Steve Emt of Hebron and his mixed doubles wheelchair curling partner Laura Dwyer of Team USA are headed to the bronze medal game at the Paralympics in Italy after losing to South Korea 6-3 Tuesday morning in the semifinal match at Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium.
Emt, who played as a walk-on with the UConn men’s basketball team in 1993-94, is competing in his third Paralympics and looking for his first medal. At 56, he’s the oldest U.S. Paralympian and is the most decorated wheelchair curler in U.S. history.
Emt and Dwyer, who beat previously undefeated China 7-6 on Monday to stay alive in the curling competition, will face Latvia Wednesday at 9:35 a.m. (USA) for bronze . Latvia lost to China in the other semifinal Tuesday. China and South Korea will play for the gold medal Wednesday.
South Korea had beaten the U.S. team during round robin play on Saturday, 10-1.
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Regardless of Wednesday’s outcome, the team has a chance to tie the best finish by a U.S. wheelchair curling team at the Paralympics. The best finish came in 2010 when the mixed team finished fourth.
Emt and Dwyer defeated Latvia, 11-6 on the first day of competition March 4.
Emt has already clinched his best finish in a Paralympics. In 2018, his team finished 12th out of 12. In 2022, the US team finished fifth. He moved to Wisconsin 2 ½ years ago and is able to practice often with Dwyer, who is from Wisconsin, in mixed doubles, which is being offered for the first time at the Paralympics.
