Rich Ruohonen

Last updated
Rich Ruohonen
Curler
Born (1971-03-31) March 31, 1971 (age 54) [1]
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Team
Curling club St. Paul CC,
St. Paul, MN
Skip Daniel Casper
Third Luc Violette
Second Ben Richardson
Lead Aidan Oldenburg
AlternateRich Ruohonen
Curling career Curling pictogram.svg
Member AssociationFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World Championship
appearances		2 (2008, 2018)
Pan Continental Championship
appearances		1 (2022)
Other appearances World Senior Curling Championships: 1 (2024)
Medal record
Curling
Pan Continental Curling Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Calgary
World Senior Curling Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2024 Östersund
United States Men's Curling Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Hibbing
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Fargo
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2011 Fargo
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2013 Green Bay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2017 Everett
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Kalamazoo
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2020 Cheney
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Duluth
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Philadelphia

Richard Ruohonen (born March 31, 1971) is an American curler [2] from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. He is a two-time national champion and as such represented the United States at the 2008 and 2018 World Men's Curling Championships.

Contents

Career

Ruohonen made his first appearance at the United States Men's Championship in 1998. [2] He won his first national championship in 2008, playing third for skip Craig Brown. As Team United States at the 2008 World Men's Championship, they finished the round-robin with 5–6 record, missing the playoffs and ending the tournament in seventh place.

Ruohonen would lose the US Nationals final three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2017, before again earning the gold medal in 2018. His 2018 gold medal team included Greg Persinger, Colin Hufman, and Philip Tilker. At the World Championship they finished in sixth place when they lost their first playoff game to Brad Gushue's Team Canada.

In 2019 when Ruohonen returned to the national championship to attempt to defend his title, he brought along Jared Allen, retired NFL player, as an alternate. [3] Ruohonen's team lost to John Shuster in the final, with a score of 8–4. [4]

At the 2020 United States Men's Championship Ruohonen made it to the finals for the fourth year in a row, facing John Shuster for the third time out of those four years and, as happened in 2017 and 2019, Shuster prevailed to win the championship. [5]

Personal life

Ruohonen is an American personal injury lawyer. [6] In 2001 he was fellow curler Jason Larway's attorney when they filed a grievance with the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Curling Association over Larway's eligibility to compete at the 2001 United States Olympic Curling Trials. [7]

He is married to Sherry, with two children. He started curling in 1981. [2]

Teams

SeasonSkipThirdSecondLeadAlternateCoachEvents
2003–04Rich RuohonenJeff Laundergan John Benton Pete Annis 2004 USMCC (9th)
2004–05Rich RuohonenNick MyersJohn BentonPete AnnisJim Dexter 2005 USMCC/USOCT (5th)
2005–06Rich RuohonenNick MyersJohn BentonPete Annis2006 US World Trials (5th)
2006–07Rich RuohonenTroy SchroederJohn BentonPete Annis2007 USMCC (8th)
2007–08 Craig Brown Rich Ruohonen John Dunlop Pete Annis Kevin Kakela (WMCC) Steve Brown 2008 USMCC Gold medal icon.svg
2008 WMCC (7th)
2008–09Craig BrownRich RuohonenJohn DunlopPete Annis 2009 USMCC/USOCT (4th)
2009–10Craig BrownRich Ruohonen Zach Jacobson Pete Annis 2010 USMCC (5th)
2010–11 Tyler George Chris Plys Rich Ruohonen Phill Drobnick 2011 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg
2011–12Tyler GeorgeChris PlysRich Ruohonen Colin Hufman 2012 USMCC (8th)
2012–13Chris Plys (fourth)Tyler George (skip)Rich RuohonenColin Hufman 2013 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg
2013–14Chris Plys (fourth)Tyler George (skip)Rich RuohonenColin HufmanCraig Brown 2013 USOCT (4th)
Heath McCormick Chris PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman 2014 USMCC Bronze medal icon.svg
2014–15 [8] Mike Farbelow Rich RuohonenKevin JohnsonDan Ruehl
2015–16 [9] Mike FarbelowRich RuohonenChris BondDan Ruehl
2016–17 Todd Birr Rich RuohonenJohn BentonTom O'Connor 2017 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg
2017–18Heath McCormickChris Plys Korey Dropkin Tom HowellRich Ruohonen 2017 USOCT (2nd)
Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip)Colin Hufman Philip Tilker Chris Plys
(WMCC)		Phill Drobnick 2018 USMCC Gold medal icon.svg
2018 WMCC (6th)
2018–19Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip)Colin HufmanPhilip Tilker Jared Allen 2019 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg
Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip) Sean Beighton Kroy Nernberger Phill Drobnick CWC/1 (6th)
2019–20Rich RuohonenGreg PersingerColin HufmanPhilip TilkerKroy Nernberger 2020 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg
2020–21Rich Ruohonen Andrew Stopera Colin HufmanPhilip TilkerKroy Nernberger 2021 USMCC (7th)
2021–22Rich RuohonenAndrew StoperaColin HufmanKroy NernbergerPhilip Tilker
Korey Dropkin Andrea Stopera Mark Fenner Tom HowellRich RuohonenMark Lazar 2022 PCCC Bronze medal icon.svg
2023–24Rich Ruohenen Jason Smith Samuel Strouse Jared Allen Aidan Oldenburg 2024 USMCC (8th)
2024–25 Daniel Casper Luc Violette Ben RichardsonAidan OldenburgRich Ruohonen 2025 USMCC Silver medal icon.svg

Grand Slam record

Key
CChampion
FLost in Final
SFLost in Semifinal
QFLost in Quarterfinals
R16Lost in the round of 16
QDid not advance to playoffs
T2Played in Tier 2 event
DNPDid not participate in event
N/ANot a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Tour Challenge N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/ADNPDNPDNP QF T2 N/AN/ADNPDNP T2 [a]
Masters Q DNPDNPDNPDNP Q DNPDNPDNPDNPDNPDNPN/A Q DNPDNPDNP
Champions Cup N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/ADNPDNP QF DNPN/ADNPDNPDNPN/AN/A

Notes

  1. ↑ Ruohonen spared for Daniel Casper.

References

  1. ↑ Rich Ruohonen | Curlingzone
  2. 1 2 3 "Rich Ruohonen". United States Curling Association. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Bemidji trio set for USA Curling National Championships". The Bemidji Pioneer. February 7, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Olympic champ John Shuster wins 7th national curling title". The Associated Press. February 16, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  5. ↑ Schneider, Angela (2020-02-15). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  6. ↑ "ATTORNEY PROFILE Top Rated Personal Injury - Plaintiff Attorney in Bloomington, MN". superlawyers.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Grievance filed by champion curlers". Daily Herald. June 23, 2001. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Farbelow 2–3 at 2015 U.S. Open of Curling". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Farbelow 4–3 at US Men's Challenge Round". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
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