Former RR woman to curl at US Mixed Nationals

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Former Rainy River woman Amelia Pirkl, 24, is off to the USA curling nationals March 19-24 in Grafton, North Dakota.
Pirkl plays lead on a mixed team based out of Fargo, ND. On Feb. 9-11 the team travelled to Williston, ND. to compete in the state playdowns and won!
“There were nine teams playing down at state and our record was 2-1 in round robin play. We were seeded #1 for the page playoff and won the first round against the defending state champs in an extra end. We also won the finals in an extra end,” said Pirkl in an email Monday.
Her teammates include, Al Gulseth-skip, Jamie Kirkpatrick-vice-skip, Mark Gulseth-second and alternate Mary Jaster.
Pirkl lives in Fargo and curls out of the Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club. She noted that this is the first time a team from Fargo has won the state title since 1987. Making it extra special this year is the fact that the Nationals will be held in Grafton, ND. which is about 2.5 hours from Rainy River. She is hoping lots of friends, family and area residents make the trek over to watch it.
There are eight regional/state champions coming to the Nationals. They include North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alaska, California, Washington, Maryland and Ohio.
When she isn’t curling Amelia works as a Clinical Research Assistant at the PRACS Institute. “I run the studies to test drugs in humans and try to get them off to market.”
For draw and event information log onto www.usacurl.org and click Mixed Nationals.
Amelia is the daughter of John and Sheri Pirkl of Rainy River, Ont.