| Peter Fenson | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 29, 1968 Bemidji, Minnesota |
| Team | |
| Curling club | Bemidji CC, Bemidji, Minnesota |
| Skip | Pete Fenson |
| Third | Shawn Rojeski |
| Second | Joe Polo |
| Lead | Ryan Brunt |
| Career | |
| World Championship appearances |
7 (1993, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011) |
| Olympic appearances |
1 (2006) |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Curling | ||
| Competitor for United States | ||
| Winter 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]
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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.
Fenson and his team missed the playoffs at the first three events for their 2011–12 World Curling Tour season. However, they had better fortune at the Laphroaig Scotch Open, where they flew through the knockout round and defeated David Brown in the final to win the event. Fenson and his rink have been selected to represent the United States at the 2012 USA-Brazil Challenge, where they will play against Brazil for a spot in the World Championships in Basel.
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]
| 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 | 2012 Cont., USNCC |