Washington Men Win National Club Title

February 18, 2018 - 10:31am -- Doug Potter

In the 2018 USA Curling Club National Championships on Saturday at the Brainerd Lakes Curling Club in Brainerd, Minn, Lyle Sieg (Blaine, Wash.) and his Granite Curling Club teammates Sam Galey (Seattle), Matt Birklid (Seattle), and Steve Lundeen (Seattle) defeated Bill Stopera of New York’s Ardsley Curling Club, 5-2. Stopera (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) and his team of Martin Sather (Yonkers, N.Y.), Peter Austin (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), and George Austin (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) had a modest 2-1 lead at the fifth-end break but it was all Sieg’s team in the second half as they stole three points over the final two ends. This is the second Club Nationals titles for Sieg and Lundeen, who also won in 2015 after capturing the Senior Nationals and World Seniors titles. This is the fourth title for the Granite Curling Club.

In the women’s showdown between two teams from the Madison Curling Club, McCormick (Rio, Wis.) and her team of Miranda Hofmann (Madison, Wis.), Rebecca Reinhart (Monona, Wis.), and Shelly Kosal (Edgerton, Wis.) defeated Lori Karst, 10-5, to win the gold medal. Karst (Madison, Wis.) and her fellow Madison clubmates Cynthia Rhyner (McFarland, Wis.), Rebecca Westphal (Verona, Wis.), and Anne Pryor (Madison, Wis.) fell behind in the first half to McCormick, a four-time Olympian, and couldn’t overcome the deficit in the second half. This is the first Club Nationals titles for McCormick, Hofmann and Reinhart and second for Kosal, who also won in 2006. It is the third overall women’s title won by the Madison club.

In the bronze-medal games, Jayne Burton led her Coyotes Curling Club rink to a 10-7 triumph over two-time champion Nicole Vorachek of the Capital Curling Club, and Jeffrey Knott’s Dallas-Fort Worth team scored a point in the final end to secure a 6-4 victory over Justin McBride’s team from the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club. Final results are posted at http://go.teamusa.org/2Ej2LFB.
 
Line scores, gold-medal games:
*Sieg                   000 100 112 x – 5
Stopera               010 010 000 x – 2
 
*McCormick      031 100 401 x – 10
Karst                    100 001 030 x – 5
 
Line scores, bronze-medal games:
McBride              010 100 002 0 – 4
*Knott                 101 002 010 1 – 6
 
Burton                300 021 301 x – 10
*Vorachek         031 100 020 x – 7
 
Gold medalists:
Madison Curling Club (Wisconsin Region): Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.), Miranda Hofmann (Madison, Wis.), Rebecca Reinhart (Monona, Wis.), Shelly Kosal (Edgerton, Wis.)
 
Granite Curling Club (Washington Region): Lyle Sieg (Blaine, Wash.), Sam Galey (Seattle), Steve Lundeen (Seattle), Matt Birklid (Seattle)
 
Silver medalists:
Madison Curling Club (Wisconsin Region): Lori Karst (Madison, Wis.), Cynthia Rhyner (McFarland, Wis.), Rebecca Westphal (Verona, Wis.), Anne Pryor (Madison, Wis.)
 
Ardsley Curling Club (Grand National Region): Bill Stopera (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.), Martin Sather (Yonkers, N.Y.), Peter Austin (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), George Austin (Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
 
Bronze medalists:
Dallas-Fort Worth Curling Club (Mid-America Region): Jeff Knott (Dallas, Texas), Laith Sando (Burleson, Texas), Nick Myers (Arlington, Texas), John Lambert (Garland, Texas), Kevin Roberts (Frisco, Texas)
 
Coyotes Curling Club (Mountain Pacific Region): Jayne Burton (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Tatiana Keeling (Casa Grande, Ariz.), Amy Thompson (Gilbert, Ariz.), Kimberly Gaddie (Apache Junction, Ariz.)

Fourth-place teams:
San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club (Mountain Pacific Region): Justin McBride (Anaheim, Calif.), Erik
Jensen (San Francisco, Calif.), Sean Franey (El Cerrito, Calif.), Joel Calhoun (Lake Forest, Calif.)

Capital Curling Club (Dakota Territory Region): Nicole Vorachek (Mandan, N.D.), Corrina Stroh (Bismarck, N.D.), Breynn Sturlaugson (Bismarck, N.D.), Roxanne Howes (Bismarck, N.D.)

About the event:
The Club National Championships began in 2005 as another avenue for teams trying to compete at a higher level. Teams qualify via a regional playdown system. The Fargo-Moorhead (Dakota Territory Region) and Fairbanks (Alaska Region) clubs were the champions last season.
 
USA Curling is sponsored by AtomOS, Nike, Brooms Up Curling Supplies, Cheetos, CryoMAX 8-Hour Cold Pack, Sitrin, The RAM Restaurant & Brewery, Thorne, BalancePlus, ISS Ice, Sports & Solar, and Brakebush, and is partnered with Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People, United Airlines, 12th End Sports Network, and CurlingZone.
 
For more information: Terry Davis, Director of Communications, terry.davis@usacurl.org, 608-338-9900 (mobile) or 715-344-1199, Ext. 202 (office).

Stolen from a USA Curling Press Release.