Iron Range Hosts 2025 Pan-Continental Curling Championship
VIRGINIA, Minn. — For the first time ever, the Pan-Continental Curling Championships took place on American soil and the Iron Range was at the center of it all.
“We love the Iron Range and the curlers up here. It’s a great curling community to bring this up here. We’ve got great support from both the curling people at Curl Mesabi and also local sponsors. So anytime we can bring top flight curling to a place that really appreciates it, we’re happy to do that,” Dean Gemmell, USA Curling CEO said.
The event is for men’s and women’s teams from the Americas and Pacific-Asia zones and is used as a qualifying event for the World Championships.
For Olympic gold medal winners Team Shuster, that means a top level competition close to home.
“It’s so nice to be close to home. I mean, we’ve spent a lot of time up here over the years, and so we know all the places that we, you know, like to go eat or do all that kind of stuff,” Chris Plys, Third on Team Shuster said.
Around 40 teams from 25 countries made the trip to the Iron Range to compete in the championship, bringing the attention to the growing curling scene in the area.
“Minnesota is a real hub for it, and a place we, you know, we always want to support, but it’s been great to see the game grow elsewhere in Minnesota, and the enthusiasm this state has for the sport has been a part of that growth,” Gemmell said.
Many new fans of the sport got the chance to cheer on their country.
“It’s nice to kind of show the sport to some new folks and some new kids. And you know, every time we’re up here, we get treated like we’re like we’re family,” Plys said.
The hope is to also get young fans out on the ice to test their skills.
“Part of our agenda is actually to get more teenagers curling. We think it’s a great sport for high school athletes. So maybe playing what we call a shoulder sport, maybe a summer spring sport. Try curling in the winter. So we really want to, you know, push that during the upcoming Olympic Games, and this is a great opportunity to do it on a local level right here,” Gemmell said.
The tournament wrapped up Sunday, Oct 26, with the medal games determining what teams move on to the men’s and women’s World Curling Championships.
