Six teams from BGSU participated in the Great Lakes Region College Curling Tournament held at the BGSU Ice Arena this past weekend.
The BG team, comprised of Nik Geller, Jeff Young, Meghan Coleman and Toledo’s Alex Smith, received second place. They were defeated by Oakland in the championship game.
According to Regional Coordinator Mike McKay, this is the seventh year of the tournament.
“Curling is still not a very well-developed sport in the US, so this tournament is more of a social event,” McKay said. “This tournament is geared towards getting college students involved in the game.”
Six teams from BG participated in the tournament.
Schools joining BG were Northwestern, Ohio State, Tennessee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Lawrence Tech – which had two teams – and Oakland.
Mitch Kipfer, Ryan Meyer, Matt Cooper and Rachel Brucker comprised the BG team that lost to Tennessee in the third-place game.
The Falcons also lost to Lawrence Tech in the consolation championship.
“I think our team did really good,” Coleman said. “We progressed well and didn’t really have any problems.”
Coleman, who’s only been curling for a semester, started after her friend’s roommates asked her to play.
“My friend lived with a bunch of guys that pretty much ran the curling team, and they asked me to play and I said, ‘Alright,’ ” Coleman said. “My dad thinks it’s great. He thinks it’s hilarious.”
Teams from BG will travel to Chicago over St. Patrick’s Day weekend to participate in Nationals.
ABOUT CURLING
Curling was invented in Scotland in the early 16th century and made its Winter Olympic debut in 1998.
Also known as “chess on ice,” curling requires exact precision and intricate strategy.
Each person on the four-player team throws two, 42-pound stones during each end, or round. In the tournament each match consisted of six ends. Players on each team alternatively throw stones with players on the other.
The basic objective of any curling match is to get your team’s stones closest to the center of the circle, or button.
At the end of each end, the stone closest to the center gets their team one point. The team will also score additional points for every other stone closest to the center than the other team’s closest stone.
At the end of the match, the team with the highest point total wins.
While one member of each team throws, the remaining members sweep.
Sweeping allows the moving stone to travel longer distances.
Winning or losing can often be determined by sweeping.