USCA: 2004-2005 Press Releases

(BISMARCK, N.D.) — North Dakota and Wisconsin 1 emerged from the first tiebreaker round at the men's USA Curling Junior Nationals this afternoon and will return to the ice after a short break to duel for the last semifinal berth.

North Dakota's team of Zach Jacobson (Langdon, N.D.), Jeff Thune (Hibbing, Minn.), Zane Jacobson (Langdon, N.D.) and Tucker Smith (Bismarck, N.D.) played patiently against the Illinois rink led by Aanders Brorson to come away with a 5-3 win. The game went down to the last rocks, but North Dakota's break came in the sixth end, when an Illinois draw that sailed long resulted in a steal of one. That put the North Dakotans ahead 3-1, and they protected the lead the rest of the way.

Brorson (Duluth, Minn.) and teammates Chris Plys (Duluth, Minn.), Mark Moore (Rockford, Ill.) and Grant Rahn (Lake Forest, Ill.) missed an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth, with a draw for two coming up short. That gave North Dakota a 4-3 lead and the hammer heading home. Jacobson didn't have to throw his team's last rock when the final shot for Illinois failed to get count.

Ryan Lemke's Wisconsin 1 squad had control over the Matt Mielke team from Massachusetts for the first seven ends, building a 4-1 lead. But Lemke's team opened the door a crack in the eighth, missing a takeout with its last shot. Massachusetts banged the door open with a hit for three to tie the game.

The tide quickly turned back in favor of Wisconsin 1 in the ninth end, though. Lemke (Medford, Wis.) and vice skip Ryan Brunt (Portage, Wis.) called a perfect line on a delicate takeout for three, and it took superb sweeping by Kroy Nernberger (Medford, Wis.) and Jason Gerstenkorn (Portage, Wis.) to skin the shot by a guard for a 7-4 lead. In the 10th, Wisconsin 1 simply ran Mielke (Bismarck, N.D.), Sam Chandler (Sudbury, Mass.), Jeffrey Wadsworth (Wayland, Mass.) and Richard Smith (Andover, Mass.) out of rocks to seal the win.

One more test remains for Wisconsin 1 and North Dakota before the playoff exam can begin. The final tiebreaker starts at 4 p.m. today. The winner will meet Minnesota's Kris Perkovich rink in the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

For complete event coverage and end-by-end scoring of the Junior Nationals, please visit http://www.capitalcurlingclub.org/jcc05/index.htm, or follow the links from www.usacurl.org.

Game scores:
Men's first tiebreaker round
Wisconsin I 7, Massachusetts 4
North Dakota 5, Illinois 3

Men's standings
*Minnesota (Perkovich) 8-0
*Wisconsin II (Delaney) 5-3
*Alaska (Birklid) 5-3
**Wisconsin I (Lemke) 5-4
**North Dakota (Jacobson) 5-4
**Illinois (Brorson) 5-4
**Massachusetts (Mielke) 4-4
Michigan (Deeren) 2-6
Utah (Taggart) 2-6
Washington (Pleasants) 1-7
* clinched semifinal spot
** Wisconsin I defeated Massachusetts in a tiebreaker; North Dakota defeated Illinois in a tiebreaker.