| Madison Bear | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 26, 1997 |
| Team | |
| Curling club | Portage CC, Portage, WI [1] |
| Skip | Madison Bear |
| Third | Annmarie Dubberstein |
| Second | Elizabeth Cousins |
| Lead | Allison Howell |
| Mixed doubles partner | Aidan Oldenburg |
Madison Bear (born April 26, 1997) is an American curler from Portage, Wisconsin. As a junior curler, Bear was a two-time United States champion and a World runner-up.
Bear first competed at the United States Junior Curling Championship in 2015, as skip of a team consisting of Jenna Burchesky at third, Allison Howell at second and Annmarie Dubberstein at lead. Despite being newcomers on the national stage, Team Bear made it to the finals where they lost to defending champion Cory Christensen. [2]
The following season, Bear joined Christensen's team as lead. The team also included Sarah Anderson and Taylor Anderson. [3] With Team Christensen, Bear won her first World Curling Tour event, going undefeated at the 2015 St. Paul Cash Spiel. [4] At the 2016 Junior National Championship, Bear earned her first Junior National title when the team finished with a perfect 11–0 record, never needing to play a full ten end game. [5] [6] Winning Junior Nationals earned Team Christensen a spot at the Women's National Championship in Jacksonville, Florida, where they earned the fourth seed in the playoffs with a 3–3 round-robin record. They defeated Jamie Sinclair in the 3 vs 4 page playoff game, [7] but then lost to Nina Roth in the semifinals, earning themselves the bronze medal. [8]
Winning the Junior National Championship also earned Bear her first opportunity to represent the United States at the World Junior Championships in Copenhagen. Bear's team finished the round-robin with a 7–2 record, good enough for the second seed in the page playoff system. In the 1 vs 2 playoff game, Team Christensen defeated the number one seed Canada, skipped by Mary Fay. This gave the United States a path straight to the final where they ultimately faced Canada again, this time losing 4–7 to earn the silver medal. [9]
For the 2016–17 season Bear was back to skipping her own team, this time composed of Cora Farrell, Cait Flannery, and Lexi Lanigan. [10] Team Bear got silver at the 2017 Junior Nationals, losing to Annmarie Dubberstein in the final. Bear still returned to the World Juniors as alternate for Dubberstein's team and finished in 7th place. [11]
In her final season as a junior curler, Bear joined back with her original juniors teammates: Dubberstein, Burchesky, and Howell. [12] They won the gold medal at the 2018 United States Junior National Championship, earning Bear her third straight trip to World Juniors. [13] At the 2018 World Junior Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland, Bear and her team just missed the playoffs, finishing in fifth place. [14]
Out of juniors for the 2018–19 curling season, Bear rejoined Christensen's team as lead. The team also added a new coach, Canadian Darah Blandford, in her first year with the USCA High Performance Program. [15] Team Christensen was chosen to represent the United States at the third leg of the Curling World Cup in Jönköping, Sweden; the Curling World Cup was a four-part international tournament held around the world throughout the curling season. [16] There they finished with a 3–3 record. [17] At the 2019 United States Women's Championship they finished the round-robin with a record of 5–2, good enough for the third seed in the page playoffs. In the 3 vs. 4 playoff game they defeated Stephanie Senneker's team by one point, 9–8. In the semifinal match against Nina Roth's team, it came down to the last stone, but, as she did three years prior, Roth came through with the win, resulting in the bronze medal for Team Christensen. [18] [19]
Shortly after the season ended, it was announced that Christensen's team was dissolving and Bear would again skip her own team. For the 2019–20 season Jenna Burchesky and Lexi Lanigan rejoined Bear, along with Katie Dubberstein and Emily Quello. [20] Bear failed to qualify for the 2020 United States Women's Championship, getting knocked out of the Challenge Round with a 2–3 record. [21] The next offseason brought another team change for Bear as in June 2020, the United States Curling Association announced she would be the skip of the new women's U-25 national team. The U-25 team program, which stands for under 25 years old, was added in 2020 as a new part of the High Performance Program with the intention of bridging the development gap between juniors and women's curling. Bear also was selected, along with teammate Andrew Stopera, to be the U-25 mixed doubles national team for the 2020–21 season. [22]
Despite a difficult year marred by COVID-19, Bear made the most of her 2020–21 season. At the "bubble" in Wausau, Wisconsin, Bear won the silver medal at the 2021 US Mixed Doubles Championship and the bronze medal at the 2021 US Women's Championship. The silver medal qualified her and Stopera for the 2021 US Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials.
| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Coach | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Madison Bear | Jenna Burchesky | Allison Howell | Annmarie Dubberstein | 2015 USJCC  | ||
| 2015–16 | Cory Christensen | Sarah Anderson | Taylor Anderson | Madison Bear | Christine McMakin | Dave Jensen | 2016 USJCC  [23] 2016 USWCC  [24] 2016 WJCC [25] |
| 2016–17 | Madison Bear | Cora Farrell | Cait Flannery | Lexi Lanigan | Rebecca Miles | 2017 USJCC | |
| Annmarie Dubberstein | Christine McMakin | Jenna Burchesky | Allison Howell | Madison Bear | 2017 WJCC (7th) | ||
| 2017–18 | Madison Bear | Annmarie Dubberstein | Jenna Burchesky | Allison Howell | Leah Yavarow [lower-alpha 1] | 2018 USJCC 2018 WJCC (5th) | |
| 2018–19 | Cory Christensen | Vicky Persinger | Jenna Martin | Madison Bear | Darah Blandford | CWC/3 (5th) 2019 USWCC | |
| 2019–20 | Madison Bear | Jenna Burchesky | Katie Dubberstein | Lexi Lanigan | Emily Quello | Darah Blandford | |
| 2020–21 [22] | Madison Bear | Annmarie Dubberstein | Taylor Drees | Allison Howell | Jordan Moulton | 2021 USWCC | |
| 2021–22 | Madison Bear | Annmarie Dubberstein | Taylor Drees | Allison Howell | 2021 USOCT (6th) | ||
| 2022–23 | Madison Bear | Annmarie Dubberstein | Elizabeth Cousins | Allison Howell | 2023 USWCC (4th) |
| Season | Female | Male | Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Madison Bear | Andrew Stopera | 2020 USMDCC (8th) |
| 2020–21 | Madison Bear | Andrew Stopera | 2021 USMDCC |
| 2021–22 | Madison Bear | Andrew Stopera | 2021 USMDOCT (9th) |
| 2023–24 | Madison Bear | Aidan Oldenburg | |
| 2024–25 | Madison Bear | Aidan Oldenburg |
John Shuster is an American curler who lives in Superior, Wisconsin. He led Team USA to gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first American team to ever win gold in curling. He also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He has played in five straight Winter Olympics and eleven World Curling Championships.
Matthew James Hamilton is an American curler from McFarland, Wisconsin. He currently plays front-end on Team John Shuster. He is a World Junior Champion, World Men's bronze medalist, and Olympic gold medalist.
Nina Marie Roth is a retired American curler from McFarland, Wisconsin. She was the skip of the American women's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the third at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Tyler George is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a three-time U.S. Champion, 2016 World bronze medalist, and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. Since the 2018 Olympics, he has taken a break from playing competitive curling, instead spending time as an ambassador and coach for the sport.
Stacey Liapis is an American curler from Bemidji, Minnesota. She played much of her career on teams with her sister Kari Erickson. She is a two-time Olympian, in 1998 and 2002, and a two-time United States National Champion, in 1998 and 2001.
Jamie Ann Sinclair is an American-Canadian curler from Osgoode, Ontario and is a three-time U.S. National Champion. Her United States Curling Association membership is through the Charlotte Curling Association in Charlotte, North Carolina where she has a number of personal connections. She grew up in Manotick, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa.
Rebecca Lynn Hamilton is an American curler from McFarland, Wisconsin. She is a five-time national women's champion, three-time national mixed doubles champion, two-time national junior champion, and a two-time Olympian. At the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, she competed in mixed doubles curling with her brother, Matt, along with playing with the women's curling team. She was again on the women's curling team during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Aileen Miranda Geving is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. She represented the United States on the women's curling team at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics and earned her first national championship in 2020.
Cory Thiesse is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. She currently plays third on Team Tabitha Peterson. She is a three-time defending U.S. women's champion, winning titles in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Thiesse was one of the top junior women's curlers in the United States, playing in six national junior championships and winning four of them. She was the alternate on Nina Roth's 2018 United States Olympic team.
Monica Walker is an American curler originally from Brighton, Massachusetts. She is a three-time national champion.
Tabitha Skelly Peterson is an American curler from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was a bronze medalist at the 2010 World Junior Championships and is a three-time women's national champion. She currently is skip of her own team, having traded positions with Nina Roth during the 2020 off-season.
Tara S. Peterson is an American curler from Shoreview, Minnesota. She currently plays second for her sister Tabitha.
Sarah Anderson is an American curler from Broomall, Pennsylvania. She currently plays third on Team Delaney Strouse. Along with her twin sister Taylor, she was United States National Champion in 2019 and 2021, and World Junior silver medalist in 2016.
Taylor Anderson is an American curler from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is currently the alternate on Team Tabitha Peterson. Along with her twin sister Sarah, she was United States National Champion in 2019 and World Junior silver medalist in 2016.
Mackenzie Lank is an American curler. She has won the US Junior Championship twice and US Women's Championship once. She has frequently played with her mother, Patti Lank.
Victoria "Vicky" Persinger is an American curler from Fairbanks, Alaska. She currently plays lead on Team Tabitha Peterson. She is a three-time United States Women's National Champion.
Jenna Martin is an American curler. Martin is a two-time United States Junior Curling Champion, in 2008 on Nina Spatola's team and in 2015 on Cory Christensen's team.
Andrew Stopera is an American curler from Briarcliff Manor, New York. He currently plays third on Team Korey Dropkin. He is a three-time United States Junior Champion and won the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships.
Cora Farrell is an American curler from Fairbanks, Alaska. She was a silver medalist at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Susan Dudt is an American curler from Malvern, Pennsylvania. She is a two-time champion of the United States Junior Curling Championships, going on to win the bronze medal at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships and the 2023 Winter World University Games.
