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Mark Fenner

American curler

Mark Fenner (born November 16, 1994) is an American curler originally from Bemidji, Minnesota. He currently plays second on Team John Shuster out of Duluth, Minnesota. He is a three-time United States Junior Champion and won the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships. In men's play, Fenner also won the 2025 United States Men's Curling Championship.

01Curling career

In juniors, Fenner played second for skip Korey Dropkin, medalling four years in a row at the United States Junior Curling Championships. This included two gold medals in 2013 and 2016. The team also consisted of Tom Howell at third and Alex Fenson at lead, except for the 2014-15 season when Andrew Stopera played lead. At the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships in Sochi, Russia, they finished in seventh place with a record of 4-5. At their second trip to the World Juniors in 2016, they found more success, finishing the round-robin in first place with a record of 8-1. In the 1 vs 2 page playoff game they lost to Bruce Mouat's Team Scotland, but they defeated Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller in the semifinal to face Scotland again in the championship game. Fenner and Team United States lost to Mouat again in the final, to finish with the silver medal.

Upon moving from juniors to men's, Fenner and Alex Fenson played as the front end for Pete Fenson for two seasons. Pete Fenson, Alex's father, is also an Olympian and seven-time national champion. During these two seasons, from 2016 to 2018, Dropkin and Howell played as the front end for Heath McCormick, but for the 2018-19 season Dropkin, Howell, Fenner, and Fenson reunited to compete together again. The next season Team Dropkin brought on Joe Polo, a highly experienced curler who was the alternate on the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Winter Olympics, as a fifth teammate and experimented with various lineups throughout the season. The five-person team found success at the 2021 US Men's Championship, finishing the round-robin in first place with a 7-2 record. In the playoffs, Team Dropkin defeated Jed Brundidge's team in the 1 vs 2 page playoff game and then again in the final to secure their first Men's National Championship. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Championship was conducted after the 2021 World Men's Championship so Team Dropkin will not represent the United States at World's, but they did secure a spot at the Olympic Trials in the fall of 2021.

The Dropkin team parted ways with Polo during the 2022-23 season, and picked up junior teammate Stopera. The team had good success, winning a bronze medal at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships, and finishing fourth in 2023. The rink won their first men's national title together at the 2025 United States Men's Curling Championship, representing USA at the 2025 World Men's Curling Championship. At the 2025 Worlds, the team went 4-8 after the round robin, finishing a disappointing 11th place.

02Personal life

Fenner currently works as a bartender and lives in Richfield, Minnesota.

03Teams

Men's

Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2012-13 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAlex FensonConnor HogeKeith Dropkin2013 USJCC
2013 WJCC (7th)
2013-14 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAlex Fenson2014 USJCC
2014-15 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAndrew StoperaLuc Violette2015 USJCC
2015 USMCC (6th)
2015-16 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAlex FensonQuinn EvensonWally Henry
(WJCC)
2016 USMCC (4th)
2016 USJCC
2016 WJCC
2016-17 Pete FensonJared ZezelMark FennerAlex Fenson2017 USMCC (5th)
2017-18 Pete FensonShawn RojeskiMark FennerAlex Fenson2018 USMCC (T6th)
2018-19 Korey Dropkin (fourth)Tom HowellMark Fenner (skip)Alex Fenson2019 USMCC (4th)
2019-20 Korey DropkinTom HowellMark FennerAlex FensonJoe Polo2020 USMCC (5th)
2020-21 Korey DropkinJoe PoloMark FennerTom HowellAlex Fenson2021 USMCC
2021-22 Korey DropkinJoe PoloMark FennerTom HowellAlex FensonTim Solin2021 USOCT
2022 WCC (4th)
2022-23 Korey DropkinAndrew StoperaMark FennerTom HowellMark Lazar2022 PCCC
2023 USMCC
2023-24 Korey Dropkin (Fourth)Andrew Stopera (Skip)Mark FennerTom HowellMark Lazar2023 PCCC (4th)
2024 USMCC
2024-25 Korey DropkinTom HowellAndrew StoperaMark FennerChris Plys (WMCC)Mark Lazar2025 USMCC
2025 WMCC (11th)
2025 Korey DropkinTom HowellAndrew StoperaMark FennerMark Lazar
2025-26 Andrew StoperaTom HowellMark FennerLance WheelerMark Lazar2026 USMCC
2026-27 John ShusterAndrew StoperaMark FennerLance WheelerMark Lazar

Mixed doubles

Season Male Female Events
2014-15 Mark FennerTina Persinger2015 USMDCC (SF)
Watch videos about Mark FennerExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Mark Fenner, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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