Finishing in the runner-up position at the Rochester Institute of Technology Bonspiel at Rochester Curling Club on Sunday, November 13, the RPI Curling team emerged the third-ranked team in the nation, trailing only No. 1 University of Oklahoma and No. 2 State University of New York Polytechnic. The team maintains its ranking as it ventures into its home event this Saturday and Sunday, the RPI Bonspiel, held at Schenectady Curling Club in Schenectady, New York.
Two teams were formed and sent to Rochester on Saturday, November 12. RPI 1, consisting of freshman Evan Mullaney as skip, senior Jenny Amador as vice, junior Anthony Naslas as second, and senior Dana Stevens as lead, defeated four of the five teams they challenged. Their first game against Bowdoin College ended in a clean sweep, 24-0. Their success continued to resonate in a close win against Yale University, 8-7. The final game on Saturday against RIT 2 again ended in a Rensselaer victory.
In the A event semifinals, SUNY Polytechnic lost to RPI on Sunday, 7-9, moving Rensselaer up to the finals against the University of Pennsylvania. The team lost 1-7 to the challenger to finish second overall.
In RPI 2, senior Kirsten Cardinal served as skip, senior Jeremy Katz as vice, sophomore Gideon Bartlett as second, freshman Luke Weinkam as lead, and freshman David Dawnkaski as fifth. The team placed seventh at the tournament, winning three of their five games. “Luke and David are both freshman first year curlers, and did really well in the spiel,” said Stevens.
This weekend, Rensselaer will host the largest collegiate level bonspiel ever held, with 20 teams registered to attend. Five four-person teams from RPI will be competing. All members of the RPI community are invited to attend the tournament in Schenectady to support our curling team this Saturday, when they will be guaranteed to play. Those teams playing in the semi-finals, and finals on Sunday will not be chosen until after play on Saturday.