North Dakota Junior Championships held at Grafton Curling Club
Teams with local ties will be advancing to the 2010 Junior National Championships after wins this weekend at the North Dakota Junior Men’s and Women’s 2010 championships held at the Grafton Curling Club. The Erik Jensen team defeated Evan Workin of Fargo 9-8 in a playoff game Sunday to advance on the junior men’s side and the Amanda Tucker team was a perfect 4-0 to advance as North Dakota’s number one to the nationals which will be held in Bemidji, Minn.
The Ann Podoll team from Fargo finished 2-2 in three days of play and will be North Dakota’s number two team at nationals.
Tucker is from St. Thomas and curls out of Fargo. Third Jesa Legacie is from Edmore and curls out of Devils Lake. Second Rachel Tharalson is from Hoople and curls out of Grafton and third Anna Hopkins curls out of Bismarck. The Tucker team is coached by John Mielke of Bismarck.
In men’s play, Jensen defeated Workin 6-5 Sunday morning. The Jensen win gave both teams 4-2 records and forced the playoff Sunday afternoon.
In the tie-breaker, Jensen took an 8-4 lead, scoring four in the seventh end, but Workin came back to tie, scoring two in the eighth and stealing two more in the ninth.
Jensen scored with the hammer in the tenth to pull out the 9-8 win.
Team members include skip Erik Jensen; third, Marcus Tucker from St. Thomas; second Ryan Tucker from St. Thomas; lead, Kyle Kakela. The team is coached by Dave Jensen.
The USA Curling 2010 Junior Nation Championships will be held Jan. 23-30 in Bemidji, Minn.
Members of the Amanda Tucker team that took first place at the North Dakota Junior Championships include, from left, Tucker, Jesa Legacie, coach John Mielke, Rachel Tharalson and Anna Hopkins.
The Erik Jensen team took first in the Junior Men's division. Team members include, from left, coach Dave Jensen, Erik Jensen, Marcus Tucker, Ryan Tucker and Kyle Kakela.
