Chris Plys

Christopher Plys (/ˈplz/; born August 13, 1987) is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a Junior World Champion and two-time National Men's Champion. He was the alternate for the United States men's team at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a member of both the men's team and the mixed doubles team at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Christopher Plys
Plys delivering a stone at the 2009 World Junior Curling Championships
Born (1987-08-13) August 13, 1987
Team
Curling clubDuluth CC, Duluth, Minnesota
SkipJohn Shuster
ThirdChris Plys
SecondMatt Hamilton
LeadJohn Landsteiner
AlternateColin Hufman
Mixed doubles
partner
Vicky Persinger
Curling career
Member Association United States
World Championship
appearances
5 (2009, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023)
Olympic
appearances
2 (2010, 2022)

Career

Plys started curling in 1998 at the age of eleven.[1] He competed at seven Junior National Championships in a row, winning five of them, including four in a row as skip to finish his junior career. This gives him more junior national titles as skip than any other junior male. As US Champion, he competed at four World Junior Championships. In his first, 2006, Plys took ninth place in Jeonju, South Korea. The next year, in 2007, he took fifth place in Eveleth, Minnesota. And finally in 2008, Plys won the gold medal in Ostersund, Sweden.[2] At his final Junior Worlds in 2009 he again medaled, taking the bronze. Plys also competed at the World University Games in 2007, in Pinerolo, Italy, playing second on John Shuster's gold medal team.

Early in his men's career, Plys was twice invited to be alternate on Shuster's team at international events, at the World Championship in 2009 and the 2010 Winter Olympics. At the Olympics, he was called in to skip the team (in place of Shuster) during draw 6 after the US team suffered four losses in a row, and led the team to a 4–3 victory over France after a 10th end steal. Following the Olympics, Plys was drafted onto Tyler George's team, where he threw third rocks (and sometimes fourth). The George team finished as runners-up in the 2011 and 2013 national championships. In 2014, Plys moved to third on Heath McCormick's team, which placed third in the 2014 and 2015 national championships, and second in both the 2017 Olympic Trials (to Shuster) and 2018 national championships.

After winning gold at the 2018 Olympics, Tyler George, who had moved to Shuster's team, took a hiatus from curling, and Plys replaced him at third. Team Shuster then won the 2019 national championships and represented the US at the 2019 World Men's Curling Championship, where they finished in fifth place. They defended their United States title at the 2020 United States Men's Championship, defeating Rich Ruohonen in the final to finish the tournament undefeated.[3] The national title would have earned Team Shuster a spot at the final Grand Slam of the season, the Champions Cup,[4] as well as the chance to represent the United States at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship, but both events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Team Shuster represented the United States at the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship, which was played in a fan-less bubble in Calgary due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There, the team led the U.S. to a 10–3 round robin record, in third place.[6] They played Switzerland in the playoffs, in a game which was delayed a day due to some curlers initially testing positive (including Plys himself)[7] for the virus, but later testing negative (it was later revealed that they were all false positives). In the game, Switzerland, skipped by Peter de Cruz, beat the Americans to advance to the semifinals.[8]

Personal life

Plys is self-employed. As of 2021, he is engaged.[9]

Teams

Men's

Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2002–03 Jesse GatesJeff ThuneKevin JohnsonShane McKinlayChris PlysLarry Barott2003 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2003–04 Chris PlysAanders BrorsonKyle ColdagelliCarl BallMatt ZbylutSeppo Sormunen2004 USJCC (5th)
2004–05 Aanders BrorsonChris PlysMark MooreGrant RahnRyan BrownKent Brorson2005 USJCC (5th)
2005–06 Chris PlysMatt MielkeKevin JohnsonTommy KentAaron Wald2006 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2006 WJCC (9th)
2006–07 Chris PlysAanders BrorsonMatt PerushekJoel Cooper2007 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2007 WJCC (5th)
2007–08 Chris PlysAanders BrorsonMatt PerushekMatt Hamilton2008 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2008 WJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
John ShusterJeff IsaacsonChris PlysShane McKinlayJason Smith2008 USMCC (6th)
2008–09 Chris PlysAanders BrorsonMatt PerushekMatt Hamilton2009 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2009 USOCT (8th)
2009 WJCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
John ShusterJason SmithJeff IsaacsonJohn BentonChris PlysBrian Simonson2009 WMCC (5th)
2009–10 John ShusterJason SmithJeff IsaacsonJohn BentonChris Plys2010 OG (10th)
2010–11 Tyler GeorgeChris PlysRich RuohonenPhill Drobnick2011 USMCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2011–12 Tyler GeorgeChris PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman2012 USMCC (8th)
2012–13 Chris Plys (Fourth)Tyler George (Skip)Rich RuohonenColin Hufman2013 USMCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2013–14 Chris Plys (Fourth)Tyler George (Skip)Rich RuohonenColin HufmanCraig Brown2013 USOCT (4th)
Heath McCormickChris PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman2014 USMCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2014–15 Heath McCormickChris PlysJoe PoloColin HufmanRyan Brunt2015 USMCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2015–16 Chris Plys (Fourth)Pete Fenson (Skip)Joe PoloJason Smith2016 USMCC (7th)
2016–17 Heath McCormickChris PlysKorey DropkinTom Howell2017 USMCC (6th)
2017–18 Heath McCormickChris PlysKorey DropkinTom HowellRich Ruohonen
(USOCT)
2017 USOCT 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2018 USMCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Greg Persinger (Fourth)Rich Ruohonen (Skip)Colin HufmanPhilip TilkerChris PlysPhill Drobnick2018 WMCC (6th)
2018–19 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn Landsteiner2019 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 WMCC (5th)
2019–20 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerSean Beighton2020 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2020–21[10] John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerColin HufmanSean Beighton2021 WMCC (5th)
2021–22 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerColin Hufman2021 USOCT 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 OG (4th)
2022–23 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerColin Hufman2023 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 WMCC (8th)
2023–24 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn Landsteiner

Mixed doubles

Season Female Male Events
2016–17 Aileen GevingChris Plys2017 USMDCC (12th)
2017–18[11] Aileen GevingChris Plys
2018–19 Vicky PersingerChris Plys2019 USMDCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2019–20 Vicky PersingerChris Plys2020 USMDCC (5th)
2020–21[12] Vicky PersingerChris Plys2021 USMDCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021–22 Vicky PersingerChris Plys2021 USMDOT 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 OG (8th)
2022–23 Vicky PersingerChris Plys2023 USMDCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

References

  1. Blount, Rachel (January 14, 2009). "New face in curling already a mainstay". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  2. "Curling: Duluth-based team wins world championship". Duluth News Tribune. March 10, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  3. Schneider, Angela (2020-02-15). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  4. "Ruohonen Joins Shuster in Top Page Game". USA Curling. 2020-02-12. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  5. "Canadian curling continues to get hammered by novel coronavirus cancellations". The Star. Mar 14, 2020. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.
  6. "Canada eliminated from men's curling worlds with tense loss to Scotland". CBC. March 14, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  7. @chrisplys (12 Apr 2021). "Unbelievable that I learn for sure that my test was a false positive via Twitter" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  8. Michael Burns (April 11, 2021). "Scotland and Switzerland advance to semi-finals". World Curling Federation. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. "2021 BKT Tires-OK Tires World Men's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  10. "Team Shuster Returns". USA Curling. May 13, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  11. "Geving/Plys reach 2017 Twin Ports Mixed Doubles Classic Semifinals". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  12. "Mixed Doubles Teams Announced". USA Curling. May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.


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