Duluth Curling Club-based teams opened with victories on the first day of the USA Curling Mixed Doubles National Championship on Thursday at Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn.
John Shuster and Cory Christensen teamed for an 11-1 win over Alex Carlson and Derrick McLean, while the George siblings of Tyler and Courtney beat Wisconsin's Matt and Becca Hamilton 8-2.
The tandem of Joe Polo of Duluth and Tabitha Peterson of Minneapolis, last year's World Mixed Doubles bronze medalists, rallied to win 9-6 over Hibbing's Jared Zezel and Vicky Persinger, while the Duluth pairing of Chris Plys and Aileen Geving produced an 8-4 win over Cristin Clark and Matt Birklid..
