PLAYOFF PICTURE COMPLETE AT 2022 U.S. MIXED DOUBLES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
On Thursday afternoon, four teams met in two A-event qualification games.
The hometown duo of Hamilton/Hamilton met Anderson/Dropkin in the A-Event qualifier.
After exchanging deuces in the first two ends, the Hamilton siblings took a three-point lead at the close of the first half.
Anderson/Dropkin were first on the scoreboard in the second half of the game, but Hamilton/Hamilton went on a four-point run, resulting in a 9-4 victory and playoff qualification for Becca and Matt Hamilton.
The duo of Monica Walker and Andrew Stopera also qualified through the A-event on Thursday afternoon, defeating Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen 9-8 to punch their tickets to the playoffs.
Despite this being Walker/Stopera’s debut as a pair in competition, the team has high expectations and is learning with each game they play.
“We’re kind of learning on the fly, but obviously we come here to win every game we play,” said Andrew Stopera after qualifying for playoffs. “We’d like to see ourselves on top at the end, but it’s a long week and we’ve just got to keep improving each game.”
Making their mixed doubles debut, Delaney Strouse and Danny Casper defeated Sarah Anderson and Korey Dropkin 9-6 and qualified for playoffs.
“We’re just playing loose and having fun,” said Danny Casper after the qualification. “We know that we’ve never done this before and we’re just trying to learn as much as we can as quick as we can.”
In the other B-event final, the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Mixed Doubles Curling silver medalists, Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen, qualified for playoffs by defeating Denver based duo Clare Moores and Lance Wheeler 8-4.
Moores/Wheeler moved to the C-event final where they defeated O’Hara/Thurston in a game that came down to the final stone.
Anderson/Dropkin also moved to the C-event final, defeating Geving/Violette 11-7.
In the other C-event matchups, Rhyme/Smith came out victorious against Weldon/Franey, punching their ticket to the playoffs with a 9-5 win and Anderson/Clawson clinched their playoff spot with an 11-2 victory over Mullaney/Sinnett.
FINAL 8 TEAMS:
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