Curling competition at Bemidji, Minnesota
The 2020 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship was held from February 27 to March 1 at the Bemidji Curling Club in Bemidji, Minnesota .[1] [2] The twelve teams were divided into two pools of six teams each. Each pool played a full round robin with the top three from each pool proceeding to the playoffs. The winning team of Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo was supposed to represent the United States at the 2020 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Kelowna, Canada but the event got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .[3] [4] [5] They will instead compete at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen , Scotland as the 2021 U.S. Mixed Doubles National Championship was postponed due to the pandemic.[6]
Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo won the event with a 7–4 win over defending champions Cory Christensen and John Shuster in the final.[7] Peterson and Polo made the final in the 2017 championship but lost to siblings Becca Hamilton and Matt Hamilton 7–6. Two-time champions Sarah Anderson and Korey Dropkin won the bronze medal with a 7–6 extra end win over Monica Walker and Alex Leichter. Anderson and Dropkin won the championship in 2015 and 2018 and had a quarterfinal finish in 2019 .
The local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member, Lakeland PBS , covered the tournament. This included streaming the entire tournament and broadcasting the semifinals and finals live on the television channel.[8]
Qualification [ edit ] There were five ways teams qualified for the championship:[4]
2019 USMDCC finalists Highest finishing American teams at Colorado Curling Cup and Madtown DoubleDown (mixed doubles bonspiels in Denver, Colorado and Madison, Wisconsin , respectively) Four American teams, not already qualified, with highest year-to-date points in WCF World Team Ranking System Wild-card berth awarded by selection committee Top three teams from 2020 United States Mixed Doubles Challenge Round Challenge round [ edit ] Sixteen teams played at the 2020 United States Mixed Doubles Challenge Round, held in Portage, Wisconsin from December 19 to 22, 2019.[14] Through a triple knockout competition the top three teams secured the final team spots at the Mixed Doubles Championship.[15] Monica Walker and Alex Leichter were the first to clinch a championship berth when they defeated Katherine Gourianova and Eli Clawson in the 'A' bracket final.[16] Gourianova and Clawson then dropped down to the 'B' bracket final where they had another opportunity to earn one of the final two berths, which they did when they defeated Becca Wood and Sean Franey.[17] Wood and Franey then faced Kim Rhyme and Jason Smith in the 'C' bracket final for the third and final championship berth, which Rhyme and Smith secured with a 9-4 win.[18]
The teams are listed as follows:[19]
Round-robin standings [ edit ] Final round robin Standings [20]
Key Teams to playoffs Teams to tiebreakers
Pool A W L Anderson / Dropkin 5 0 Persinger / Plys 4 1 Walker / Leichter 3 2 Bear / Stopera 2 3 Clark / Bond 1 4 McMakin / Fenson 0 5
Pool B W L Christensen / Shuster 3 2 Hamilton / Hamilton 3 2 Peterson / Polo 3 2 Gourianova / Clawson 3 2 Rhyme / Smith 2 3 Agre / McLean 1 4
Round-robin results [ edit ] All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00 ).
Thursday, February 27, 2:30 pm
Sheet 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Walker / Leichter 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 5 Persinger / Plys 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 8
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final McMakin / Fenson 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 Clark / Bond 1 0 2 1 0 2 1 2 9
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Anderson / Dropkin 3 1 3 0 2 0 2 X 11 Bear / Stopera 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 X 3
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Peterson / Polo 0 5 0 2 0 0 2 X 9 Rhyme / Smith 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 X 4
Sheet 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Gourianova / Clawson 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 X 4 Christensen / Shuster 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 X 7
Sheet 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Agre / McLean 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 X 4 Hamilton / Hamilton 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 X 7
Thursday, February 27, 7:00 pm
Sheet 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Christensen / Shuster 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 6 Agre / McLean 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 7
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final Peterson / Polo 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 7 Hamilton / Hamilton 1 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 1 8
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Persinger / Plys 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 X 7 McMakin / Fenson 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 X 3
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Clark / Bond 0 0 1 0 2 0 X X 3 Anderson / Dropkin 1 1 0 4 0 3 X X 9
Sheet 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Walker / Leichter 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 Bear / Stopera 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 3
Sheet 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Rhyme / Smith 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 4 Gourianova / Clawson 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 6
Friday, February 28, 2:30 pm
Sheet 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Rhyme / Smith 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 5 Hamilton / Hamilton 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 4
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Gourianova / Clawson 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 X 5 Agre / McLean 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 X 4
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Walker / Leichter 1 3 1 0 2 0 0 X 7 Clark / Bond 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 X 5
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Persinger / Plys 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 X 12 Bear / Stopera 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 X 7
Sheet 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final McMakin / Fenson 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 4 Anderson / Dropkin 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 6
Sheet 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Peterson / Polo 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 Christensen / Shuster 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 5
Friday, February 28, 7:00 pm
Sheet 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Gourianova / Clawson 5 0 1 1 1 X X X 8 Peterson / Polo 0 1 0 0 0 X X X 1
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Anderson / Dropkin 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 7 Persinger / Plys 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 0 6
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Hamilton / Hamilton 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 X 3 Christensen / Shuster 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 X 7
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final McMakin / Fenson 1 0 3 1 0 3 0 1 0 9 Walker / Leichter 0 3 0 0 2 0 4 0 1 10
Sheet 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Agre / McLean 0 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 6 Rhyme / Smith 1 0 2 1 0 2 0 1 7
Sheet 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Bear / Stopera 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 8 Clark / Bond 0 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 6
Saturday, February 29, 10:00 am
Sheet 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Bear / Stopera 2 1 1 1 2 0 X X 7 McMakin / Fenson 0 0 0 0 0 1 X X 1
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Christensen / Shuster 2 0 2 1 0 3 X X 8 Rhyme / Smith 0 1 0 0 1 0 X X 2
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final Agre / McLean 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 5 Peterson / Polo 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Hamilton / Hamilton 4 1 2 1 X X X X 8 Gourianova / Clawson 0 0 0 0 X X X X 0
Sheet 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Clark / Bond 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 X 3 Persinger / Plys 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 X 5
Sheet 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Anderson / Dropkin 2 1 0 2 0 3 X X 8 Walker / Leichter 0 0 2 0 1 0 X X 3
Tiebreaker [ edit ] Saturday, February 29, 2:30 pm
Sheet 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Peterson / Polo 2 0 3 0 2 0 3 X 10 Gourianova / Clawson 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 X 5
Playoffs [ edit ] Quarterfinals Semifinals Final 1 Anderson / Dropkin 5 3 Persinger / Plys 7 6 Peterson / Polo 8 6 Peterson / Polo 10 6 Peterson / Polo 7 2 Christensen / Shuster 4 2 Christensen / Shuster 9 4 Hamilton / Hamilton 6 5 Walker / Leichter 6 5 Walker / Leichter 7 Bronze medal game 1 Anderson / Dropkin 7 5 Walker / Leichter 6
Quarterfinals [ edit ] Saturday, February 29, 7:00 pm
Sheet 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Hamilton / Hamilton 0 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 6 Walker / Leichter 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 7
Sheet 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Persinger / Plys 1 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 7 Peterson / Polo 0 0 3 0 1 0 3 3 10
Semifinals [ edit ] Sunday, March 1, 11:00 am
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Anderson / Dropkin 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 X 5 Peterson / Polo 2 1 0 2 0 3 0 X 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Christensen / Shuster 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 1 9 Walker / Leichter 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 6
Bronze medal game [ edit ] Sunday, March 1, 3:30 pm
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final Anderson / Dropkin 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 Walker / Leichter 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 6
Sunday, March 1, 3:30 pm
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Final Peterson / Polo 1 2 0 3 0 1 0 X 7 Christensen / Shuster 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 X 4
References [ edit ] ^ "Mixed Doubles National Championship" . USA Curling . Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ "CURLING: Bemidji to host 2020 Mixed Doubles National Championships" . The Bemidji Pioneer . Jul 13, 2019. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ Etchells, Daniel (Apr 17, 2019). "Kelowna to host 2020 World Mixed Doubles and Senior Curling Championships" . Inside the Games . Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ a b "Guidelines for 2020 National Championships and Mixed Doubles National Championship" . USA Curling . Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ Jeffrey Au (March 14, 2020). "World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships 2020 cancelled in Kelowna, Canada" . World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 17, 2021 . ^ "2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship begins Monday" . USA Curling. May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021 . ^ Monteith, Austin (2020-03-01). "CURLING: Bemidji native Polo, Peterson win Mixed Doubles National Championship" . The Bemidji Pioneer . Retrieved 2020-03-02 . ^ Mootz, Chaz (2020-02-26). "Bemidji Curling Club Hosting 2020 USA Curling Mixed Doubles National Championship" . Lakeland PBS . Retrieved 2020-03-01 . ^ "Curling: Shuster, Christensen win national title" . Duluth News Tribune . Mar 3, 2019. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ "Colorado Curling Cup" . CurlingZone . Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ "2019 MadTown DoubleDown" . CurlingZone . Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ a b "Qualifiers for the 2020 Mixed Doubles Championship" (PDF) . USA Curling . Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ Davis, Terry (Dec 22, 2019). "Field set for 2020 Mixed Doubles National Championship" . USA Curling . Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved Dec 22, 2019 . ^ "Mixed Doubles Challenge Round" . USA Curling . Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ "Mixed Doubles Challenge Round begins Thursday in Portage" . USA Curling . Dec 16, 2019. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved Dec 19, 2019 . ^ "USA Mixed Doubles Challenge Round - A Event" . CurlingZone . Retrieved Dec 22, 2019 . ^ "USA Mixed Doubles Challenge Round - B Event" . ^ "USA Mixed Doubles Challenge Round - C Event" . ^ "Qualified Teams" . Bemidji Curling Club . Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved Dec 20, 2019 . ^ "USA Mixed Doubles National Championship - Round robin" . CurlingZone . Retrieved 2020-02-27 .