Stones & Stripes

The first big wave of 5U and club playdowns is upon us.

I don’t know about you, but I am in full curling mode. Beyond my personal on-ice pursuits, December is giving us a feel for what high-gear looks like ahead of the holiday respite.

In addition to being locked into the Olympic Qualifying Event happening in Kelowna, I’m doing my best to keep following along with 5-and-Under qualifying events, as well as the first club nationals playdown of the season! Between the OQE, four playdowns for club nationals, three 5U qualifiers, and the next Grand Slam of Curling Event, I am getting good preparation for what’s to come in January and February!

Watching streams of this last weekend’s Madtown Doubledown served as a good reminder for me of the fantastic combination of club and competitive curling we have access to, and while the competitive events are often my focus here, don’t forget to check out any of your local funspiels.

Before I traveled to my first about year after I got my start at Green Bay Curling Club, I received some helpful advice: Never let curling get in the way of a good bonspiel.

So if you needed it, let this serve as a gentle reminder: Go forth and party! And maybe curl a little, too.

Club Playdowns Results

Mid-America

Women’s Champion: Turbow (Denver Curling Club)
Women’s Runner-Up: Henning (Rock Creek Curling)

Twelve months ago, it looked like Melissa Turbow was well on her way to club nationals, having gone through round robin play with an undefeated record and needing to just beat Houston’s Julie Segovia in one of two elimination games. But things did not shake out in her favor. While I wasn’t in the building for that event, it was clear on stream how incredibly graciously Turbow and her team handled that loss.

It looked like she might need an elimination rematch against the Houston rink, with Segovia at one loss and Turbow undefeated heading into the final game of round robin play in the seven-team field. The Denver skip was down two with the hammer entering the final end. A win, and they were MACA champions. A loss, and a second game with Segovia would be queued up.

But good thing comes to those who wait. Sitting two with a lot of traffic out front, Turbow was able to just sneak her shooter by a Houston guard, thanks to a great sweep from her front end from the hog line in to secure a win. This year, there would be no elimination games.

Turbow’s Denver rink went undefeated in round robin play, and with the next two best teams having two losses, they secured a place in Chaska for nationals was secured.

Men’s Champion: Rose (Denver Curling Club)
Men’s Runner-Up: Suhr (Denver Curling Club)

The men’s field of MACA featured seven teams vying for the berth to nationals. Last year’s playdown winner was not in the field, and it was a very tightly contested field all the way around.

As with the women’s side, the teams played a full round robin, and nobody could be eliminated if they had less than two losses. After the round robin, it was an all-Denver matchup with Team Rose and Team Suhr. In their first matchup, Christian Rose hung a 5-ender in the 7th end to secure a win.

With both teams at one loss coming out of round robin play, Rose picked up right where he left off with a score of 4 in the first end. The team never looked back on their way to an 8-2 victory.

Rose is a shining example of how the sport can grow here in the US. His son, Caiden, skips a U18 team who recently qualified again for U18 Nationals. Christian made his way into the competitive circuit when he won the Denver 5U qualifier event in 2024 and made an impressive run to the third-place match in his first championship appearance. He and lead Tim Murphy stayed together and won the inaugural 5-and-Under Worlds event last year.

Now, Rose heads back to Chaska where he had his 5-and-Under National Championship appearance. This time, it’s at the club championship level.

5-and-Under Qualifier Results

Fighting Hornet (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Winner: Rice (Coyotes Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Elliott (Nashville Curling Club)

After a few years of a really unique double elimination type of event for Charlotte’s Fighting Hornet 5U, the club switched to a traditional bonspiel bracket. While it was a bummer for me to see one of my favorite formats go by the wayside, this change allowed Charlotte to increase their bonspiel field from 24 to 32 teams.

Team Rice made a trip all the way from Tempe, Arizona before making their run all the way to the final in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their opponents, Team Elliott from Nashville Curling Club, were aiming make a return back to nationals for a second consecutive year.

The final between these teams was a tightly contested, low-scoring affair. Rice stole one in the first, Elliott stole one in the fifth, and every other end was a force of one point. Team Rice had the hammer and was down by one point going into the final end.

With a relatively clean sheet and one center guard, Elliott’s first rock in the final end checked up a little early under the center guard and opened the door for Rice. Rice made his first draw to the button, and when Elliott’s final rock was heavy, Rice just had to do it once again to win, and the whole team got in to sweep his final rock into the 8-foot to get the win.

Team Rice has been hard at work over the last couple years to improve, and they were so close to making the final at their hometown 5U to start the season. Now, they can rest easy as they prepare themselves to head to Seattle next spring.

Midwest Cup (Hartland, Wisconsin)

Winner: Wysocki (Stevens Point Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Papineau (Appleton Curling Club)

The Midwest Cup was a smaller field than usual this year, with just 20 teams taking the ice at Kettle Moraine Curling Club. Two competitors from last year’s nationals field met up in the final, Team Wysocki from Stevens Point and Team Papineau from Appleton Curling Club.

Wysocki’s rink won the Frogtown 5U just a few weeks ago, while Papineau is playing in their second 5U of the season. The two Wisconsin-based teams wasted no time getting going in the first end with all but three rocks in play for the hammer. Papineau took his one in that end, and the two teams punched and countered with excellent shots throughout the championship bout.

The two teams were tied going into the final end and Papineau had the hammer. Once Wysocki got a rock into sit as shot stone, he threw guard after guard, and none of Team Papineau’s hits were able to connect with that scoring rock, including Papineau’s last which appeared to be made but just feathered the guard.

This is now Wyoscki’s second 5U qualifier win of the season, and if Team Papineau can keep up this level of play, they could very well find their way back to nationals again this season as well.

5U Curlers – take note!

It isn’t a qualifying event, but an event at Schenectady Curling Club still has some spaces available, and on top of the good fun you can have, you can even win reimbursement for 2026 5U qualifier events! Kudos to Schenectady for coming up with a neat idea, and rewarding women’s, men’s, and mixed teams! Click here for more info.

Did anyone call for more curling?

There are still a few qualifying events to send teams to 5U nationals and club nationals before the holidays, so I should have one more newsletter before the year comes to a close.

And if you still need more curling to watch, in addition to qualifying events and Slams, the second 5U World Championship starts up later this week from Kettle Moraine Curling Club. This 16-team invitational tournament has added teams from a number of other countries this year, including Australia! Games will be streamed on YouTube with some commentary, and the draw schedule can be found on their website.

Good curling!