DULUTH — Both of last year’s finalists, Team Shuster and Team Dropkin, got off to successful starts in the opening games at the USA Curling Men’s and Women’s Nationals at the DECC Arena on Monday night.
Dropkin’s team scored in each of the first five ends in a 11-2 rout of Team Dunnam, which Team Shuster won 9-2 over Team Sinnett, but only after a six-pointer in the eighth end put the game away.
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“I think our team had a great mindset going into the game. I think we continued that communication mindset throughout the course of the game. The goal is to get out of the first game with a win any time you’re in a big championship and we were able to accomplish that, so we were happy about that,” Shuster said.
Team Shuster’s defense of its national title got off to a cagey start. Each side was forced to a single point in their first end with the hammer (last shot advantage).
Shuster converted a take-out for two in the third end for a 3-1 lead but three of the next four ends were blanked. A blank end is when the team with the hammer opts not to score a single point so they can retain it to go for a bigger opportunity later in the game.
This meant the game was only 3-2 but with Shuster holding the hammer and the number of ends dwindling, Team Sinnett had to force the issue. This created an opportunity for Shuster’s rink to load up the scoring area with red stones. Combined with some mistakes from the opposition, that meant Shuster settled in for his last throw knowing it would be almost impossible to score less than five.
What doubt might have existed briefly in Shuster’s match never materialized in Dropkin’s on the sheet next to them. Dropkin started with the hammer and claimed an easy two. It would be the last time he had the last-shot advantage on the night, but he didn’t really need it, recording “steals” of one, two, three and three points to hold an insurmountable 11-0 lead at the match’s nominal halfway point.
Team Dunnam got on the board with a two in the sixth end and then conceded.
“You always want to feel good at the beginning of the competition, and you always also want to keep getting better every game,” Dropkin said.
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The early stages of any curling tournament can be tricky, as teams attempt to understand the fickle tendencies of the ice along which they and the rocks slide. Put simply, Dropkin and his team got it, Dunnam and his did not.
“Definitely can’t ask for a better start,” Dropkin said.
In the other two Monday night matches, Team Casper, the 2023 runners-up, used a steal of three in the fourth end to seize control of their match and win 9-2 over Team Wendling in seven ends.
The only match to go the distance had an exciting conclusion. After taking a 7-3 lead into the fifth-end break (halfway), Team Sampson gave up points in four consecutive ends and the lead, only to come storming back with a four on their last chance to knock off Team Hodek 11-10.
Women’s competition gets underway Tuesday morning with a second round in the evening, while the men will play their second draw in the afternoon.
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