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Gratitude and Good Curling

A look back of my favorite curling articles of the past year and another round of club and 5U qualifiers

As we get ready to take down our 2025 calendars, it is a perfect time to reflect on the year that was. No doubt about it: it was a whirlwind.

Over the past year, the number of subscribers to Stones & Stripes has tripled. This is newsletter issue number twenty-five on the year, and outside of this newsletter, I published 28 other articles between The Curling News in the first half of the year and Rock Channel in the second half of the year. It’s safe to say I’ve been a tad busy, and that’s not adding in that I have dipped my toe into the world of mixed doubles pool this year as well.

None of that happens without each and every one of you reading, reacting, and sharing my work among your circles and for those who have sent in donations. Because of your engagement and support, I am able to highlight the accomplishments of those representing the United States at the highest levels of the sport as well as those who are doing their best to make a name for themselves at the club level.

In addition to you readers, I wanted to extend a thank you to George Karrys of The Curling News and Devin Heroux and Jess Szabo of The Curling Group for providing me a platform to shine a light on the best curlers in the country. Thank you to the US curlers who respond to my messages with questions, interview requests, and notes for their patience and openness. And to those who have privately given me advice, feedback, or allowed me to bounce ideas off of them, you have no idea how much you’ve helped me.

This newsletter is largely a one-man-show, but it doesn’t mean I’m doing it alone. I am so appreciative for the bonspiel hosts, regional association representatives, and competitors who have helped to keep me in the loop with results. In addition to the results I share in this newsletter, I have been able to provide some national championship fields access to the data I use to track results to assist them in peer seeding, which ideally creates a more equitable draw for all competitors. Thank you, everyone who has a part in this!

Before I jump into results, I spent some time considering the favorite pieces I’ve put together as well as some of my favorite things I have read from other writers in the last year. If you hadn’t read any of these, I’d encourage you to check them out.

Favorite Things I Wrote in 2025

Favorite Things I Read in 2025

Some of my favorite pieces I’ve read this year, listed in no particular order:

Onto the results!

Club Playdowns Results

Mountain Pacific

Women’s Champion: Thangadurai (San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club)
Women’s Runner-Up: Walsh (San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club)

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Team Thangadurai of San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club. Photo: MoPac

In what may turn out to be the largest playdown of any region for women’s club nationals, nine teams showed up at Coyotes Curling Club for an incredibly competitive event. 17 teams played down across the men and the women altogether at the 4-sheet club, which made for a jampacked weekend of curling in Tempe.

I’m not 100% certain on the format utilized for the event, as every women’s team played a minimum of 6 games – not enough for a round robin, and the teams were not split into groups. However, the best four records from the pool(ish) play advanced to the playoffs: two teams from the Bay Area and two teams from Coyotes. Both of the San Francisco Bay Area teams advanced to the finals for an intra-club showdown.

Subasthika Thangadurai, also known as Subs, led her team to the finals, going undefeated after dropping their first game of the event. Early on in the playdowns, Subs might have made the best shot of the entire event with this angle run for 3. Meanwhile, Sarah Walsh returned back to the championship game yet again, despite losing two games in the initial phase of the event which included a loss to Thangadurai.

Both teams played a very clean game in the final, with nobody allowing the front of the house to get super messy. The key shot came in the 4th end. Thangadurai was down 1 with hammer, and Walsh had just made a come-around tap to sit one, but Subs did one better. She was able to make the hit on the Walsh stone and score two with hammer.

Team Thangadurai did not look back, stealing two in the fifth and controlling the game from then on. This team also competed in the U25 Junior Grand Slam of Curling in October, notching a win in a strong field. They’ll be a team to watch in Chaska.

Meanwhile, for Team Walsh, they wind up as the runner-up for MoPac once again, but once again, they stand a good chance to qualify for nationals through USA Curling’s fill procedures. Currently, the MoPac region has the largest women’s qualifying event in the country, and if that holds true, Walsh will be joining their fellow clubmates in Chaska. Last year, they went 3-2 at nationals and just missed out on playoffs due to tiebreakers, so they will likely be in contention yet again this year if they qualify.

Men’s Champion: Siggins (Coyotes Curling Club)
Men’s Runner-Up: Tait (Coyotes Curling Club)

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Team Siggins of Coyotes Curling Club. Photo: MoPac

On the men’s side, it was an all-Coyotes playoff. 6 of the 8 teams were from Coyotes, with the other two from San Francisco, and all four playoff teams hailed from the host club. In past years, it has been a revolving door between a number of skips from Coyotes competing at nationals, and the two teams in the finals had both been in that group.

Similar to Thangadurai on the women’s side, Mike Siggins lost his opening game of the event and bounced back without surrendering another loss. Meanwhile, Shawn Tait had to battle through two losses on his way to the playoffs. The final, though, belonged to Team Siggins.

They got off to a strong start when skip Mike Siggins, throwing third stones, made a clutch double to roll to a guard in the second end after a blank in the first. This set them up for three, but even being up 5-2 with hammer in the 6th end, the game was not over just yet. Tait stole two in the 6th to make Team Siggins sweat it out a little bit more, but Siggins was able to score 1 in the 7th. Down two with hammer in the 8th, Shawn Tait nearly made an angle run to score two, but the rock just overcurled, resulting in a steal of 1 for Siggins and the victory.

This will be Siggins first time back to club nationals since the 2024 event in Fargo, where his team went 2-3.

Midwest

Women’s Champion: Yaple (Chicago Curling Club)
Women’s Runner-Up: Pettinger (Windy City Curling Club)

Last year, Haley Yaple was able to qualify for club nationals uncontested as the only women’s team signed up for playdowns in the Midwest region. This year, the number of Midwest teams doubled on the women’s side with the entry of Team Pettinger.

The teams faced off in a best-of-3 series, and Yaple swept the series in two games. Yaple should be a contender for the playoffs in Chaska. The quarterfinalists from last year’s nationals will return back to see if they can improve and advance to the medal rounds in 2026.

Men’s Champion: Wright (Exmoor Curling Club)
Men’s Runner-Up: Tobkin (Chicago Curling Club)

Four teams competed on the men’s side at Waltham Curling Club to determine the men’s Midwest representative. Chicagoland clubs were well represented with teams from Exmoor, Windy City, and Chicago Curling Clubs all competing.

When all was said and done, Jeff Wright’s squad defended their regional title. They went undefeated through the round robin and overcame Team Tobkin in the final to secure yet another berth to club nationals. Team Wright will look to see if they can best their 2-3 record from last year’s championship in Milwaukee.

Alaska

Women’s Champion: Mazur (Anchorage Curling Club)

The Alaska Region had one women’s team sign up again this year for club nationals, and as a result, no playdown was necessary. This year’s Team Alaska once again hails from Anchorage Curling Club. Becca Mazur competed at club nationals in Fargo, but with an entirely different team and throwing second. This year, she’ll be headed to the lower 48 as a skip for the second straight year and is bringing some different teammates as they create their own history.

Men’s Champion: Johnson (Fairbanks Curling Club)
Men’s Runner-Up: Donna (Anchorage Curling Club)

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Team Johnson of Fairbanks Curling Club. Photo: Fairbanks Curling Club

Two teams signed up for the Alaska playdowns on the men’s side of the competition again this year, with one team from each of Alaska’s two dedicated curling clubs. While often we see a best-of-3 series, the men’s playdown was a best-of-5 tournament between the two teams.

Diego Donna of Anchorage took the first game, an 8-6 victory. Down by one with hammer in the 8th in game two, it looked like they may be tie it to go to extra ends, but Donna’s rock likely picked, securing the win for Jon Johnson’s rink. Team Johnson did not look back, winning games 3 and 4 to win the series 3 games to 1.

Johnson’s lead, Dylan Skaggs, was playing at the Junior B World Championships in Finland as the skip for Team Philippines, but he will rejoin the team at lead for club nationals in Chaska with Atticus Wallace as the alternate. Johnson went winless at nationals last year, but don’t let the standings deceive you: they had a bunch of close games. I would expect to see them give teams some trouble this year.

5-and-Under Qualifier Results

Jingle Rocks 5U (Stevens Point, Wisconsin)

Winner: Gumz (Portage, Madison, & Stevens Point Curling Clubs)
Runner-Up: Mack (Kettle Moraine Curling Club)

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Team Gumz and Team Mack share the ice after their final. Photo: Stevens Point Curling Club

For the past few years, the Jingle Rocks 5U has been the final 5-and-Under qualifying event in the calendar year. While that was true again, the event changed this year to a pool play event, deviating from their traditional bonspiel bracket play.

6 pools of 4 teams apiece battled it out, and both Teams Gumz and Mack made it to the finals undefeated. The all-Wisconsin final kept observers glued into the final stone with a fun game. Mack got a good start early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after two ends, but Jacalynn Gumz roared back. She scored two with hammer, stole another two in the 4th end, and then stole one more in the 5th to take a 5-3 lead.

Team Mack was forced to one in the 6th end and yielded 2 more points in the 8th, but in 5-and-Under, you never know what might happen. Team Gumz opted to play to their strengths in the final end, continuing to lob draws into the house, while Mack jostled the rocks around on their throws. There were no guards in play, but there were still 8 rocks hanging around for the hammer from Team Mack.

But it was not to be for Team Mack, with the possibility of a score of 4 if the angle was hit correctly, the hammer just floated wide which secured the victory for Team Gumz.

Team Gumz is made up of members from three curling clubs, and they’ll be making their 5-and-Under National Championship debut this spring in Seattle. For Bekka Mack and team, they have now notched their second runner-up finish of the season, posting a strong 11-4 record in qualifying events so far.

Final Notes

A quick congratulations to Team Purves of St. Paul Curling Club for winning the second iteration of the 5-and-Under World Championship, which was hosted at Kettle Moraine Curling Club earlier this month. Purves defeated Alexis Boucher out of Quebec, claiming the title for the United States for the second consecutive year. This year saw a great increase in Canadian teams to the event, and I hope to see it back again next year!

The newsletter is going to have a few weeks off, but we’ll be back in full force in January. In a 5-week period, beginning in the middle of January, there will be eight 5-and-Under qualifiers as well as six club playdowns. These events include some of the largest playdowns and qualifiers on the schedule. And oh, by the way, the Olympics will be starting right after, followed by the US National Championships.

I’ll be doing my best to keep up with everything going on to highlight who will be playing for national championships in 2026! If you are running one of those events, please reach out to me either via email or social media so I can ensure I get the results and proper attention on all of the deserving curlers.

I wish safe travels, good health, and all the best for you during this holiday season. May we all find draw weight in our gifts this year.

And as always, good curling!

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