WSC’s curling team did not win a game, losing to the eventual national champion, but they did get a lot of experience at the nationals in Chaska, Minn.

“For us, it is good, because we got a lot of experience and learned a bunch,” coach Camron Groenke said.

The Wildcats were competing against people with as many as 15 years of experience. WSC’s curling club has only been in existence for two years.

WSC lost by two points on the last shot to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York), then lost to national champion University of Pennsylvania, Bowden (Maine) and in the playoff round to Colgate University (New York.)

WSC took seven curlers to nationals: Evan Rose, Jamie Wendt, Kyle Newman, Kalan Rogers, Bryan Carlson, Ryan Sousek and Groenke. Everyone got cycled in.

“It was a productive weekend,” Groenke said. “It’s frustrating that we lost the way we did, but we came in at the 16th seed, so to be able to compete well with those teams was good to see. It was a really nice facility. Other than that, we had a lot of fun and we were glad to make it to nationals.”

The curling team participated in a league in Omaha every Sunday from October to March. They also went to multiple tournaments throughout the year.

“Next year, I just want to see the success continue and the growth build,” Groenke said. “I just hope we get increased membership. The biggest thing is people don’t realize that we are a club. I’m sure there will be stuff over the summer, if people want to tag along and learn how to curl. It always starts with the people learning how to curl.”