Scotland had dropped its first two games but notched its first victory earlier Saturday with a commanding 8-3 win over Canada. Meanwhile, the U.S. dropped its first game against Germany but responded with a tight, 9-8 victory over South Korea.

After Saturday night, Scotland and skip Ross Whyte may have fully righted the ship after defeating the United States and skip John Shuster in a close-fought, 6-4 battle.

“We had a tough day yesterday with two losses, but we can bounce back today with two wins against some really tough oppositions so we’re really enjoying it here,” Whyte said postgame. “The ice is great. The fans are really coming in and providing a good atmosphere.”

Shuster pointed to the fourth end where Scotland scored two points as a crucial end, especially as the United States was only able to score single points for the rest of the game.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

“We had chances throughout the game but those guys played incredibly well,” Shuster said.

The game started with both countries trading 2-point scores.

After blanking the third end to carry the hammer into the fourth end, Whyte buried a stone in the rings behind a corner guard while Shuster was sitting shot in the top 4-foot ring behind two center guards.

A clearing shot from Scottish third Robin Brydone rearranged the house and moved the U.S. shot stone out to the edge of the 8-foot ring. After U.S. third Chris Plys drew to sit shot in the top 4-foot, Brydone ran back a Scottish guard to take out the just-placed rock.

Still sitting one in the rings, Shuster attempted to draw around the center stones on the left side but came up light.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

After that miss, Whyte took out the lone U.S. rock in the rings and rolled under the protection of the U.S. stones in front of the house.

For his last rock, Shuster attempted to run back one of the red U.S. rocks onto the Scottish shot rock but missed. That set up Whyte to draw for 2 points with the hammer.

For the rest of the game, Shuster and the U.S. hunted for opportunities to score multiple points, including blanking the fifth and sixth ends, but Whyte and the Scottish rink were quick to shut down any attempt.

“You can’t make too many mistakes and win games against teams of that caliber,” Shuster said.

With Scotland leading 5-4 with the hammer in the 10th end, the U.S. put up guards to protect their shot stone in an attempt to tie and force an extra end. Scotland was efficient in clearing the guards until skip stones when Shuster drew to the back 4-foot to sit two with a yellow Scottish stone just outside the top 4-foot.

Ryan Olson, Standard-Examiner

With the hammer, Whyte ran the Scottish rock in the rings back onto the U.S. stones for a double takeout to end the game with a 6-4 victory.

The United States will need to bounce back quickly from the loss; the Shuster rink was scheduled to play additional marquee games Sunday against Canada’s Matt Dunstone and Sweden’s Niklas Edin.

Ahead of this gauntlet, Shuster said all games at the worlds are big games, but it’s important to try to win contests against top competitors.

“If you want to take yourself seriously and try to win a world championship, you’ve got to win those games that you’d see as marquee games,” Shuster said. “And anytime you have Scotland, Canada and Niklas Edin from Sweden, those are three of them.”

While that trio of games are important, Shuster said his team approaches every matchup pretty much the same by emphasizing great communication, managing what they can manage and playing their game.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Following the loss to Scotland, Shuster said the team would emphasize the good from the game. The United States would seek to build on its success with putting rocks in the right place with draws.

Homecoming

This world championship marks Shuster’s return to Ogden. He and his family were in the stands for about five draws during the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

Shuster said it was fun to come back to Utah as he recalled watching the games near some fans of Team Japan and making a lifelong friend of a man who was helping with ice at the event.

“I always loved the Olympics, but being here in person — both to the curling venue and seeing the other sports and what the Olympics were about really — ignited the flame for me to the point to start what I was able to do,” he said.

Four years later, Shuster won bronze in Turin 2006 playing as lead for skip Pete Fenson starting a series of five Olympic appearances through 2022 Beijing, including Olympic gold in 2018 Pyeongchang.

Shuster said it was incredible to be the home team in Ogden; being the home team is rare when half of the world championships are in Canada.

“We don’t know a very large number of people up here, but they’re all cheering for us,” he said.

Around the rings

Newer faces at worlds are among those at the top of the standings after Sunday morning. Switzerland’s Marco Hoesli and Canada’s Matt Dunstone are making a splash in their first appearance at men’s worlds, with Hoesli tied for first place at 3-0 and Dunstone right behind at 2-1.

Joining Hoesli at the top of the standings are familiar faces to Olympic and world curling — Sweden and skip Niklas Edin. After a disappointing ninth-place finish at the 2026 Milan Games, Edin has rattled off four wins in Ogden over Scotland, Italy, China and Japan. He was set to face the United States on Sunday night.

With every country playing at least three games, the majority of the 13-team field has two losses. Four teams were at 2-2, while five teams were at 1-2. Norway, 0-3, is the only team seeking its first victory.

Historic first

Poland made history Saturday night with its first-ever victory at a men’s world championship by defeating Germany and skip Marc Muskatewitz by an 11-4 score in eight ends. The Polish team, skipped by Konrad Stych, is making its first-ever appearance in the tournament.

Ryan Olson is lead designer for the Daily Herald and Standard-Examiner. He is also a part-time curling instructor for event organizers, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, but was not involved in the event aside from teaching schoolchildren. Ryan can be reached at rolson@standard.net or on Bluesky at bsky.app/profile/quesoguapo.com.