A look at playdown registration trends, as well as who will be taking home hardware from Chaska?

Two years ago, Everest announced the US club national champions would play in a live televised event, and there was a little bit more of a buzz going into the club championships in Fargo. After the Everest North American Curling Club Championships were, I thought, a clear success, I had hopes we’d see a second event with the thought that this could also bring a boost to more registrations to regional playdowns.

Unfortunately for just about everyone, Everest moved on to working directly with World Curling in some capacity (nothing has been officially announced), and the “inaugural” event was a one-and-done spectacle. But what about club playdown registrations, were those impacted?

We didn’t know about the lack of Everest event until much later in the season, last year, so if teams did register because they wanted the chance to be on TSN and CBS Sports, they did so with an unfulfilled hope. Looking at the men’s and women’s registrations over the past three years, we’ve seen different fluctuations between women’s and men’s events.

Oddly, we’ve seen a bit of a bump in women’s registrations while seeing a simultaneous decrease on the men’s side.

On the men’s side, the Wisconsin region was the only playdown to have more teams registered this year than last year, up by two teams. Meanwhile, the largest decreases belonged to the MoPac (-4) and GNCC (-5) regions. For the GNCC, it’s not altogether surprising as they had their playdowns in Las Vegas, one of their member clubs stemming from the USCA-GNCC debacle of a few years ago.

On the bright side, however, are the changes on the women’s front. While the Pacific Northwest (-2), Minnesota (0), and GNCC (0) regions either remained equal or had a slight decrease, all other regions saw a bump in numbers over last year. Three women’s playdowns in the 2024-2025 season had an uncontested single entry in the women’s event last year with only one this season. Wisconsin nearly doubled their playdown size going from four teams to seven.

I do wish I had tracked this information prior to the boom of 5U curling. I personally believe that segment of curlers having a pathway into competitive curling will have a long-term net-positive impact on club and arena playdowns. I look forward to seeing what happens next season as we get another year removed from Everest and another year of hopeful growth across all regions.

How To Watch

The Chaska Curling Center will play host to this event, and over the course of the last two years, they have added streaming capabilities. All games will be available on the Chaska Curling Center YouTube channel.

Draw Schedule

As with all USA Curling national championships, the full draw schedule, team lists, live scores, and standings are available on the USA Curling Event Hub. The top three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs, with the top seed in each pool earning a bye to the semifinal.

Here is the draw schedule for the men’s event (all times Central).

Thursday, March 26
8:00am – Men’s Round Robin Draw 1
4:00pm – Men’s Round Robin Draw 2

Friday, March 27
8:00am – Men’s Round Robin Draw 3
4:00pm – Men’s Round Robin Draw 4

Saturday, March 28
8:00am – Men’s Round Robin Draw 5
4:00pm – Women’s and Men’s Quarterfinals

Sunday, March 29
9:00am – Women’s and Men’s Semifinals
2:00pm – Women’s and Men’s Medal Games

Meet the Teams

Teams are listed in approximate order of peer seeding.

Note: I did the best I could to research the teams’ past experience at club nationals. I apologize if there are any errors regarding whether or not a team has previously played at club nationals.

Pool A

Bond – Granite Curling Club of Seattle (Pacific Northwest)

Only four teams are returning from last season’s club championship, and all four are in Pool A in Chaska. The highest finishing team of those teams is Chris Bond’s rink from Seattle, who achieved a 4th place finish last year. All four members of the Bond rink are returning and booked their return trip to nationals with a tightly contested Pacific Northwest playdown, finishing 5-1.

They had three games decided by one point, including their lone loss. They came up just shy on being the first team from the Pacific Northwest to win a club championship medal since 2018 when vice Sam Galey won gold. If they can improve on last year’s fourth place finish, they’ll be able to end the hardware drought for the region.

Workin – Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club (Dakota)

For a couple years running, Evan Workin’s team has qualified for nationals either as the wildcard team or as a host team, but not as the Dakota champion. This year, Workin is attending nationals as the sole Dakota Territory Curling Association representative, coming off an undefeated run at playdowns.

While they finished a game the playoffs last season, Workin did win the bronze on home ice in 2024. The Dakota rink returns three of its four members from the past few seasons, with Kalvin Hoff stepping in to throw lead rocks this season. They’re capable of making a big run to the podium, and on the pristine ice of Chaska, I would not be shocked to see them in contention come Sunday.

Rose – Denver Curling Club (Mid-America)

Christian Rose burst onto my radar two years ago when he was one of the final teams to qualify for the 2024 5U National Championships (held in Chaska) and made a run to the bronze medal game just a month later. He followed up that performance by winning the inaugural World 5U Championship in January 2025. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the skip entering MACA’s club playdowns this year, but I was intrigued based on the accomplishments of his roster-mates. I’m even more intrigued now.

Vice Aaron Johnston won club championship gold twice with Sean Franey, most recently in 2023. Second Ryan Swift just won the Denver 5U qualifier this past weekend as a skip, and lead Tim Murphy played with Rose for his successes in 5-and-Under and also won silver as a lead for Darrick Kizlyk at the 2024 Club National Championship. This team has a high ceiling and should figure to be in the playoff conversation.

Guzman – Broomstones Curling Club (Grand National)

After a few years of attempting to return to club nationals, Benj Guzman was finally able to accomplish the feat in Las Vegas earlier this year. He brings with him the full team who won bronze at the 2022 club championships after a 4-1 playdown finish. They’ll be looking to keep the club championship trophy at Broomstones Curling Club after the dominant performance by Alex Leichter’s rink at nationals one year ago. Guzman has shown multiple times over the past decade the ability to put together a strong week at nationals. Can they do it again in Chaska?

Wright – Exmoor Curling Club (Midwest)

Jeff Wright’s rink is back for yet another club championship as the Midwest regional representative. His 4-0 playdown performance kept alive his streak, curling in all but one club championship since 2016. Last year in Milwaukee, the 2016 club silver medalist finished one game shy of the playoffs with a 2-3 record.

Johnson – Fairbanks Curling Club (Alaska)

For the second year in a row, Fairbanks Curling Club and the Alaska region are being represented by Jon Johnson’s rink. They return the same players as last year after some nailbiters in their best-of-5 playoff in Anchorage earlier this season. Junior curlers Dylan Skaggs (also the skip of the Philippines junior men’s team) and Coleman Martin will man the front-end, while two-time 5U nationals skip Dave Hejna joins Johnson on the front end. The Johnson rink did not pick up a win last year, but they played some incredibly tight games, and I would not be surprised to see them get in the win column this year.

Pool B

Dolan – St. Paul Curling Club (Minnesota)

Team Dolan is without a big figure this year at club nationals in their home state. Chris Dolan was the longtime vice for skip Mark Willmert who suddenly passed away last year not too long after the conclusion of club playdowns. The team stuck together, with Dolan moving to skip, second Dan Metcalf moving into the vice role, and Brian Unbehaun remaining at lead.

Together, they went on a roll in their playdown, posting a perfect 7-0 record with three one-point victories. Dolan last curled at club nationals in 2020 with Willmert at the skip, and the two won silver together in 2017. I cannot wait to see if they can keep the magical season going in Chaska, just down the road from their home club.

Murray – Coyotes Curling Club (Mountain Pacific)

For the sixth consecutive club championship, Coyotes Curling Club has a representative in the field. The club has sent a number of different teams over the years, and this year it was Sean Murray who won that right. Murray is joined by the same teammates from 2024 nationals, Mike Siggins, Adam Endicott, and Eric Kowal.

The team finished out of the playoffs in 2024 with a 2-3 record, but they’re looking to recapture the magic of 2019 and 2022 when Siggins, Endicott, and Kowal won gold in this event together.

Carlson – Wauwatosa Curling Club (Wisconsin)

Four of the six teams in Pool B from border rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin, and Ryan Carlson, fresh off a Badger State title will be a key contributor if the state will continue its upward trend from club nationals. The 2024 Wisconsin champions put together a 5-1 playdown record en route to capturing their second state title in three years over fellow club members of Team Freund. The Carlson rink will aim to improve on their 2-3 showing from 2024 and make a run to the playoffs.

Freund – Wauwatosa Curling Club (Wisconsin)

If Carlson doesn’t advance to the playoffs, then it’s likely due in part to Neil Freund. Also representing Wauwatosa Curling Club, Freund posted a 5-1 record in Stevens Point this past January as well and ended as the runner-up. Because of Wisconsin’s 16 entries into their regional, Freund’s second place finish secured the wildcard berth into the field in Chaska where the team will be making their club nationals debut.

Gleaton – Fort Wayne Curling Club (Great Lakes)

Just over a year ago, I don’t know that the four members of Team Gleaton could have foreseen themselves representing Fort Wayne Curling Club at the Club National Championships. For one, three of the four players live in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the fourth hailed from Columbus, Ohio. When Marcus Gleaton and his Kalamazoo friends lost their facility in Kalamazoo, they teamed up with Stephen Imes, all making the multi-hour trek to Fort Wayne, Indiana for league.

Their improbable team formation culminated with a 5-2 performance at the Great Lakes playdown to earn themselves a different type of road trip, this time to Minnesota. Once they arrive in Minnesota, the Gleaton rink can enjoy a much shorter daily commute than they had to deal with for their league nights.

Caldwell – Chaska Curling Club (Minnesota)

As the host, Chaska will be represented by Team Caldwell in the men’s field after Caldwell won an abbreviated eight-team playdown to curl on home ice for the championship. Since the club championships moved to this format with a team from the host club, the home team has generally not fared well with the lone exception being Evan Workin’s bronze medal in 2024. Caldwell will have an uphill battle in a tough group.

My Picks

Gold: Workin
Silver: Bond
Bronze: Murray

In the course of writing this preview, I’ve switched my picks around no less than four times. I feel as though these are even more of a guess than usual with there being so much turnover in the field from last year. With that said, I decided to go with the two top teams returning from last season to finish in the top two spots on the podium.

The Dakota playdown was a slog, and I was really impressed with the Workin team’s play throughout. Their closest game was a win by three points, and the five other games were decided by a margin of 5 or more points. The ice in Chaska is expected to be top notch, removing one of the biggest variables the teams will face. If Workin can put together the same quality of play we saw at playdowns, I like their chances.

Fellow pool-mates, Team Bond, came so close to winning a medal last year, and I expect to see their play go up a notch once they get on the ice in Minnesota. Bond and Galey, in particular, form a strong back-end that is going to be tough to deal with when they are at their best.

And while I struggled once again trying to figure out which of the many other contenders I’d leave off the podium, I decided to go with the Coyotes rink for my final pick to click in Chaska. The teams from Coyotes always seem to be in the mix at nationals, and with three members having two past championships to their name, it’s hard to leave them out.

Recap Loading…

I’ll be back sometime next week with a recap of club nationals, ideally on Sunday night or Monday in a perfect world, but it’s not just going to be a busy week for the curlers at the club championship!

I will be at the World Men’s Curling Championships just up the road from me in Ogden, Utah beginning on Friday, providing coverage for Rock Channel. Be sure to turn into thegrandslamofcurling.com and my social media for my observations from the week in Ogden.

Please let there be no rock booping.

Good curling!