Who agrees with these answers?
They’re in Duluth, Minn. for the first time in years.
The best stone throwers and brushers in the US of A.
The men start play on Monday night.
Let’s just dive right in.
What kind of crowd turnout will there be in Duluth?
The USA national championships have been something of a tough nut to crack over the past couple of years. While the sport is certainly still growing in popularity across the country, championship events in the U.S. haven’t drawn particularly well, including the Las Vegas world men’s in 2022.
The 2023 Nationals in Denver saw teams playing in a large arena, and even for a solid fan turnout, it paled in comparison to the size of the rink.
The 2024 event took place in a mall which looked great on the broadcasts, but it’s hard to say how good the crowds actually were.
Chris Plys says Duluth was “kind of the hub for a lot of what USA Curling has done in the last big chunk of years.” With hometown curlers playing a major part in the championship, I am hoping we see a loud, raucous crowd creating an unforgettable atmosphere.
How will Team Peterson play with Tabitha back on the ice?
It’s been a few months since we’ve last seen Tabitha Peterson on the ice. The last we saw of the top U.S. women’s team skip, she was skipping at the Saville Shootout tour stop in September while expecting her first child.
Peterson is expected to return to action in Duluth, but it will be interesting to see how quickly she can get back up to speed at the country’s marquee championship.
I would not be surprised to see Peterson throw lead rocks and call the game, with 2023 World Mixed Doubles gold medalist Cory Thiesse throwing last rocks.
Team Peterson’s most recent event came at the Perth Masters in Scotland where coach Cathy Overton-Clapham threw lead rocks and skipped the team to a semifinal finish.
Can Team Benson take advantage of being the crowd favorites?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Team Benson is the second-favorite team across both men’s and women’s entries in Duluth. All four curlers live there, and they’re coached by Benson’s brother, Olympic gold medalist Tyler George.
The team has only played together in two events this season, but they’ve won both. No other team is riding the kind of momentum they are coming in. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team have a very strong showing and make a push for a spot at the Olympic Team Trials this fall.
Will Team Strouse get their groove back?
Two years ago, Delaney Strouse took the American curling scene by storm. The young team racked up a bunch of top finishes and took Team Peterson to the wire at the national championship in Denver.
Then, in the 23-24 season, the team seemed to plateau. Team Strouse finished with a national bronze medal in New Jersey but didn’t seem to have quite the same mojo.
So far this year, they are still working to find it and building resilience in the process.
This is a team that can absolutely get hot if they can start to click again.
What dark horse team could make teams sweat in the playoffs?
Every championship, there always is a team or two in the women’s field that seems to give the top teams fits. Who is it going to be this year?
I’d recommend keeping a close eye on Team McMakin. In 2024, McMakin lost in a heartbreaking tiebreaker to now-teammate Miranda Scheel. They’ve teamed up this year and should be a tough game for any team in the field.
Team Cousins is another team who could make a run to the playoffs if they get hot. While they went 2-5 at last year’s championship, three of those losses were by only one point. They always seem to generate a lot of offense so, at minimum, you know it will be a fun game to watch.
On the men’s side, will anybody but Team Shuster win—for once?
Here’s the list of the past men’s champions at the national championships since 2017: Shuster, Persinger, Shuster, Shuster, Dropkin, Shuster, Shuster.
The years Shuster didn’t win it? He didn’t compete in those championships.
At some point, a team other than Shuster is going to win a national championship, the question remains if it’ll be this year or if it’ll be a future year where the gold medalist isn’t competing anymore.
How will the top three U.S. men’s teams be ranked going into the Olympic Trials?
When USA Curling announced their national teams for the 2024-2025 season, they selected three men’s teams. The only squad with any change was Aidan Oldenburg, who replaced Chase Sinnett on Team Casper.
It’s safe to say those teams have continued to be the cream of the crop, and this week provides a litmus test for all three to see how they stack up ahead of this fall’s Trials in Sioux Falls.
Based on results thus far in the season, Team Shuster has looked like the best foursome. Aside from still having three of the players from the 2018 Olympic champion team and all four from Beijing 2022, they also have one of the best sweepers in the world in Colin Hufman.
It’s pretty close to a toss-up at this point between Korey Dropkin and Casper. Even though Casper won this season’s lone matchup between the two, Dropkin had a strong showing at the recent Grand Slam in Guelph. No doubt their battle(s) will be fun to watch.
Can any other teams hang with the “Big 3” men?
Assuming Shuster, Dropkin, and Casper take the top three playoff spots again this year, it’s anybody’s guess who will grab the final playoff spot.
Last year, we saw a three-way tie between Teams Sampson, Dunnam, and Wendling, with the latter making a strong first showing at nationals out of juniors.
Wendling’s results haven’t been as promising this year while the Scott Dunnam and Ethan Sampson squads have both had strong seasons.
While each could make a tough game in the playoffs, I’ve been really impressed with Scott Dunnam’s foursome all season.