Curling: Shuster headed to World Championship playoffs

Apr. 10—John Shuster's Team USA squad defeated Korea 8-3 on Friday to finish in third place in the World Men's Curling Championship round-robin standings in Calgary, Alberta.

Shuster, the skip of the 2018 Winter Olympics gold medal champions, and Duluth Curling Club teammates Chris Plys, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner ended up 10-3 in the 14-team competition and will face Switzerland in the playoffs at 8 a.m. Saturday. The winner of that match qualifies for the semifinal round.

"This is far from mission accomplished," Shuster told usacurling.org. "I think making the playoffs was step one, but we're here to win a world championship."

Sweden and the team representing Russia each finished 11-2 to tie for first place and received byes into the semifinals.

The U.S. also clinched a spot in the 2022 Winter Games by finishing in the top six. Shuster, a Chisholm native and Superior resident, will compete to represent the Americans at the U.S. Olympic Trials in November in Omaha, Nebraska.