The University’s curling team is heading off to the national tournament in Chicago, Illinois this weekend.

Two separate teams will represent BGSU at the tournament held at both the Chicago Curling Club and the North Shore Curling Club.

The tournament will be done in a round robin format that will involve 39 teams with the finals concluding on Sunday.

Curling is similar to most other sports with one significant difference.

“You can shoot 100 percent and still lose”, Nik Geller, senior, said.

The fact that a team can shoot a perfect game and still lose is a contributing factor to why there are so few dominant teams.

Bowling Green will be representing the Great Lakes Region, which is the largest of any of the regions at the national tournament.

Curling teams are co-ed, and there is also no coach required in order to have a team participate.

The teams are split into divisions, which “are broken up by years of experience,” said Geller.

Curling is played on ice where opponents try to slide a stone onto a target called a house, which is similar to a bulls-eye.

“Bowling Green is the only university in the country to have curling ice on campus”, Geller said.

Because there are so few teams to play, they often play one another quite often creating a different type of sporting environment.

“It’s competitive, but it revolves around sportsmanship”, said Adrienne Utter, senior.

Several members agreed curling can be addicting.

“It’s a very addicting sport”, said Jordan Wesler, freshman, who was introduced to curling through his aunt who played on a club team.

The first match will be at 5 p.m. today at the Chicago Curling Club in Division 3, while the Division 4 team will compete at 5:30 p.m. today at the North Shore Curling Club also in Chicago.