Curling: Northland residents qualify for Olympic Trials finals

By news@duluthnewstribune.com

November 15, 2013 at 3:53 AM

Duluth's John Shuster topped Bemidji's Pete Fenson 4-3 on Thursday at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D., in a battle of America's past two Olympic skips and a forerunner of an even more important duel the pair will have the next few days at the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials.

Shuster, USA's skip at the 2010 Winter Olympics, finished on top of the double round-robin standings at 6-2. Fenson, a bronze medalist at the 2006 Olympics, was in second place at 5-3.

Shuster and teammates Jared Zezel and John Landsteiner of Duluth and Jeff Isaacson of Gilbert face off against Fenson's rink, which includes Duluthian Joe Polo and Chisholm's Shawn Rojeski, in a best-of-three championship series that begins at 2:30 p.m. today. NBC Sports Network will televise Friday through Sunday.

The men's champion does not earn an automatic Olympic berth but must go through another qualifying event in Germany next month.

Duluth's Tyler George narrowly missed making it an all-Duluth skip final by losing a 5-4 lead to Heath McCormick and falling 8-5 in nine ends Thursday. George's rink finished 4-4.

In women's action, Erika Brown of Madison, Wis., defeated Allison Pottinger of Eden Prairie, Minn., 5-4 to share the top spot in the round-robin standings at 4-2. The teams will meet in a best-of-three final, starting at 2:30 p.m. today, with the winner qualifying directly to the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Duluthian Courtney George, now of St. Paul, and her team that included Aileen Sormunen and Amanda McLean of Duluth lost their final two matches to finish 2-4.

Curling: Northland residents qualify for Olympic Trials finals

Duluth's John Shuster topped Bemidji's Pete Fenson 4-3 on Thursday at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D., in a battle of America's past two Olympic skips and a forerunner of an even more important duel the pair will have the next few days at the U.S. O...