- Pete Fenson
-
Peter Fenson Born February 29, 1968
Bemidji, MinnesotaTeam Curling club Bemidji CC, Bemidji, Minnesota Skip Pete Fenson Third Shawn Rojeski Second Joe Polo Lead Ryan Brunt Career World Championship
appearances7 (1993, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011) Olympic
appearances1 (2006) Medal record Curling Competitor for 
United StatesWinter Olympics Bronze 2006 Turin Team World Curling Championships Bronze 1993 Geneva Team United States Men's Curling Championship Gold 1993 St. Paul Team Gold 1994 Bemidji Team Gold 2003 Utica Team Gold 2005 Madison Team Gold 2006 Bemidji Team Gold 2010 Kalamazoo Team Gold 2011 Fargo Team Peter Fenson (born February 29, 1968 in Bemidji, Minnesota) is an American curler, skip of the men's rink which represented the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The rink took the bronze medal, the first ever Olympic medal for the United States in curling. He has won seven national championships - the most recent in Fargo, North Dakota in February 2011 - and five as skip.[1]
Contents
Career
Fenson took up curling at age 13; his father, Bob Fenson, won the 1979 national championships and is now the coach of Pete's rink. Pete Fenson was a third on the national champion rinks in 1993 and 1994, and his rink, skipped by Scott Baird, made it to the semifinals of the 1993 World Curling Championship and placed fifth in 1994.
Fenson was the skip of the rink which won the 2003 U.S. national championship, and went on to take eighth place at the 2003 Ford World Curling Championship. After finishing as runner-up in the 2004 U.S. championships, Fenson's rink won the 2005 national championship. At the 2005 World Championship, Fenson's rink finished the preliminary round in a six-way tie for first place, but was eliminated from competition in a tie-breaker against defending Olympic champion Norway. Still, Fenson's sixth-place finish earned his rink the right to represent the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
At the Olympics, Fenson's rink had a 6–3 record in the round robin portion of the tournament, losing only to Italy and eventual finalists Finland and Canada. This put the rink in a three-way tie for second place with Canada and Great Britain; Fenson's rink faced Brad Gushue's Canadian rink in the semifinal, losing 11–5 in nine ends. Two days later, however, the rink rebounded to defeat David Murdoch's Great Britain rink in the bronze medal game 8–6, securing the first-ever American Olympic medal in curling. On January 16, 2007, the team was named the 2006 USOC Team of the Year.[2]
Fenson's teammates in the 2009-10 curling season were Shawn Rojeski (third), Joe Polo (second), and Tyler George (lead). The team's lead for the past four years (including the 2006 Olympics), John Shuster, decided in summer 2006 to depart from the team to form his own team.
Fenson won the 2010 USA National Championships, which took place in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His victory earned him the right to play for the US at the 2010 World Championship in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where he and his rink finished 4th after two disappointing losses in the playoffs to David Smith's rink from Scotland. Tyler George soon left to form his own team.
With Ryan Brunt playing at the lead position, Fenson and his rink participated at the 2011 Continental Cup of Curling, where Team North America defeated Team World in a record-breaking performance. His team then went to the 2011 US Nationals and, after winning some tight matches, finished the round robin with an undefeated 9-0 win-loss record. He then edged Tyler George out in the playoffs and in the finals to become the repeat US champion, winning his seventh US national championship. He and his team represented the United States at the 2011 Ford World Men's Curling Championship at Regina, Saskatchewan in April. The team opened with a win against Denmark, but suffered a series of close losses and finished in 10th place with a 3-8 win-loss record, their worst at a world championship.
Personal Life
Pete Fenson is married to his wife Roxanne. He has two sons, Alex and Graem.[3]
Fenson is the owner of a two-restaurant chain, Dave's Pizza, which operates in Bemidji and Brainerd, Minnesota.[3][4]
Fenson is also commonly mistaken for actor Edward Norton, with whom he shares similar facial features.
Teams
Season Skip Third Second Lead Events 1993–94 Scott Baird Pete Fenson Mark Haluptzok Tim Johnson 1993 USNCC, WCC 1994–95 Scott Baird Pete Fenson Mark Haluptzok Tim Johnson 1994 USNCC, WCC 2003–04 Pete Fenson Eric Fenson Shawn Rojeski John Shuster 2003 Cont., USNCC, WCC 2004–05 Pete Fenson Eric Fenson Shawn Rojeski John Shuster 2005 USNCC, WCC 2005–06 Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo Doug Pottinger 2006 Cont. Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo John Shuster 2006 USNCC, OG, WCC 2006–07 Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo John Shuster 2009–10 Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo Tyler George 2010 USNCC, WCC 2010–11 Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo Ryan Brunt 2011 Cont., USNCC, WCC 2011–12 Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo Ryan Brunt See also
References
- ^ Pete Fenson defeats team that includes his brother, wins sixth USA Curling Nationals championship, http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/03/pete_fenson_defeats_team_that.html
- ^ USOC honors top U.S. athletes for 2006, http://www.usolympicteam.com/117_50738.htm
- ^ a b http://curling.teamusa.org/athletes/pete-fenson
- ^ http://www.davespizza.biz/
External links
Categories:- 1968 births
- Living people
- People from Bemidji, Minnesota
- Olympic curlers of the United States
- Curlers at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Olympic medalists in curling
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
