United States Men's Curling Championship
The United States Men's Curling Championship is the annual men's national curling championship for the United States. It is run by the United States Curling Association (USCA) and typically held in conjunction with the Women's Championship. The champion is eligible to represent the United States at the World Men's Curling Championships if they also rank in the top 75 teams over the last two seasons in the World Curling Tour Order of Merit or have earned 40 points in the Order of Merit year-to-date rankings.[1]
| United States Men's Curling Championship | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1957 |
| 2021 host city | Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| 2021 arena | ImOn Ice Arena |
| 2020 champion |  John Shuster |
| Current edition | |
History
The United States Men's Curling Championship was started when Marshall Field and Company was inspired to host an American equivalent to the popular Macdonald Brier in Canada.[2][3] The first championship was held March 27 to 30, 1957 at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.[4] Opening night of the championship included a performance by the Scotch Highlander band of University of Iowa, an all female bagpipe and drum band, and were televised by the local television channel WGN-TV.[5][6] Ken Watson, three-time Canadian champion, was hired as the commissioner of play and tasked with overseeing the umpires. Ten teams from nine states and one territory (Alaska) competed in a round-robin tournament with Harold Lauber's team from Hibbing, Minnesota coming out victorious.[7][8]
Marshall Field and Company again ran the Championship in 1958, held at the Milwaukee Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[9] In 1959 the newly formed United States Curling Association took over the operations of the Championship while Marshall Field and Company continued on as a sponsor.[10] That year's Championship was held in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the Brown County Memorial Arena.[11]
In 1961 Frank Crealock and his team out of Seattle won the fifth National Men's Championship, earning them the opportunity to represent the United States at the 1961 Scotch Cup in Scotland.[12][13] While it was the third year that the Scotch Cup, which would later become the World Men's Curling Championship, was held it was the first year that the United States was invited to compete. Crealock competed against the national champions from Canada and Scotland and after a double round-robin all three teams were tied with a 2–2 record.[14] A playoff was held to break the tie and the United States lost to Canada to finish third. For many years after this the national champion would go on to represent the United States at the World Championships, though eligibility prerequisites were added in recent years.
Qualification
The qualification methods and format of the championship has changed over time, but currently ten teams play in each championship. Five spots are awarded to the top American teams in the World Curling Federation (WCF) World Team Ranking System at a particular date roughly two months out from the championship.[15] Four spots are awarded to the top teams from a Challenge Round, open to all United States curlers.[16] The final spot is awarded to a team from that year's Junior Championships, as selected by the USCA.
Previously the USCA's High Performance Program has had the ability to select two of the competitors from their pool of teams.
For the 2021 Championship the qualification methods were modified slightly due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The field was cut down to eight teams, included were the 2020 champion and runner-up, the top three teams in the WCF World Team Ranking System on September 1, 2020, and the top three teams from the Challenge Round.[17]
Format
The current format begins with a complete nine game round robin where each of the ten teams play every other team. At the end of the round robin the top four teams qualify for the playoffs; if there is a tie for fourth place then a tiebreaker game is played. The playoffs are conducted in the page playoff format, a common playoff format in curling. In a page playoff the 1 seed and 2 seed play with the winner advancing straight to the championship game. The 3 seed and 4 seed teams play and the winner of that match plays the loser of the 1 vs 2 game. The winner of this third game advances to the championship to face the winner of the 1 vs 2 game.[18]
Past champions
The location and champion of every men's national championship since it began in 1957:[19]
- Notes
- ^ This column shows the results of the team representing the United States at the World Curling Championships. Based on the rules implemented by the United States Curling Association for the 2013–14 season, the United States team at the World Curling Championships is not necessarily the team that won the national championship.
- ^ 2020 World Men's Curling Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Champions by state
13, 9, 8, 7, 6, 
5, 3, 2, 1| Rank | State | Trophies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | 23 |
| 2 |  Wisconsin | 16 |
| 3 |  Washington | 13 |
| 4 |  North Dakota | 6 |
| 5 |  Michigan | 2 |
| 6 |  Colorado | 1 |
| 6 |  Illinois | 1 |
| 6 |  Massachusetts | 1 |
| 6 |  New York | 1 |
Sportsmanship Award
The Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award has been presented annually since 2007 to one male and one female athlete at the National Championships who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers. The award is given in memory of Ann Brown, who was the first female president of the United States Curling Association and was the second female inductee into the USCA Hall of Fame.[21]
| Year | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Joel Jacobson |
| 2008 | Greg Romaniuk |
| 2009 | Mike Farbelow |
| 2010 | Kevin Kakela |
| 2011 | Todd Birr |
| 2012 | Kroy Nernberger |
| 2013 | Mike Farbelow |
| 2014 | Josh Bahr |
| 2015 | Mark Haluptzok |
| 2016 | Jason Smith |
| 2017 | Hunter Clawson |
| 2018 | Tucker Smith |
| 2019 | Sam Strouse |
| 2019 | Jason Smith |
See also
References
- "USA Curling relaxes the World Team Qualification Process for 2018". Team USA. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- "Curling Teams Open National Meet". Lubbock Evening Journal. March 27, 1957. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- "Local Curlers May Compete in Nationals". Fairbanks Daily News Miner. September 13, 1956. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- "Curling Reviving All Over Alaska; Nationals Eyed". The Spokesman-Review. November 18, 1956. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Page, Eleanor (February 20, 1957). "Bagpipes Will Skirl at Curling Tourney". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- "Men's Curling Tourney on TV Wednesday". Chicago Tribune. March 24, 1957. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Watson, Ken (January 8, 1958). "Curling Crescendo in Chicago". The Chilliwack Progress. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Cromie, Robert (March 27, 1957). "Curlers Open Title Meet Tonight". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Carlson, Laurie (April 19, 1958). "With The Curlers". The Capital Times. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Maier, Harry (November 27, 1958). "Green Bay Picked as Site for 1959 National Men's Curling Tourney". Appleton Post Crescent. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Maier, Harry (March 30, 1959). "Civic Leaders Will Welcome Curlers". Appleton Post Crescent. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- "Seattle Rink Cops Curling Championship". The La Crosse Tribune. March 20, 1961. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- "Portage Rink All Set for National". Portage Daily Register. March 14, 1961. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- "Curling Teams In 3-Way Tie". Madison Capital Times. March 25, 1961. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- "First nine teams qualify to 2020 Nationals". USA Curling. Dec 4, 2019. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
- "2020 Nationals field nearly complete". USA Curling. Jan 5, 2020. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020.
- "2021 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING PROCEDURES". Team USA. July 30, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
- "2019 National Championship Media Guide" (PDF). www.teamusa.org. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
- "Men's Champions". www.teamusa.org. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
- Gewirtz, Jason (Aug 7, 2019). "2021 USA Curling Nationals Headed to Iowa". Sports Travel Magazine. Retrieved Apr 29, 2020.
- "Awards". Team USA. Retrieved 2019-04-06.