Last Championship of the Season
Newcomers stand on top of the podium in St. Paul
Just like that, the 2024-2025 curling season has come to an end, and it wrapped up in wild fashion at the historic St. Paul Curling Club for the 5-and-Under National Championship.
For the first time in the history of this event, every single game was streamed, and it was glorious. Even for those of us who couldn’t attend in person, we had the opportunity to see some of the most passionate curlers in the sport take to the pebbled ice. For many of those curlers, it was their first time at a national championship. I hope the taste of a championship brings them the drive to get back to another national event.
With the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship happening in New Brunswick, I was maximizing use of all the screens to try to keep up with everything everywhere. There was so much to watch, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
After a crazy round robin which saw either head-to-head and Draw Shot Challenge tiebreakers get used in all four of the groups, we wound up with a final four made up of one team from Wisconsin, 2023 champions and three-time medalists Team Bliven (Appleton/Green Bay) and three teams from the MoPac region: Hernandez (Orange County/Curl Vegas), Kunkel (Coyotes/Orange County), and Campbell (Coyotes).
Let’s look at the finals!
Gold: Team Campbell - Coyotes Curling Club (MoPac)
Silver: Team Bliven - Appleton/Green Bay Curling Clubs (Wisconsin)
Bronze: Team Kunkel - Coyotes/Orange County Curling Clubs (MoPac)
Championship Final
The trip to the finals for Team Campbell was not an easy one. They dropped a close game to Trevor Wysocki in the last game of the round robin but had already wrapped up a playoff spot thanks to head-to-head tiebreakers. The Coyotes rink then avenged their loss with a rematch against Wysocki in the 4th vs 5th seed matchup in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Campbell faced off against fellow club members Team Kunkel, and it was a wild game. Kunkel made a fantastic run of Campbell’s rock in to sit shot to steal and force and extra end. Campbell won the race to the 4-foot in the extra and was able to hold on to secure a spot in the finals.
On the other side of the bracket, Team Bliven found themselves in a 3-way tie for first in Pool B with Team Hernandez and Team Dei (Potomac). Because the three teams were 1-1 against each other, the tiebreaker came down to the Draw Shot Challenge tiebreaker. Team Dei was the odd one out which is a huge bummer as they looked fantastic in pool play, but only two teams from each pool could move on.
Bliven drew reigning national champions, Team Mellin, in the quarterfinals. The rematch of the 2023 national championship went the same way as it did in Hibbing with Bliven having an impressive showing to take out the pre-event top overall seed. In the semifinals, Bliven stole two points in the 6th and 7th ends to secure an 8-3 victory and go to take on Campbell in the final.
With Bliven beginning the game with hammer, the game was very conservative to start out. Campbell was sitting two in the first, and Bliven’s draw came up short, giving up a steal of one. After a takeout just barely nicked Bliven’s own rock in the 4th to force to one, and with blanks in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th ends, the final entered the 6th end in a 1-1 tie.
With a guard finally in play in the 6th end, we saw more rocks in play, but when Campbell’s last rock checked up just a hair early, he ended up being forced to one. Bliven would take the hammer going into the 7th end, and from there, it was game on. The final two ends really came down to executed shots from both teams, but the best execution came down to Darren Campbell’s skip stones, and he made three nearly perfect hit-and-rolls in 3 of his final 4 shots.
End 7, skip’s first rock. Bliven would follow with a nice hit, but because of Campbell’s placement, the rock rolled open.
End 7, skip’s second rock. Darren’s rock overburied, and fearing the jam on the rock in the back to give up a possible steal of two, Dan Bliven took the more conservative round and tried to play around the buried side. His throw was fantastic, but needed a hair more weight to score, and Campbell stole to take a 3-1 lead going into the final end.
In the 8th, After Bliven’s draw came up just shy of sitting shot rock, Campbell needed to find some way to ensure he could sit two and try to eliminate any possible doubles for Bliven, which brings us to his final throw of the championship.End 8, skip’s second rock. Darren Campbell came up with yet another fantastic hit-and-roll under cover. I don’t know if he could have placed this rock any better, and Team Bliven was unable to make a miracle happen on their last shot.
Team Campbell played a game of immense patience and made life about as tough on Team Bliven as they could have. It was a really entertaining final, particularly over the final three ends. The most successful 5U teams are those who avoid steals, and Team Campbell was able to keep themselves out of trouble in the final which turned out to be the difference-maker.
With the win, Team Campbell is the first team from outside of the Midwest to win the 5U National Championship since USA Curling took over the event (a team from the Bay Area won in 2020 when the event was still being run by the USWCA). On the other side, as Team Bliven noted during the awards ceremony, Dan Bliven and Ben Jurenec now own the full collection of 5-and-Under medals. More on this in a bit.
3rd Place Match
In the bronze medal match, it was a battle of the MoPac teams with Team Kunkel taking on Team Hernandez.
Jeff Kunkel was a buzzsaw all weekend in Pool C where they outscored their opponents 40-12. Their only loss of the weekend came to fellow Coyotes team and eventual champions Team Campbell. In the third-place game, unfortunately for David Hernandez & Co., Team Kunkel resumed their buzzsaw ways to an 8-1 victory for the bronze medal.
Team Hernandez defeated Bliven in pool play and had the best Draw Shot Challenge in Pool B to secure the top spot of the group. This group played very few events in 5U together this season and did not qualify until Rocket City’s Space Race event in early April. They had a really fantastic week, and David Hernandez matched the best finish of an arena-based skip at nationals (Alyssa Parks also finished in 4th in 2022).
Building a 5U Pipeline
This deserves its own newsletter topic at some point, but Coyotes Curling Club needs to be commended for the fantastic work they do. Not only are they growing the sport in a non-traditional location, but they put in so much effort to help curlers who started the sport as adults further their development.
Obviously, we need to commend both teams, Kunkel and Campbell, for the time, energy, and effort that has gone into honing their craft. Perhaps they do get here on their own based on those efforts, but I can’t help but think that the efforts taken by the folks at Coyotes to accelerate the development are bearing fruit.
Both teams had coaches who had experienced winning a national championship on their own in Mike Siggins and Jeff Baird. When I attended the Phoenix 5U in past years, Baird, in particular, was constantly around all weekend willing to give feedback and guidance to curlers from all clubs, not just their own.
The weekend before nationals, I was in Phoenix and had the opportunity to sub on a 5U team, and the shot-making, communication, and strategy were really impressive. They are building a pipeline of good curlers on the ice, but more importantly, they are also great off the ice. I’ve had nothing but excellent experiences visiting with curlers from Phoenix whenever I’ve visited. Kudos to their club, and I hope others can follow suit.
“There is no failure in sports.”
I have seen a few instances of a number of curlers who I happen to be connected with on social media that were, understandably, disappointed when their championship didn’t go as well as they had originally hoped. I know that feeling. I’ve been there.
In my short time in this sport, I’ve had plenty of my share of disappointment, so when I was reminded recently of a 2023 interview with Giannis Antetokounmpo, it struck a chord with me. It’s a good reminder that some days, it’s not our turn to win. Keep the perspective and move forward.
Notable Notes
As I mentioned above, Dan Bliven and Ben Jurenec’s silver medal finish means those two finish their 5-and-Under eligibility with four medals from 5U national championships: 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronzes. Congratulations to them on an excellent run! There are more medals for the taking with them out of the field in 2026!
Coyotes Curling Club takes the cake for the best “club” finish of all time in the short history of this championship. Previously, the best “club” finish at a 5U nationals was in 2023 when Team Bliven and Team Townsend, both representing Stevens Point that year, finished 1st and 4th, respectively. Impressively, they both were in the same pool at that championship! My team also happened to be in that same pool that season. Lucky us (both teams defeated us in an extra end!).
The MoPac region had 6 teams qualify for the 5-and-Under National Championships. In pool play, those 6 teams had a combined record of 19-11. 3 of those teams made the medal round.
When Team Bliven defeated Team Mellin in the quarterfinals, they handed Team Mellin their first loss in any 5-and-Under event since October 1st, 2023. And the last time they had lost in a 5U National Championship? In the 2023 championship final vs… Team Bliven!
What’s Next
With the season over, I am planning on doing some type of season recap in the next few weeks before the calendar turns to June.
At least one other region, Dakota, has completed their arena playdowns which I have not yet covered. I have been trying to get some additional results information about this playdown but have thus far been unsuccessful. If you or anyone you know curled in (or even better, organized!) the playdown, please reach out to me either via email or social media.
If I can get some information regarding that playdown, I’ll include it in my next recap, otherwise, I’ll be sure to highlight those teams over the summer.
More on what’s coming next year in the season recap, but newsletters will be a little more sporadic over the summer months. Just be sure to subscribe (for free!), so you can get any new posts as soon as they go live!
Thanks again for reading. The curling community is the best. Good curling!