Top USA Curling Men Getting Younger

While the women’s side of USA Curling’s 2023 men’s and women’s nationals is predictable thus far, the men’s side has offered some surprises heading into the playoffs.

At Thursday’s last men’s round robin draw at the Denver Coliseum, Daniel Casper of Chaska, MN and Scott Dunnam of Philadelphia were tied at 5-1 atop the standings—and faced each other.

Perennial champion John Shuster of Duluth, MN was in third place at 4-2, while Shuster’s main rival and clubmate Korey Dropkin was at 3-3.

Casper ran out to a 5-0 lead over Dunnam in the first four ends, until the Philly skip grabbed a deuce before the break. A Casper score of two in the sixth and another steal ended the showdown, and Casper finished in first place at 6-1.

Casper, who skipped USA to sixth place at the 2022 World Juniors, has teamed with former junior star Luc Violette and two of his teammates from the past two seasons, Ben Richardson and Chase Sinnett.

Shuster stole the 10th end to hold off Chaska’s Rich Ruohonen 6-4 and finish second. His squad and Dunnam’s both scored 5-2 won/loss records, but Shuster grabbed the second spot thanks to a round robin victory over Dunnam earlier in the week.

Dropkin, an 8-5 winner over the host city’s Darryl Sobering, rounds out the four-team Page playoff field at 4-3.

Shuster’s former 2010 Olympic third made loud noise on the very first draw, as Jason Smith led his Nashville team to a 10-6 upset win over Shuster.

Smith, who climbed to 2-0 before finishing the week at 3-4, has former NFL All-Pro Jared Allen on his squad. Allen, who is committed to respecting the Roaring Game, is continuing his drive to excel at curling’s high-performance level and has impressed many with improving skill set.

On the women’s side, defending champion Tabitha Peterson of Chaska had an unblemished 6-0 record, followed closely by clubmate Sarah Anderson and Minneapolis skip Delaney Strouse at 5-1. Peterson had bested Anderson in fourth women’s draw by a score of 8-3.

Chaska’s Madison Bear sat at 3-3.

In Friday’s round-robin finale, Peterson was set to battle Christine McMackin of Fargo, ND (2-4) while Anderson faced off against Strouse.