TEAM USA ACHIEVE SEMIFINAL FINISH AT WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT
© WCF / Steve Seixeiro 2022
Team USA (Korey Dropkin, Joe Polo, Mark Fenner, Tom Howell, and Alex Fenson) began their competition at the World Men’s Curling Championship 2022 last Saturday, but the preparation for the world stage has been years in the making.
Competing together at the highest levels in juniors, Fenson, Dropkin, Howell, and Fenner joined forces with two-time Olympic medalist, Joe Polo, to make noise in the men’s field.
The experience of Polo coupled with the athleticism, work ethic, and eagerness of the foursome have created a dynamic that is oftentimes lethal to competitors.
“Honestly, I think this team has the highest ceiling of any team I have ever played with,” said third Joe Polo. “The work ethic of these guys is second to none and the way we battle for each other is relentless. I love playing with these guys.”
The team recipe has proven to be successful as the Dropkin-skipped rink clinched playoff qualification in its World Men’s Curling Championship debut.
In the final game of the round robin, the United States faced Italy.
With both countries already qualified for playoffs, the game determined playoff seeding.
An 8-4 loss to Italy locked the United States in at fifth in the rankings and completed the playoff picture with the following teams:
Canada
Sweden
Italy
Scotland
United States
Switzerland
In the playoffs, two qualification games were played on Saturday afternoon (3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5). The winners of the qualification games advanced to the semifinals where the one-seed played the winner of the 4 vs. 5 game and the two-seed played the winner of the 3 vs. 6 game.
“It’s a new bonspiel today,” said Korey Dropkin leading into the qualification matchup against Scotland. “All we can do now is focus on our processes, what we can control, and play our hearts out for all ten ends.”
Team USA topped Scotland in the 4 vs. 5 game to advance to play the Canadians in the Championship semifinal. After handing Canada one of their two losses in the round robin, Team USA felt confident going into the matchup, but a strong start by Canada resulted in an 8-5 final score.
The loss against Canada moved the United States into the bronze medal game against Italy on Sunday afternoon.
In the bronze medal game, the Italians got off to a hot start, scoring four in the opening end.
The U.S. responded with a score of two before stealing another point in the third to narrow the deficit to only one point.
In the fourth end, a measure confirmed a score of two for the Italians to put them ahead by three points before an underthrown draw in the fifth end gave the Italians another point to take a 7-3 lead at the halfway mark.
In the sixth end, the United States were limited to a score of one, which ended up being the American’s final score of the game.
Needing to go “all-in” in the seventh end to close the deficit, the Americans had one lonely rock surrounded by five Italian stones.
The Italians navigated through a port created by guards to remove the American stone and scored six points to move ahead 13-4, resulting in a fourth place finish for the United States.
USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Toyota, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Brakebush, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), and Sitrin, and is partnered with IHG, Rock Solid Productions Inc., Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People.
