich-David Cornfield Elaine Smith-Koop-Josh Engle Matt Fowler-Sarah Turiot Pool B:


Tina Persinger-Mark Fenner Maureen Stolt-Peter Stolt


Cory Christensen-Derek Benson Tomas Lee-Jiyoung Lee


Steve Swoboda-Lynn Struzan Gary Mazzotta-Kim Roden Pool C:


Scott Dunnam-Taylor Anderson Sean Murray-Emilia Juocys Tyler George-Courtney George Darrick Kizlyk-Dena Rosenberry Christon Clark-Logan Tingley Sam Unruh-Larissa Unruh Pool D:


Korey Dropkin-Sarah Anderson Desiree Laitinen-Doug Weimerskirch Joyance Meechai-Steve Gebauer Scott Olson-Teri Olson


Dan Wiza-Stephanie Martin


PLAYOFFS: Tiebreaker:


Laitinen-Weimerskirch 7, Meechai-Gebauer 6 Quarterfinals:


Dropkin-Anderson 8, Laitinen-Weimerskirch 5 Persinger-Fenner 9, Murray-Juocys 3 Dunnam-Anderson 9, Clark-Clark 2 Stolt-Stolt 6, Peplinski-Roessler 3 Semifinals:


Dropkin-Anderson *Persinger-Fenner


Dunnam-Anderson *Stolt-Stolt


Final:


*Dropkin-Anderson Stolt-Stolt


*last rock in first end


said aſter the win. Te 2015 World Mixed Doubles Champion-


ship will be played at the Ice Cube in Sochi, Rus- sia – the 2014 Olympic curling venue – April 18- 25. Te U.S. has yet to medal in this event, which debuted in 2008. n


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030 021 01 0 – 7 103 100 20 1 – 8


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