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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 23, 2005
Men’s semifinalist field begins to take
shape at U.S. Olympic Trials
(MADISON, Wis.) – The men’s standings didn’t change much
after the seventh round of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team
Trials Wednesday afternoon at the Madison Curling Club.
The four teams at the top of the standings each won
matches while Rich Ruohonen’s Minneapolis-based rink
moved up with a 7-5 win over Wes Johnson’s Seattle rink.
The win improves Team Ruohonen to 4-3 and sole
possession of fifth place. Fifth place, however, isn’t
good enough for Ruohonen, an attorney from Brooklyn
Park, Minn.
“Every game’s a must win now. We thought they’d come out
a little loose and they did and took some chances,”
Ruohonen said. “We just hung in there and played well
but not spectacular. If we can just put together a few
good games like we did to get here we’ll be sitting in
pretty good shape to make the final four.”
Standing in Ruohonen’s way are teams skipped by Pete
Fenson (6-1), Scott Baird (5-2), Brady Clark (5-2) and
Craig Brown (5-2). However, there are still two draws
and plenty of curling remaining in the men’s round
robin.
Team Ruohonen crawled out of a 3-1 deficit in the fifth
end with three points to take control of the match.
Ruohonen made up for a missed shot in the fourth that
gave Johnson a deuce with a hit and roll that ended up
burying his stone behind a guard nicely. Johnson tried a
runback but didn’t quite get the right angle and Team
Ruohonen, who had been sitting two, ended up with three.
“The games are getting a little more tense as the
momentum builds and we just gotta stay focused and
aggressive. We haven’t played our best yet,” Ruohonen
said.
Fenson’s Bemidji, Minn., rink all but locked up a
semifinal spot in defeating the Craig Disher team, 9-6.
The team is guaranteed at least a tiebreaker game for a
semifinal spot after eclipsing its sixth win.
Baird’s team, also out of Bemidji, won its fourth
straight game downing the 2004 national champion Jason
Larway rink, 14-6. Baird and teammates Eric Fenson, Mark
Haluptzok and Tim Johnson came out aggressive scoring
three points in three ends and four in the eighth to
improve to 5-2.
Brady Clark’s Seattle-based team bounced back from last
night’s loss with an 8-1 win over Ben Tucker’s North
Dakota rink. Tucker, a farmer from St. Thomas, N.D.,
fell behind 5-1 after five ends. Things didn’t get
better as Clark stole one in the sixth and Tucker’s sore
knee forced him to pull himself out of the game.
Alternate Bill Morehouse (Utica, N.Y.) stepped in but
Clark stole another two when Owen Sampson’s draw was
heavy and went through the house.
“In the games we lost we struggled at executing. Our
rocks were going too deep or coming up too short but
we’ve made improvements today,” said Clark, a business
analyst from Redmond, Wash. Clark, who was diagnosed
with the flu on Monday, executed well today in helping
his team improve to 5-2 and stay well within reach of
the semifinals.
Craig Brown’s Madison-based rink had another tough
battle on its hands today but held on to defeat the Greg
Eigner team, 6-5. Things didn’t go quite as planned in
the 10th end after Eigner stole a point in
the ninth to tie the game. Team Brown vice skip Matt
Carlson’s second rock crashed on a top guard in an
attempted takeout of Eigner’s shot rock. Eigner tried to
place another rock near the four foot with his first
shot but came up heavy and watched as it slid through
the house. Brown almost suffered the same fate with his
last rock as it slid into the eight-foot but nestled in
next to Eigner’s other rock for count rock and the win.
The men will be back in action at 8 tonight. The round
robin continues through Thursday with the semifinals
Friday afternoon followed by the men’s and women’s
finals on Saturday. Live action of the 2006 U.S. Olympic
Team Trials for Curling can be followed on the USA
Curling web site at
www.usacurl.org, including via an audiocast and
end-by-end scoring.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics and
AmerAust Technologies as well as by General Motors,
Chevron-Texaco and Bank of America through a joint
marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Game scores: Clark 8, Tucker 1; Baird 14, Larway
6; Brown 6, Eigner 5; Ruohonen 7, Johnson 5; Fenson 9,
Disher 6
Men’s standings
Fenson 6-1
Baird 5-2
Brown 5-2
Clark 5-2
Ruohonen 4-3
Disher 3-4
Tucker 3-4
Larway 2-5
Eigner 1-6
Johnson 1-6
(30)
For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling,
rickp@curlingrocks.net, 715-344-1199 |
