Team Dropkin knocks Team Shuster out of contention at Nationals

DULUTH — There will be a new men’s champion at the USA Curling Nationals, as Team Dropkin pushed Team Shuster out of contention with a 9-4 victory in Saturday night’s semifinal at the DECC Arena.

Dropkin, like Shuster based out of the Duluth Curling Club, will face still-unbeaten Team Daniel Casper in Sunday’s final at noon. Casper’s rink sent Dropkin to the evening elimination game with a 7-4 victory in the afternoon 1 vs. 2 playoff.

A four-point second end for Dropkin put his team firmly in control on Saturday night, even more so after Shuster was forced to accept a single point in the third. In the fourth end, Dropkin had a chance to all but kill off the game by scoring multiple points, but his last shot ‘wrecked’ (sideswiped) a guarding rock above the scoring rings, allowing Shuster to steal one.

It turned out to be only a temporary reprieve. In his next opportunity with the hammer (last-shot advantage), Dropkin recorded a successful takeout shot to score three and lead 7-2 at the nominal halfway point of the game.

Needing big scores to get back into it, Shuster’s rink could manage only singles in the sixth and eighth ends and conceded thereafter, ending his team’s noteworthy streak of success in this bonspiel. It’s the first time since 2016 that Shuster’s rink competed in and didn’t win Nationals.

Shuster’s rink did not participate in the 2021 Nationals (won by Team Dropkin), which were held in late May in a bio-secure bubble in Wausau, Wisconsin, due to COVID-19 protocols, or in 2018, two weeks after they won the Olympic gold medal in PyeongChang, South Korea.

In the 3 vs. 4 playoff on Saturday afternoon, Shuster’s rink dismissed Team Chase Sinnett 8-4 after Sinnett’s team bounced Team Sampson 4-3 in a morning tiebreaker match.

Team Tabitha Peterson (and vice-skip Cory Thiesse of Duluth) ensured there will be hometown representation in both of Sunday’s finals by prevailing 11-6 over Team McMakin in the 1 vs. 2 playoff game on Saturday afternoon.

The all-Duluth Team Courtney Benson won its tiebreaker match 7-5 over Team Allory Johnson, but lost to Team Elizabeth Cousins 10-4 in the 3 vs. 4 elimination game in the afternoon.

Peterson scored three in the seventh end to jump out to a 7-4 lead. They were up 8-6 going to the 10th but with McMakin needing to go for broke to get at least two points, Peterson stole three to finish off the match.

Peterson’s rink will face Team Cousins, as the Nashua, New Hampshire native scored the winning point in the 10th to eliminate Team McMakin 6-5 in a tight women’s semifinal. That match is scheduled for 4 p.m.