2012 United States Men's Curling Championship


The 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship took place from February 11 to 18 at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pennsylvania,. It was held in conjunction with the 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship. The winning team, skipped by Heath McCormick, represented the United States at the 2012 Capital One World Men's Curling Championship in Basel, Switzerland. The first and second placed teams, skipped respectively by Heath McCormick and Pete Fenson, earned qualification spots to the 2014 United States Olympic Curling Trials, which will determine the teams that will represent the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Road to the Nationals

As with last year, teams qualified for the men's nationals by qualifying automatically through the World Curling Tour Order of Merit, through regional qualifiers, or through a challenge round. Two teams qualified via the Order of Merit, five teams qualified through the regional qualifiers, and the remaining three teams qualified through the challenge round. The regional qualifiers in Green Bay, Seattle, Grand Forks, and Laurel each received one or more qualifying spots, which were awarded to the top finishers from the qualifiers. Teams that were not awarded a qualification spot but were top finishers were invited to the challenge round, where the top three teams qualified.
The Pete Fenson rink stood as an exception to the preceding rules. Since Fenson and his team were scheduled to represent the United States in the 2012 USA-Brazil Challenge, which was cancelled, they received an automatic berth into the nationals, regardless of their Order of Merit standing. Because they were not one of the top two Order of Merit teams, the Fenson rink participated as the eleventh team in the nationals.

Teams

Eleven teams participated in the national championship, one more team than usual, due to the Fenson rink's scheduled participation in the USA-Brazil Challenge. The teams are listed as follows:
SkipThirdSecondLeadAlternateLocaleQualification Method
Pete FensonShawn RojeskiJoe PoloRyan Brunt Bemidji, MinnesotaSpecial Exemption
Tyler GeorgeChristopher PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman Duluth, MinnesotaOrder of Merit
Craig BrownKroy NernbergerMatt HamiltonDerrick Casper Madison, WisconsinOrder of Merit
Heath McCormickBill StoperaMartin SatherDean Gemmell New York, New YorkLaurel Qualifier
Brady ClarkDarren LehtoLeon RomaniukSteve LundeenWes Johnson Seattle, WashingtonSeattle Qualifier
John ShusterZach JacobsonJared ZezelJohn Landsteiner Duluth, MinnesotaGrand Forks Qualifier
Owen SampsonNed SampsonTucker SmithKyle Young Edmore, North DakotaGrand Forks Qualifier
Blake MortonMarcus FongerTommy JuszczykCalvin Weber McFarland, WisconsinGreen Bay Qualifier
Eric FensonTrevor AndrewsQuentin WayMark Lazar Bemidji, MinnesotaChallenge Round
Mike FarbelowKevin DeerenKraig DeerenTim Solin Minneapolis, MinnesotaChallenge Round
Todd BirrGreg RomaniukDoug PottingerThomas O'ConnorKevin Birr Mankato, MinnesotaChallenge Round

Round robin standings

Final Round Robin Standings
SkipWLPFPAEnds WonEnds LostBlank EndsStolen Ends
Heath McCormick10082525234424
Pete Fenson9173394334811
Craig Brown7376554538811
John Shuster6475574541613
Brady Clark5562663945129
Todd Birr466874434875
Tyler George4668654342611
Mike Farbelow465266374295
Eric Fenson374766324397
Owen Sampson2748703942712
Blake Morton1942733646612

Round robin results

All times listed in Eastern Standard Time.

Draw 1

Saturday, February 11, 8:30 pm

Draw 2

Sunday, February 12, 12:00 pm

Draw 3

Sunday, February 12, 8:00 pm

Draw 4

Monday, February 13, 12:00 pm

Draw 5

Monday, February 13, 8:00 pm

Draw 6

''Tuesday, February 14, 8:00 am

Draw 7

Tuesday, February 14, 4:00 pm

Draw 8

''Wednesday, February 15, 8:00 am

Draw 9

Wednesday, February 15, 4:00 pm

Draw 10

''Thursday, February 16, 8:00 am

Draw 11

Thursday, February 16, 12:00 pm

Playoffs

1 vs. 2 Game

Friday, February 17, 12:00 pm

3 vs. 4 Game

Friday, February 17, 12:00 pm

Semifinal

Friday, February 17, 8:00 pm

Championship Final

Saturday, February 18, 3:00 pm