Washington's Brady Clark and Maryland's Scott Edie rinks also advanced regardless of the outcome between the two teams. They will turn around and play each other again in the semifinals set for 2 p.m. tomorrow. It was Clark's Washington rink that won the game today, 9-7, to earn the No. 2 playoff seed.

But the real drama was one sheet over between California and Ohio with the winner advancing to the semifinals after Alaska was eliminated from playoff contention at the hands of Wisconsin. A Wisconsin loss would have created a tiebreaker game situation and would have dropped them to the No. 2 seed. But Ryan Lemke's rookie Mixed National team played like veterans, sliding past Alaska 7-4 despite trailing for the first half of the game.

Sieg (Castro Valley, Calif.) and teammates Christina Pastula (Seattle), Brannon Wells (San Jose, Calif.) and Candace Siep (San Jose, Calif.) stole the games first three ends to build a 4-0 lead before Ohio's Robb Borland rink scored one in the fourth. California countered with just one in the fifth end and Ohio tried to sneak back into the game getting a deuce in the sixth. The teams traded singles in the next two ends with California sealing the victory in the ninth end with one point. They earned the No. 4 seed and will now play Wisconsin in the semifinals.

Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Cristin Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.), Leon Romaniuk (Kirkland, Wash.) and Bev Walter (Seattle) took control of their match with Maryland by scoring three points in both the second and fourth ends to build a comfortable 6-2 lead. Maryland got close but wasn't able to set up a steal to win the game. The husband-and-wife duo of Brady and Cristin Clark are trying to win their fifth mixed title in just six years.

In a game with no playoff implications, Minnesota's Ron Gervais rink closed out the tournament with an 8-6 win over North Dakota's Al Gulseth rink, which failed to win a game in the team's first appearance at the event. Tied 4-4 after six ends, Minnesota blasted North Dakota for four in the seventh end and then stole one in the eighth to seal the third victory of the week for Gervais (Tofte, Minn.) and his Duluth Curling Club teammates Norma O'Leary (Silver Bay, Minn.), Mike O'Leary (Silver Bay, Minn.) and Pam Cavers (Duluth, Minn.)

The championship final is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Game scores: California 7, Ohio 4; Washington 9, Maryland 7; Wisconsin 7, Alaska 4; Minnesota 8, North Dakota 6

Standings:
*Wisconsin 6-1
*Washington 5-2
*Maryland 4-3
*California 4-3
Alaska 3-4
Ohio 3-4
Minnesota 3-4
North Dakota 0-7

*Semifinalists:
Wisconsin (Medford Curling Club): Ryan Lemke (Medford, Wis.), Jackie Lemke (Medford, Wis.), Kroy Nernberger (Medford, Wis.), Sydney Johnson (Portage, Wis.)

Washington (Granite Curling Club): Brady Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.), Cristin Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.), Leon Romaniuk (Kirkland, Wash.), Bev Walter (Seattle)

Maryland (Potomac Curling Club): Scott Edie (Middletown, Md.), Janice Langanke (Middletown, Md.), Dean Gemmell (Short Hills, N.J.), Jennifer Kungle (Columbia, Md.)

California (San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club): Lyle Sieg (Castro Valley, Calif.), Christina Pastula (Seattle), Brannon Wells (San Jose, Calif.), Candace Siep (San Jose, Calif.)

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies 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.

For more information: Terry Luder, USA Curling, terry.luder@usacurl.org, 715-344-1199