Elwing brothers sweep the competition at nationals

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Team Elwing poses with their trophy after an exciting victory.

When thinking about high school sports, we typically think of sports like soccer, football, or basketball. For the Elwing brothers, they’re all about curling. March 8 through the 12, Michael (’17) and Ryan Elwing (’18) participated in Junior U18 National Championships for curling. Team Elwing was able to qualify for Nationals after defeating many different teams at state in mid-December.

“We ended up playing in a tiebreaker to win [the game],” Michael Elwing recounted when asked about the road to nationals. This was the first year that the team had qualified for nationals, so naturally, they were nervous about competing. They had competed against Washington in their Round Robin game and lost. However, this did not stop them. They competed against the same team again during nationals and ended up winning. “We knew what we were up against and we just went at it,” Michael said about their win.

Although the team made it to nationals and took home a trophy, they were still presented with challenges.

“The hardest part is figuring out what your opponent is going to play. That determines what shot you have to call,” said Michael Elwing about the most difficult part about curling. There’s more to curling than a broom and a stone. Elwing describes it as a guessing game which requires each team member to observe what the other team can and cannot do.

Despite the struggles that Team Elwing might go through, Michael Elwing says that his favorite part about curling is the overall experience of being with his amazing team and teammates during these competitions. “After how long we have played together we have pretty much become a family,” he said. It is evident that the team is skilled, but the bond between each member is what truly makes them strong.