Michigan Tech’s Huskies Curl club was hosting their annual Husky Spiel (short for bonspiel – meaning tournament).

School squads came from as far as Denver; Bowling Green, Ohio; Wisconsin-Madison and Stevens Point; Toledo, Ohio; and Minnesota.

When all was said and done, first place went to Bowling Green State. Wisconsin-Madison earned second and Wisconsin-Steven’s Point took third.

“It was a lot of fun to host this event,” said club president Gracie Kohn.

Michigan Tech curler Sierra Manriquez (center) prepares to throw a stone down the ice as teammates Mikayla Shuster (left) and Lily Montgomery (right) look to sweep on Saturday at the Copper Country Curling Club’s facility in Calumet. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

The second-year mechanical engineering student from Portage, Wisconsin, resurrected the MTU curling club last year.

“I grew up curling, my parents curled and the opportunity to curl here was a deciding factor in choosing Michigan Tech after high school,” she said.

She explained that the Tech club has around 30 active members and a much longer email list. Meetings started last year in the fall, where they went over the rules and regulations of the sport of curling.

The club has only been able to put that knowledge to the ice starting in January.

“We have a lot of new people who are doing this for the first time,” she explained.

HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

Among those competing for the first time this weekend in Calumet were Mikayla Schuster and Lily Montgmery. Both are first- year students at Tech who found out about the curling club at the university’s involvement fair last fall.

“There was a street curling demonstration set up, and it looked fun,” said Schuster. “However it is harder than it looks when you get on the ice.”

Montgomery echoed a similar sentiment.

“You slip a lot, but we have improved since we started,” she noted with a smile.

“Curling is mental,” said Huskies Curl club coach Gordon MacLean. “This is not a physical-strength sport as much as it is a balancing act. We are using micro muscles and adjusting accordingly as we throw the stones. It is a lot like putting in golf.”

Maclean should know as he is the founder of the Copper Country Curling Club which began more than 30 years ago. As well, he has served on the board of directors at USA Curling.

“I have been impressed by the dedication of the students,” he explained. “We have enough variety of experience in our club to put together some good teams. “

BUCKET LIST STOP

When Patrick Nelson, coach for the Bowling Green college team told his fellow, weekly-league members that he was headed to the Copper County for this competition, he sensed some jealousy among his colleagues.

“This place (Calumet’s Drill House – home of the Copper Country Curling Club) has a bucket-list quality to it,” he said.

In the world of curling venues, the Drill House is America’s only dedicated, natural-curling, ice surface. That means that there is no cooling element under it. Mother Nature and the thick walls of the old mining facility keep it cool.

“Before the weekend is over, I want to make sure I have the opportunity to throw some stones and brag about it when I get home,” he added.

Nelson not only got to do that, but his team took first place in the spiel.

Was it worth the nearly 10-hour drive?

“Absolutely,” he stated. “This is such a unique spot, and the hospitality of this weekend was just great.”