2020 United States Men's Curling Championship

2020 United States Men's
Curling Championship
2020 United States Men's Curling Championship
Host citySpokane, Washington
ArenaEastern Washington University
Recreation Center
DatesFebruary 8–15
WinnerMinnesota Team Shuster
SkipJohn Shuster
ThirdChris Plys
SecondMatt Hamilton
LeadJohn Landsteiner
FinalistMinnesota Rich Ruohonen
« 2019
2021 »

The 2020 United States Men's Curling Championship was held from February 8 to 15, 2020 at the Eastern Washington University Recreation Center in Spokane, Washington.[1] The event was held in conjunction with the 2020 United States Women's Curling Championship. John Shuster claimed his seventh United States Championship, defeating Rich Ruohonen in the final.[2]

Since Team Shuster met certain prerequisites in terms of world ranking points (60 points year-to-date or ranked 70th or higher) they would have represented the United States at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship,[3] which was scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from March 28 to April 5, 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The United States Champions also earn a spot at the final Grand Slam of the season, the Champions Cup,[5] which was also cancelled due to the pandemic. Team Shuster's qualification will instead carry over to the 2021 Champions Cup.[6]

Qualification

There were three ways for teams to qualify for the championship:

Challenge round

Sixteen teams competed at the 2020 United States Men's Challenge Round, held at the Grand Forks Curling Club in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from January 2 to 5.[8] Through a triple knockout competition the top four teams secured a spot at the National Championship.[9] Jed Brundidge was the first to secure a spot, defeating Dominik Märki in the 'A' bracket final. Märki then dropped down to the 'B' bracket final and had another opportunity to play for a spot in the Nationals, but this time lost to Kyle Kakela who took the second Nationals berth. In the 'C' bracket Märki finally earned their spot when they defeated Steven Birklid's team. On the other side of the 'C' bracket Luc Violette defeated Nicholas Connolly for the fourth and final Nationals berth.[10] Steven Birklid's team finished the Challenge Round as the alternate team.

Teams

Ten teams participated in the 2020 national championship.[11]

Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale
Korey Dropkin Tom Howell Mark Fenner Alex Fenson Joe Polo Minnesota Chaska, Minnesota
Todd Birr Andrew Stopera Hunter Clawson Tom O'Connor Minnesota Ham Lake, Minnesota
Jed Brundidge Evan Workin Jarl Timothy Wagner Cameron Rittenour Minnesota West St. Paul, Minnesota
Scott Dunnam Alex Leichter Cody Clouser Andrew Dunnam Daniel Dudt Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kevin Kakela Kyle Kakela Timothy Hodek JP Munich Owen Sampson North Dakota Rolla, North Dakota
Rich Ruohonen Greg Persinger Colin Hufman Phil Tilker Kroy Nernberger Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota
John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota
Dominik Märki Stephen Dropkin Shawn Banyai Erik Quistgaard Jason Smith Minnesota Chaska, Minnesota
Steven Birklid Sam Galey Matt Birklid Chris Bond Daniel Plys Washington (state) Mountlake Terrace, Washington
Chase Sinnett Sam Strouse Eli Clawson Ethan Sampson Trevor Marquardt Massachusetts Medfield, Massachusetts

Round-robin standings

Final round-robin standings

Key
Teams to playoffs
Skip W L
Minnesota John Shuster 9 0
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen 7 2
Minnesota Dominik Märki 5 4
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 5 4
Washington (state) Steven Birklid 4 5
Minnesota Korey Dropkin 4 5
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam 4 5
Minnesota Todd Birr 3 6
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 3 6
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 1 8

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Pacific Standard Time (UTC−08:00).

Draw 1

Saturday, February 8, 7:30 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Korey Dropkin (has hammer) 2 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 X X 7
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 X X 3
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 7
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 8
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 4 2 0 3 3 X X X X X 12
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 0 0 1 0 0 X X X X X 1
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 3 X X 8
Minnesota Dominik Märki 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X X 3
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 1 0 X 8
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 X 5

Draw 2

Sunday, February 9, 12:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) 5 0 4 1 X X X X X X 10
Washington (state) Steven Birklid 0 1 0 0 X X X X X X 1
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 0 0 0 1 0 X X X X X 1
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 3 2 2 0 3 X X X X X 10
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett (has hammer) 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 7
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 6
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 5
Minnesota Korey Dropkin (has hammer) 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 7
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
North Dakota Kevin Kakela (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 5
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 X 9

Draw 3

Sunday, February 9, 8:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 2 0 2 1 2 0 0 2 X X 9
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 X X 4
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 4
Minnesota John Shuster 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 1 1 X 7
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 6
Minnesota Dominik Märki 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 9
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Todd Birr (has hammer) 0 0 2 0 5 0 5 X X X 12
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 X X X 5
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Korey Dropkin 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 1 7
Minnesota Jed Brundidge (has hammer) 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 6

Draw 4

Monday, February 10, 10:00 am

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 1 1 0 0 0 3 2 X X X 7
Minnesota Dominik Märki 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X X X 1
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett (has hammer) 2 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 X X 8
Minnesota Korey Dropkin 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 X X 2
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 6
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 7
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 X 7
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Todd Birr (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 X 4
Minnesota John Shuster 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 X 8

Draw 5

Monday, February 10, 7:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Jed Brundidge (has hammer) 1 0 2 2 1 2 X X X X 8
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 0 0 0 0 0 X X X X 0
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 4
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 0 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 3 X 10
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Korey Dropkin (has hammer) 2 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 9
Minnesota John Shuster 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 3 10
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X X X 1
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 2 1 0 2 0 1 1 X X X 7
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 X X 3
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 X X 8

Draw 6

Tuesday, February 11, 2:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 7
Minnesota Korey Dropkin 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 6
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 5
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 4
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 X 5
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett (has hammer) 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 X 7
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 7
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 0 8
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) 1 0 2 0 3 0 2 1 X X 9
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 X X 3

Draw 7

Wednesday, February 12, 9:00 am

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 X X 3
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 0 5 0 1 X X 8
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 X 6
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 3 0 0 2 1 0 2 0 2 X 10
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Todd Birr 2 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 1 X 10
Washington (state) Steven Birklid (has hammer) 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 X 5
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 4
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 3 1 X 8
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 X 7
Minnesota Korey Dropkin 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 X 4

Draw 8

Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 X 4
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 X 8
Sheet B Final
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) W
Minnesota Jed Brundidge L
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Dominik Märki 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 X 5
Minnesota Korey Dropkin (has hammer) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 X 4
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
North Dakota Kevin Kakela 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X 4
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett (has hammer) 5 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 X 10
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Washington (state) Steven Birklid 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 7
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 6

Draw 9

Thursday, February 13, 2:00 pm

Sheet A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
North Dakota Kevin Kakela (has hammer) 0 3 3 0 1 0 1 2 X X 10
Minnesota Jed Brundidge 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 X X 5
Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Korey Dropkin (has hammer) 2 3 0 1 2 2 X X X X 10
Minnesota Todd Birr 0 0 2 0 0 0 X X X X 2
Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 1 X 7
Pennsylvania Scott Dunnam (has hammer) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X 4
Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 2 11
Washington (state) Steven Birklid 2 0 2 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 10
Sheet E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 9
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 0 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 8

Playoffs

Page playoff systemSemifinalFinal
1Minnesota John Shuster81Minnesota John Shuster8
2Minnesota Rich Ruohonen22Minnesota Rich Ruohonen6
2Minnesota Rich Ruohonen9
4Massachusetts Chase Sinnett5
3Minnesota Dominik Märki2
4Massachusetts Chase Sinnett6

1 vs. 2

Friday, February 14, 12:00 pm

Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster (has hammer) 1 0 1 0 2 0 4 X X X 8
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 X X X 2
Player percentages
Minnesota Team Shuster Minnesota Team Ruohonen
John Landsteiner 87% Kroy Nernberger 91%
Matt Hamilton 80% Colin Hufman 68%
Chris Plys 86% Greg Persinger 79%
John Shuster 90% Rich Ruohonen 81%
Total 86% Total 79%

3 vs. 4

Friday, February 14, 12:00 pm

Sheet B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Dominik Märki (has hammer) 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 2
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 X 6
Player percentages
Minnesota Team Märki Massachusetts Team Sinnett
Erik Quistgaard 76% Trevor Marquardt 83%
Stephen Dropkin 78% Ethan Sampson 88%
Dominik Märki 77% Sam Strouse 89%
Jason Smith 78% Chase Sinnett 89%
Total 77% Total 87%

Semifinal

Friday, February 14, 7:00 pm

Sheet D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen (has hammer) 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 9
Massachusetts Chase Sinnett 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
Player percentages
Minnesota Team Ruohonen Massachusetts Team Sinnett
Phil Tilker 90% Trevor Marquardt 87%
Colin Hufman 67% Eli Clawson 84%
Greg Persinger 84% Sam Strouse 71%
Rich Ruohonen 72% Chase Sinnett 78%
Total 78% Total 80%

Final

Saturday, February 15, 5:00 pm

Sheet C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Minnesota John Shuster(has hammer) 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 8
Minnesota Rich Ruohonen 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6
Player percentages
Minnesota Team Shuster Minnesota Team Ruohonen
John Landsteiner 95% Phil Tilker 86%
Matt Hamilton 79% Colin Hufman 65%
Chris Plys 79% Greg Persinger 57%
John Shuster 83% Rich Ruohonen 85%
Total 84% Total 73%
2020 United States Men's Curling Championship
United States
John Shuster
7th United States Championship title

References

  1. ^ Gewirtz, Jason (Nov 1, 2018). "Spokane to Host 2020 USA Curling National Championship". Sports Travel Magazine. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  2. ^ Schneider, Angela (2020-02-15). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  3. ^ a b "First nine teams qualify to 2020 Nationals". USA Curling. Dec 4, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  4. ^ "Canadian curling continues to get hammered by novel coronavirus cancellations". The Star. Mar 14, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.
  5. ^ "Ruohonen Joins Shuster in Top Page Game". USA Curling. 2020-02-12. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  6. ^ "2020 Humpty's Champions Cup teams to keep spots for next season". Grand Slam of Curling. Mar 18, 2020. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.
  7. ^ "2020 Nationals field nearly complete". USA Curling. Jan 5, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "Challenge Round on tap after New Year". USA Curling. Dec 19, 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Miller, Tom (Jan 2, 2020). "Former Minnesota Viking Jared Allen's curling experiment playing out in Grand Forks". Duluth News Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  10. ^ "2020 USA Men's Challenge Round – C Event". CurlingZone. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
  11. ^ "Qualified teams, 2020 USA Curling National Championships". USA Curling. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.