The 2020 United States Men's Curling Championship was held from February 8 to 15, 2020 at the Eastern Washington University Recreation Center in Spokane, Washington. The event was held in conjunction with the 2020 United States Women's Curling Championship. John Shuster claimed his seventh United States Championship, defeating Rich Ruohonen in the final.
Since Team Shuster met certain prerequisites in terms of world ranking points (60 points year-to-date or ranked 70th or higher) they would have represented the United States at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship, which was scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from March 28 to April 5, 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States Champions also earn a spot at the final Grand Slam of the season, the Champions Cup, which was also cancelled due to the pandemic. Team Shuster's qualification will instead carry over to the 2021 Champions Cup.
Qualification There were three ways for teams to qualify for the championship: Top five American teams in the World Curling Federation (WCF) World Team Ranking System on Dec 2, 2019 Team Dropkin Team Ruohonen Team Shuster Team Dunnam Team Birr Four teams from the 2020 United States Men's Challenge Round Team Brundidge Team Kakela Team Maerki Team Violette Team Birklid *replaced with alternate due to conflict with World Junior Championships A team from the 2020 United States Junior Men's Championship Team Sinnett
Challenge round Sixteen teams competed at the 2020 United States Men's Challenge Round, held at the Grand Forks Curling Club in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from January 2 to 5. Through a triple knockout competition the top four teams secured a spot at the National Championship. Jed Brundidge was the first to secure a spot, defeating Dominik Märki in the 'A' bracket final. Märki then dropped down to the 'B' bracket final and had another opportunity to play for a spot in the Nationals, but this time lost to Kyle Kakela who took the second Nationals berth. In the 'C' bracket Märki finally earned their spot when they defeated Steven Birklid's team. On the other side of the 'C' bracket Luc Violette defeated Nicholas Connolly for the fourth and final Nationals berth. Steven Birklid's team finished the Challenge Round as the alternate team.
Teams Ten teams participated in the 2020 national championship. Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Korey Dropkin Tom Howell Mark Fenner Alex Fenson Joe Polo Chaska, Minnesota Todd Birr Andrew Stopera Hunter Clawson Tom O'Connor Ham Lake, Minnesota Jed Brundidge Evan Workin Jarl Timothy Wagner Cameron Rittenour West St. Paul, Minnesota Scott Dunnam Alex Leichter Cody Clouser Andrew Dunnam Daniel Dudt Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Kevin Kakela Kyle Kakela Timothy Hodek JP Munich Owen Sampson Rolla, North Dakota Rich Ruohonen Greg Persinger Colin Hufman Phil Tilker Kroy Nernberger Minneapolis, Minnesota John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Duluth, Minnesota Dominik Märki Stephen Dropkin Shawn Banyai Erik Quistgaard Jason Smith Chaska, Minnesota Steven Birklid Sam Galey Matt Birklid Chris Bond Daniel Plys Mountlake Terrace, Washington Chase Sinnett Sam Strouse Eli Clawson Ethan Sampson Trevor Marquardt Medfield, Massachusetts
Round-robin standings Final round-robin standings KeyTeams to playoffs SkipWL John Shuster 9 0 Rich Ruohonen 7 2 Dominik Märki 5 4 Chase Sinnett 5 4 Steven Birklid 4 5 Korey Dropkin 4 5 Scott Dunnam 4 5 Todd Birr 3 6 Kevin Kakela 3 6 Jed Brundidge 1 8
Round-robin results All draw times are listed in Pacific Standard Time (UTC−08:00).
Draw 1 Saturday, February 8, 7:30 pm
Draw 2 Sunday, February 9, 12:00 pm
Draw 3 Sunday, February 9, 8:00 pm
Draw 4 Monday, February 10, 10:00 am
Draw 5 Monday, February 10, 7:00 pm
Draw 6 Tuesday, February 11, 2:00 pm
Draw 7 Wednesday, February 12, 9:00 am
Draw 8 Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 pm
Draw 9 Thursday, February 13, 2:00 pm
Playoffs
1 vs. 2 Friday, February 14, 12:00 pm
3 vs. 4 Friday, February 14, 12:00 pm
Semifinal Friday, February 14, 7:00 pm
Final Saturday, February 15, 5:00 pm
References