News

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.

Californians win gold at Arena National Curling championships at Wausau

10-27-24

Wausau, WI – The teams who traveled farthest were the biggest winners at the USA Curling Arena National Championships held at the Wausau Curling Center over the past week.

Team Asis from San Jose, CA, skipped by Jennifer Asis, won the women’s gold medal, defeating the defending national champions, the Segovia rink from Houston.

On the men’s side, the Spangler rink of Roseville, CA, skipped by Camren Spangler, won the gold with a win over the Ridder rink from Spokane, WA.

The Segovia and Ridder teams were awarded the silver medal.

The women’s bronze medal winners were the Katie Feldman rink, also from Roseville. The men’s bronze medalists were the Sam Curtis team from Huntsville, AL.

Defending Champs excited and confident.

10-20-24

Wausau, WI -- The defending champions in the USA Curling Arena National Championships in Wausau this week are excited to be coming here and confident they can win gold again.

Twelve women’s and 12 men’s teams from throughout the country will be on the local club’s ice beginning with practice rounds Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Wausau Curling Center, 1920 Curling Way on the city’s southeast side. Competitive curling continues Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 24-27, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with the gold, silver and bronze final games starting at 2 p.m., Sunday.

Learn to Curl at Wausau Curling Center Oct, 12 and 19

Want to learn how to curl?

The Wausau Curling Club will conduct “Learn to Curl” sessions, Saturday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Wausau Curling Center. Both sessions will begin at 9 a.m. and last about three hours.

Check-in time both Saturdays is 8:30 a.m.

“It’s a great way to introduce this fun and exciting winter sport to new people,” said Tucker Diedrich, learn to curl coordinator for the Club.

During these sessions, new curlers will learn about the history and strategy of the game and will have time on the ice to learn how to deliver and “sweep” the curling stones as they head down the ice toward the target. Instruction will be available for youngsters as well as teens and adults.

Those who have difficulty sliding on the ice and getting up can learn the game using a curling push-stick.

Instructors will provide equipment and step-by-step instructions. Participants should bring a separate pair of clean, rubber-soled shoes to wear on the ice, and dress in layers and loose-fitting trousers or pants. Street shoes are not allowed on the ice.

Participants will also get a tour of the local curling center, one of the top curling facilities in the U.S.

The fee for the Learn to Curl events is $10. Pre-registration is required and you can do so by contacting Diedrich at 715/573-1959 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also register online.

Wausau to Host National Arena Curling Championships, Oct. 23-27

Some of the best curling teams in the nation will be competing on the ice at the Wausau Curling Center, October 23-27, 2024.

The local club will be host to the 2024 National Arena Curling Championships featuring the top 12 men’s and top 12 women’s qualifying teams from throughout the United States.

Arena curling features teams who do not play at a dedicated curling rink but curl in their communities on ice used for a variety of activities like ice hockey or figure skating.

The Wausau Curling Club has always been great in supporting Wes Wendling throughout the years and we thank you immensely for that.

This past year has been a great year for Wes including a silver at the Junior B’s and fourth place finishes at Junior Worlds and the US Men’s Championships. With winning the US Junior Nationals in Eau Claire this spring, Wes and his new teammates are planning for their return to Junior Worlds in the hope of a spot on the podium.

Team USA gets some support from the USCA, but not enough to pay for all of the expenses that are needed to prepare for the event. Some of what Wes has planned in the early stages of developing their team schedule includes:

• A session at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado
• Practice weeks out East to work with his teammates
• Bonspiels in Canada and around the US

To help reduce some of those costs, Team Wendling has established a business sponsorship opportunity for those businesses who wish to advertise on their travel sweatshirts, touring jerseys, and world jerseys.

For those individuals who wish to help out the team with smaller donations, you can donate to @teamwendling on Venmo. We greatly appreciate any support that you can offer the team as they begin their journey.

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Any questions?

Please contact Wes Wendling: 715-432-9272 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: Teamwendling.com

Instagram: Teamwendling

Facebook: Teamwendling

Thanks and Good Curling!

March 15, 2024

US team wheelchair curling team eliminated by Japan

There’s the grand slam in baseball, the touchdown bomb in football, and the big end in curling.

The U.S. Mixed Doubles Wheelchair curling team traded big ends with Japan at the World Championships in Korea last night, but the Japanese came out on top and eliminated the Americans in the quarter-finals, 9-8.

The loss came after the Matt Thums-Batoyun Oranchimeg team had gone undefeated in pool play, winning six straight.  In the game, the US fell behind early, but scored four in the fifth end to take a 6-3 lead. But the Japanese curlers came right back in the next end to score five and take the lead 8-6. The US closed the gap to 8-8 but a single rock in the final end secured the victory for Japan.

March 7, 2024

US Wheelchair Curlers End Quest a Game Short

The US Wheelchair curling team ended up a game out of the playoffs by splitting their final two curling matches yesterday.

A loss to Korea, 8-2, and an 11-3 win over the Czech Republic resulted in a 5-6 record , just a game behind Sweden which made the playoffs at 6-5. Other teams making the final rounds include China, Canada, Latvia, Korea and Norway.

US Junior Men’s Curling team Finishes 4th in Junior Men's World Curling Championships

The U.S. Junior Men’s Curling team fought back brilliantly in the bronze medal game this morning, but couldn’t overcome a big fifth end by the Danish men and lost 10-9.

In the gold medal game Norway defeated Italy 7-6, in another deep breather.

Feb. 15, 2024

Wausau curling fans will be watching the World Junior Men’s Championships closely this week.

Two Wausau curlers—Wes Wendling, a Wausau West graduate, and Jackson Armstrong, Appleton native now curling at Wausau—are two of the four on the US team competing against the world’s best in Lohta, Finland. The team, which includes Jackson Bestland and Caden Hebert of Eau Claire, and Kevin Tuma of St.Paul, is one of 10 to make it to the Worlds. They qualified last year by finishing second and earning Silver medals at the World Junior B tournament, also in Finland.

February 18, 2024

Wausau West Boys Win State Curling

Congratulations to the Wausau West boy’s curling team for outlasting the field Friday and Saturday and winning the high school state tournament.

The team of Hunter Britton, Micah Mathias, Ryan McCallum, and Carson Kirsch won the competition with a 9-7 victory over the team from Poynette in the final contest.

In the girl’s competition, it was a repeat of last year as Poynette defended their state title by outshooting Stevens Point.

February 1, 2024

TEAM USA WINS BRONZE

The U.S. youth mixed curling team of Wausau’s Ella Wendling and Eau Claire’s Benji Paral won a thrilling match over Sweden yesterday to take home the bronze medal.

Their final game at the Youth Olympics in Gangwon, Korea, was one of the most competitive of the eight they played in the 24-team competition.

With Sweden leading 4-3, the Americans tied the game in the last end, and then scored three in the extra end to seal the victory and the bronze medal.

In the gold medal game, Great Britain defeated Denmark.

Overall, Wendling and Paral went 5-0 in round-robin play to win their pool, then defeated Czechia in the quarter-finals, and lost 6-5 to Denmark in the semi-finals before their medal win last night.

The team was coached by Wausau West curling coach Jim Wendling.

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January 30, 2024

TEAM USA MIXED DOUBLES ADVANCES AT YOUTH OLYMPICS

The U.S. mixed doubles curling team, featuring Wausau West's Ella Wendling and Eau Claire's Benji Paral, defeated Ukraine 9-1 in six ends on Monday to assure the team a spot in the playoffs.

The win followed a crucial 8-3 win over Norway on Sunday before at the Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea.

The pair now stands at 4-0 in pool play, with a match against Slovenia remaining.

According to Wausau West curling coach Jim Wendling, the Norway game went back and forth through the first four ends, before the Americans played a "fantastic fifth end and stole four to take a 7-2 lead." The US then gave up--or forced--just a single point in the sixth end, and came back to grab a point in the seventh and force Norway to call the game.

Against Ukraine, Team USA piled up an insurmountable lead and the game was called early. Earlier, the Americans had defeated Sweden and Qatar.

Action can be followed at http://www.olympics.com. The competition features youth teams in a range of winter sports, mirroring the Olympics.

1/14/2024

The Wisconsin girls’ team came up short in the final rounds at the U18 National Championships in Lafayette, Colorado, yesterday.

After winning their pool-play group, the team lost in the semi-finals to the Massachusetts girls, 9-0. In the third-place game, they were defeated 8-4 by Team Johnson of St. Paul.

Participants included Ella Wendling (skip) and Adriana Fisher from Wausau, Emily Rubenzer from Stevens Point and Savannah Koch from Poynette.

On the boys’ side, the Caden Hebert rink from Eau Claire finished in first place, defeating Team Guentzel from St. Paul. The Matthew Lannoye team from Portage finished fourth.

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1/12/2024

Wendling Rink off to Good Start in Colorado

The Wisconsin girls’ team got off to a good start at the U18 National Championships at Rock Creek Curling in Lafayette, Colorado, near Denver.

Featuring Wausau’s Ella Wendling and Adriana Fisher, the team won its first two matches. They defeated team Johnson from Minnesota, 7-6 this morning. Yesterday, they defeated their first-round opponent, 9-1.

The other members of the team are Emily Rubenzer from Stevens Point and Savannah Koch from Poynette.

According to Wausau West High School curling coach Jim Wendling, the two Wisconsin boys teams also won their opening matches.

Round-robin play among 12 girls’ and 12 boys’ teams continues through Saturday.

Semi-finals and finals are on Sunday.

January 10, 2024

Wausau’s Matt Thums and his partner Oyuna Oranchimeg (Twin Cities) won the USA Curling wheelchair mixed doubles championship last weekend in Fort Wayne, IN.

Their next step will be to represent the U.S. at the world wheelchair mixed doubles curling event in March in South Korea.

In Fort wayne, Thums and Oranchimeg came from behind to win three straight matches in the round-robin competition. Thums said they were able to get their distance right and make some good shots when they needed to.

“In the semifinal, we found ourselves in a hole to start but we kept telling each other just get on the board and we will battle back,” he said “It started with scoring that first point and we then found our groove.”  He said the final was a close game against Shawn Sadowski and Laura Dwyer, both from Wisconsin.

Thums, Oranchimeg, Sadowski, Dwyer and Steve Emt from Connecticut will make up the U.S. team at the four- person world competition, also in South Korea in March.

The Wausau West girls’ team defeated Wausau East to win the 71st Tietge high school curling bonspiel this past weekend.

Marshfield won the boys’ competition. Forty-four teams competed, bringing a total of 196 student curlers to the Wausau Curling Center on Wausau’s southeast side.

The West girls included Ella Wendling, Maya Hoff, Allison Kurth and Lauren Bahlow, the same lineup that won the Tietge girls’ crown last year.

On the East team were Adriana Fisher, Ana Sewall, Louisa Duckworth, and Evie Bleese.

Wendling and Fisher will team up as two of the four girls representing Wisconsin at the U18 national championships this coming weekend in Denver.

“You’re never too young to learn how to curl.”

That advice could be attributed to Josh Pearson and Jim Wendling, Wausau curling coaches who organized the 2023 Junior Curling Bonspiel Dec. 28-29 at the Wausau Curling Center.

Teams from Wausau and Stevens Point came out victorious in the developmental league tournament, and the first-ever mixed doubles event for older curlers.

The junior developmental program ran on Sunday evenings throughout November and December at the Curling Center on Curling Way on Wausau’s southeast side.

Pearson said 36 young curlers participated in the training program this year, an increase from prior seasons which had been affected by the COVID pandemic and saw between 6 and 15 participants.

LOHJA, FINLAND

12/19/2023

The USA Junior Men’s curling team took silver medals at the World B Junior Men’s curling championships today in Lohja, Finland.

The team, led by Wausau’s Wes Wendling, lost to Canada 7-4 in the championship match.

Trailing 5-4 in the last end, the Americans were unable to tie it up, and the Canadians scored two to win the tournament.

In the third-place game, Denmark defeated New Zealand 7-5.

All told the US team went 7-2 over the week-long event, and their final four finish qualified them for a spot in the Junior Men’s World Championships, to be held in Finland, beginning Feb. 17.

Curling with Wendling were Jackson Armstrong of Appleton, Kevin Tuma of St. Paul, MN, and Jackson Bestland and Caden Hebert of Eau Claire.

Boy’s and girl’s U18 teams crowned champs in Wausau curling meet.

Curlers from Wausau, Stevens Point, Poynette and Portage won the U18 curling competition at the Wausau Curling Center this weekend, earning the right to represent Wisconsin at the national U18 tournament in Lafayette, Colorado, next month.

In the girl's meet, the team of Ella Wendling and Adriana Fisher of Wausau, Savannah Koch (Poynette) and Emily Rubenzer (Stevens Point) went undefeated in pool play to win the tournament.

On the boy's side, the team of Matthew Lannoye and Brody Welchman from Poynette, along with Ethan Macomber of Portage and Joey Dobbs of Stevens Point, also went undefeated to win.

A total of three girl's teams and five boys' teams entered and competed Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Jim Wendling, curling coach at Wausau West H.S., coordinated the event.

Wausau West high school curler Ella Wendling and her teammate Benji Paral (Eau Claire) won the U.S. Youth Mixed Doubles Curling competition November 2-5, 2023 in Bemidji, Minnesota.

The win earned the pair a spot on Team USA at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, beginning January 19, 2024.

The two defeated Team Giroux-Podhradsky (St. Paul) in the final match after going 4-1 in round-robin play which involved 23 teams.

Wausau West High School curling coach Jim Wendling, who also organizes the annual Tietge High School curling bonspiel and the Wisconsin state high school curling championships at the Wausau Curling Center, has been named “Breakout Coach of the Year” by USA Curling.

He was one of four US curling coaches and athletes honored by the curling organization, whose CEO Dean Gemmell said “as the new curling season gets underway, it’s great to recognize athletes and coaches who performed so well last year.”

Wendling had been a coach of two runner-up finishes at the U-18 (under 18 years of age) national championships, but in 2023 his team—led by son Wes—went on an undefeated run to win the Men’s U-21 Junior National Championship

Wendling credits many others with helping and influencing him along the way.

“Marcia and Cal Tillisch, Dennis Tietge, Lucas Ostrowski, and many others have helped me learn the game and grow as a coach,” he says.  “I also need to mention Scott Armstrong from Appleton.  He and I coached Wes's team for the last seven years and have pushed each other to find the next thing that would make our team better.”

The other USA Curling individual awards went to Cory Thiesse, female athlete of the year; Korey Dropkin, male athlete of the year; Cathy Overton-Clapham, coach of the year, and Pam Wilson, wheelchair athlete of the year.