Jan. 2, 2006

American, Canadian Olympic curling teams to play in Winnipeg

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - In a preview to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, U.S. skips Pete Fenson and Cassie Johnson will square off against Canada's Olympic teams in Winnipeg this weekend.

Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and teammates Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.), Joe Polo (Cass Lake, Minn.), and John Shuster (Chisholm) will face Canada's Brad Gushue rink during round robin play at the 2006 BDO Classic Canadian Open at 10 a.m. Saturday in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Meanwhile, USA's Cassie Johnson rink will play Canada's Olympic women's team skipped by Shannon Kleibrink in an exhibition game during the men's semifinals of the BDO Classic on Sunday afternoon. Kleibrink's rink won the Canadian Olympic Trials in December after finishing second at the 2001 Canadian Olympic Trials.

The Johnson and Fenson rinks won the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for curling and have been nominated to the U.S. Olympic Committee for selection to the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team.

The Fenson rink is competing in the $100,000 BDO Classic which features a very competitive field with several past world and Olympic gold medalists, including Norway's Pal Trulsen rink and Canada's Randy Ferbey rink. Round robin action begins at 4 p.m. CT Thursday from the MTS Centre. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

The Fenson and Johnson rinks are set to compete at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games Feb. 10-26 in Torino, Italy. The teams will be looking to win curling's first Olympic medals since the sport became an official medal sport at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The U.S. women finished fourth while the men finished seventh at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies, The Hilton Family and Nike, as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, rick.patzke@usacurl.org, 715-344-1199