November 9, 2024
Lohja, Finland—Matt Thums and the US wheelchair curling team are coming home with gold medals they earned this morning at the World B Curling Championships in Finland.
Thums, from the Wausau Curling Club, and his teammates beat Japan 9-4 in the championship game, after winning their semi-final game last night against England, 8-7.
The win also guaranteed the US team, captained by Thums, a spot in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships next March in Scotland. Silver medalist Japan also qualified, as did England, which won the bronze.
With Thums on the team are Oyuna Uranchimeg (Chaska, MN) , Shawn Sadowski, (Portage, WI) Laura Dwyer (Kettle Moraine, WI) , and Steve Emt (Madison, WI). Pete Annis (Owatonna, MN) serves as coach.
Team USA finished atop the round robin standings at 8-2, tied with Japan, with play taking place all of last week. One of their losses was to England, so the semi-final game was a rematch. The US moved ahead by three shots heading into the next to last end, only to have the Brits score three to tie. But in the final end, with the last shot, the US team scored one to win. In the gold medal match, Thums and his team broke things open with a five spot in the fourth end, and added three more in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 9-2 lead, which proved insurmountable. The game was conceded after seven ends.
The World Championships for the wheelchair curlers will take place March 11-16 in Stevenston, Scotland.
