JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – John Shuster’s team will represent the U.S. at the upcoming World Men’s Championship after securing a spot in the Page playoff 1-2 game here at the 2016 USA Curling National Championships.
By defeating Craig Brown tonight, 8-5, Shuster and teammates Tyler George (Duluth, Minn.), Matt Hamilton (McFarland, Wis.), and John Landsteiner (Duluth, Minn.) have earned enough points in the season-long cumulative process to represent the U.S. April 2-10 in Basel, Switzerland.
Shuster’s team will take on Brady Clark’s rink in the Page playoff 1-2 game on Thursday night with the winner advancing to Saturday night’s gold-medal game. Clark’s rink finished the round robin with an 8-1 record after defeating Alex Leichter tonight, 9-2. Brown’s team is the No. 4 playoff seed and will take on the 2016 U.S. junior national champions skipped by Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.).
“It’s awesome to come here and prove ourselves by making the playoffs,” said Dropkin, 20. “Our first couple of games we struggled as we were getting used to the ice and we had a couple of unfortunate instances take place. But, we picked it up and got ourselves back on the right page.”
Dropkin’s team finished the round robin on a winning note with a 9-4 triumph over Hunter Clawson’s team – the same team they competed against in the championship final of the Junior Nationals. Clawson’s team finished with a 4-5 record in their first men’s national championship appearance. “It was a good week for us. It’s been a long stretch of curling though and we had a few glitches here and there. Overall, I’d say we’re happy with how things went here and look forward to playing again,” said Clawson, 20.
The winner of the Page playoff 3-4 game will take on the losing side of the 1-2 match between Clark and Shuster in a single semifinal on Friday afternoon. The winner of that semifinal will then move on to the championship game.
John Shuster's team earns spot in the 2016 World Curling Championship
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