By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

Peyton Marcin, one of the nation’s top young curling prospects and a recent Bowling Green High School graduate, has signed with the up-and-coming BGSU curling program.

“I consider him a top-five prospect in the whole nation,” BGSU curling coach Patrick Nelson said. “He just so happens to live in Bowling Green, Ohio. It’s pretty amazing.”

In March 2023, the city of Bowling Green hosted the USA Curling College National Championship at the Black Swamp Curling Center. At that time, BGSU didn’t even have a program of its own.

“I went to my administration and told them I coach youth curling, and I’d really love to develop a college team,” Nelson said. “We’re fortunate enough that they supported the idea.”

This past year was the first season of college competition for Nelson and the BGSU program. They finished third in the region, just shy a berth to nationals, which was given to the top three finishers.

Nelson, who has his whole team back and now adds Marcin, expects big things this coming year.

“I expect us to go to nationals and compete for a medal,” he said.

Marcin, who started curling when he was 10 years, is a third-generation curler in his family, joining his father and grandfather.

Since beginning his journey in the sport, Marcin has become a three-time reigning champion of the Great Lakes regional U-18 curling team, which has led to him skipping a team at nationals in each of those years.

“I always thought (curling) was kind of weird,” Marcin said. “I’d go out and watch (my dad), but I was like, ‘what is this? It’s looks dumb.’ But he signed me up for the junior league one year. I tried it, and I loved it. I was hooked right away.”

Nelson, who coaches U-18 junior curling in the area as well as the BGSU program, has known Marcin since his Cub Scout days and from his involvement at the Black Swamp Curling Center.

That was certainly a factor for Marcin in his choice to stay home.

“I’ve worked with him quite a bit, and I also know a lot of people who already curl at Bowling Green,” Marcin said. “It’s better to join a team full of people I already know and like than adjust to a whole new group of people.”

Nelson said that curling happens to be one of the few Olympic team sports that students are able to do at the college level.

He added that the sport has been growing a lot since the U.S. men won gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“The sport really took off at that point,” Nelson said.

As a three-time U-18 national tournament participant, Marcin said he has made many friends and been many places because of the sport.

Marcin went to Denver twice and Fort Wayne once for nationals. He goes to camps every summer in Minnesota and has been to Canada a few times.

Now, Marcin hopes to use those experiences to help BGSU compete for a national championship.

“I started not knowing what I was doing thinking it was just a stupid sport my dad made me try, but I loved it and practiced all the time,” Marcin said. “I’ve been to camps and instructed by a lot of people, including Olympians and national champions.

“The curling program at the college is fairly new. It’s not a popular sport, so a lot of the kids who are starting to curl are new. They just joined because they saw it advertised.

“Now I’m able to use that knowledge to instruct other people who may not know what they’re doing. I think it’s cool to be able to help them get better so we can win.”