Andrew Stopera

Andrew Stopera (born September 30, 1997) is an American curler from Briarcliff Manor, New York.[1] He is a three-time United States Junior Champion and won the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

Andrew Stopera
Curler
Born (1997-09-30) September 30, 1997
Briarcliff Manor, New York
Team
SkipRich Ruohonen
ThirdAndrew Stopera
SecondColin Hufman
LeadPhilip Tilker
AlternateKroy Nernberger
Mixed doubles
partner		Madison Bear
Career
Member Association United States
Medal record
Men's Curling
Representing  United States
World Junior Championships
2017 Gangneung
US Junior Championships
2017 Fargo
2018 Ferndale
2019 Two Harbors
2014 Seattle
2015 Devil's Lake
2013 Wayland
2016 Willmar

Curling career

Stopera had a prolific junior curling career, playing in the United States Junior Championships seven straight years, 2013–2019, and medaling every time. The first two seasons of his junior career Stopera played third for Scott Dunnam's team. They earned bronze at the 2013 Junior Nationals[2] and improved to silver at the 2014 Junior Nationals.

Dunnam aged out of juniors after the 2013–14 season and Stopera joined the United States Curling Association's Junior High Performance Program.[3] Stopera was added to the Korey Dropkin rink at the lead position, joining Tom Howell, Mark Fenner, and alternate Luc Violette. Despite the new team, the result at the 2015 Junior Nationals was a familiar one, another silver medal. The team also competed in the United States Men's Championship, where they finished 7th. The next season, Stopera formed a new team, adding Luc Violette at third, Steven Szemple at second, and William Pryor at lead. The new lineup earned bronze at the 2016 Junior Nationals.

For the 2016–17 season, Team Stopera got a new front end, with Ben Richardson joining at second and Graem Fenson at lead. This line-up won the next three United States Junior Championships, 2017–2019.[4][5] Winning Junior Nationals earned them the chance to represent the United States at the World Junior Championships.[6] At their first appearance, the 2017 Worlds, they earned the silver medal when they lost to Lee Ki-jeong's South Korean team in the final. At the 2018 Worlds they made it to the bronze medal match but lost to Team Switzerland.[7] Stopera finished fifth at his final Worlds in 2019.[8]

Stopera played at the Winter University Games (WUG) twice as a junior, in 2017 and 2019. He played as alternate for Alex Leichter's team at the 2017 Games, finishing in sixth place. Two years later, Stopera returned to the WUG as skip but again came up short, finishing in eighth place.[9]

After aging out of juniors Stopera joined Todd Birr's team for the 2019–20 season, playing third.[10] He also is still in the High Performance Program, but now as a mixed doubles athlete competing with Madison Bear.[11]

Personal life

Stopera's father Bill is also a curler, and won the United States Men's Championship in 2012.[3]

Teams

Men's
Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2012–13 Scott DunnamAndrew StoperaSteven SzempleAndrew Dunnam2013 USJCC
2013–14 Scott DunnamAndrew StoperaSteven SzempleAndrew Dunnam2014 USJCC
2014–15 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAndrew StoperaLuc Violette2015 USJCC
2015 USMCC (7th)
2015–16 Andrew StoperaLuc VioletteSteven SzempleWilliam Pryor2016 USJCC
Heath McCormickBill StoperaDean GemmellMark LazarAndrew Stopera2016 USMCC (10th)
2016–17 Andrew StoperaLuc VioletteBen RichardsonGraem FensonSteven SzempleMark Lazar2017 USJCC
2017 WJCC
Alex LeichterNate ClarkChris BondCalvin WeberAndrew StoperaFrederick Leichter2017 WUG (6th)
2017–18 Andrew StoperaLuc VioletteBen RichardsonGraem FensonCaleb ClawsonMark Lazar2018 USJCC
2018 WJCC (4th)
2018–19 Andrew StoperaLuc VioletteBen RichardsonGraem FensonRiley FensonMark Lazar2019 USJCC
2019 WJCC (5th)
Andrew StoperaLuc VioletteAlex FensonGraem FensonMark Lazar2019 WUG (8th)
2019–20 Todd BirrAndrew StoperaHunter ClawsonTom O'Connor2020 USMCC (8th)

Mixed doubles
Season Male Female Events
2019–20 Andrew StoperaMadison Bear2020 USMDCC (7th)
gollark: When it breaks, throw away the code and rewrite it.
gollark: Ah, good.
gollark: Well, can you do `tab !! [[BASE OF INDEXOIDS]..x]`?
gollark: Can you do `tab !! [0..x]`?
gollark: Apparently some combinations of networking infrastructure are Turing-complete.

References
  1. "Andrew Stopera". USA Curling. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  2. Bruttell, Nathan (2013-02-06). "Briarcliff Teen Earns National Junior Curling Medal". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  3. LoPriore, Danny (2014-08-08). "Ardsley Curling Club's Stopera Invited To Training Progam". Rivertowns Daily Voice. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  4. Jung, Tristan (2019-03-15). "High-level curlers face thin margins, tough travel schedule". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  5. Haggerty, Nancy (2019-02-01). "Curling: Briarcliff's Stopera leads his team to third straight U.S. Junior National title". lohud.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  6. Patterson, Nick (2017-02-12). "Local youth ushers in start of USA curling nationals in Everett". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  7. Monteith, Austin (2018-03-10). "CURLING: Sinclair, Persinger teams win Nationals". The Jamestown Sun. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  8. "World Junior Curling Championships 2019". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  9. "U.S. men finish eighth at World University Games". USA Curling. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  10. "Qualified teams, 2020 USA Curling National Championships". USA Curling. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  11. Davis, Terry (2019-07-30). "HPP mixed doubles teams and athlete additions announced". USA Curling. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
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