This week, nearly a dozen athletes with Minnesota connections—many of whom play at local curling clubs in the Twin Cities and Duluth—will represent the U.S. as part of the national curling team for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Minnesotans Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin (aptly, Team Cory and Korey) will compete in mixed doubles; sisters and Twin Citians Tara Peterson and Tabitha Peterson Lovick will play with Team Peterson; and many other curlers from the North Star State are set to take the ice.
But what does it take to get a team of champion curlers ready for the world stage? We talked with three Minnesotans who are behind the scenes of curling’s big moment. They shared their thoughts about the state of the sport, the excitement around the Olympics, and what it’s like to train world-class athletes.
Courtesy of Duluth Curling Club
The Trainer
Mike Gulenchyn is USA Curling’s sports science coordinator. As a licensed trainer and strength and conditioning specialist, Gulenchyn works with Minnesota curlers at Training HAUS, a sports performance facility in Eagan. “There are 25 athletes living in the Twin Cities who work out with me at Training HAUS at least two or three days a week,” Gulenchyn says—including all of the Minnesotans on this year’s Olympic team. “Many of these athletes have moved here from different parts of the United States to get the necessary resources to compete at the highest level within the sport of curling.”
Courtesy of World Curling
He travels with the national team all over the world, handling the curlers’ sports-medicine needs, helping write treatment plans for injuries, testing performance metrics, and more. In their day-to-day training, Gulenchyn helps athletes strengthen the muscles for two distinct components of curling: the delivery of the rock and the sweeping of the rock. For delivery, Gulenchyn says, curlers need strong leg, core, and upper-body muscles. For sweeping, they need strong adductors, glutes, hamstrings, and quads for the lateral movement pattern of a sweep, plus strong upper bodies for the push-pull motion. “I wish casual viewers knew how athletic and strategic curling really is,” Gulenchyn says. “It may look simple, but it’s physically demanding and mentally complex—every shot involves strength, precision, communication, and strategy.”
From Gulenchyn’s perspective, how has the curling scene evolved in Minnesota? “The sport of curling continues to grow both within the state … and across the country,” he says. “It is a uniquely inclusive sport, offering individuals the opportunity to participate at any stage of life.” The balance of physical and cognitive elements keeps curling fresh—always challenging yet accessible.
Photo by Michael Woolheater | Courtesy of USA Curling
The Advocate
Kerry Hadiaris is the Duluth Curling Club’s general manager and a longtime curler herself. At Duluth, “we have over 700 members, 20 leagues, and 12 bonspiels this season,” Hadiaris says. In other words, the scene is vibrant. Team Cory and Korey (that’s Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin) are members of the Duluth Curling Club; Thiesse grew up in its junior program—and Dropkin has been “adopted” by the club, Hadiaris says with a laugh. “He moved to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth and never left,” she says. “Both are active members of our club who regularly play in leagues with friends and family.”
With support from the Duluth Curling Club, Thiesse and Dropkin created the CK Cup, the first junior curling event in the U.S. to feature mixed doubles. Even while preparing for their own Olympic showing this winter, they found time to host the third annual CK Cup this past November, Hadiaris says. “They are outstanding role models for our junior curlers.”
Courtesy of Duluth Curling Club
Like Mike Gulenchyn, Hadiaris says most casual spectators likely underestimate the physical and mental challenges of curling. “But most importantly, curlers are the most friendly and welcoming people you could meet,” she says. “There is a strong social component to the game. Each match starts and ends with a handshake. Curlers play to win but never to humble their opponent.”
Membership at the Duluth Curling Club continues to grow, especially as its Olympian alumni draw more attention to the sport. “We are excited to cheer on our athletes and friends as they pursue their Olympic dreams,” says Hadiaris.
Courtesy of Duluth Curling Club
The Historian
Jeff Isaacson is now the curling and event center manager at the Chaska Curling Center on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, but he’s an Olympian in his own right: He curled for Team USA at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games. Shortly after the 2014 Sochi Games, Isaacson retired and dove into working with the Chaska Curling Center, which opened in 2015. “I’ve been working to help get curling established in the Chaska community and continuing to try and grow the game,” he says.
Courtesy of Jeff Isaacson
Isaacson is a lifelong curler who spent his childhood watching his dad curl and started playing himself at age 13. “For years, [the St. Paul Curling Club] was the only curling club in the metro,” Isaacson says. The sport’s growing popularity in the early 2010s necessitated change. In 2011, the Frogtown Curling Club was added in St. Paul; in 2012, the Four Seasons Curling Center was founded in Blaine; and the Dakota Curling Club has been playing at various rinks in the south metro since 2006. “It’s been great to see the growth—much of it driven by the Olympic Games, with a large boom happening after the Vancouver Olympics,” says Isaacson. He notes that, while there’s been a more recent popularity boom in the Twin Cities, northern Minnesota has a long history with curling. “The Iron Range has always had many clubs in each of their small towns, [and] Duluth and Bemidji always have good numbers,” Isaacson says. “You can pretty much find curling in all corners of the state.”
In his work at the Chaska Curling Center, Isaacson prioritizes visibility and accessibility. “I enjoy how the game brings people from all walks of life together,” he says. “On your sheet of ice, you could be playing against a doctor, a scientist, an Olympian, a pilot—any occupation you can think of.”
Curling is truly a sport that can be played—and better yet, started—at any age. “Most of our members started playing in their 40s, 50s, and 60s,” Isaacson says. “We often hear, ‘I wish I would have known about curling when I was younger!’” He wants aspiring curlers to know that the various movements can be adapted to different mobility levels. “We often see people in the lunge position, but for those with bad knees or backs, the game can be played standing up using a stick,” Isaacson says. “We also have members who are in wheelchairs, and we have ramps to access the ice to help with their participation.”
Courtesy of Jeff Isaacson
To learn more about curling in Minnesota, resources abound. Check out the Minnesota Curling Association’s website or USA Curling’s online introduction to the sport to get started.
