# Korey Dropkin

Korey Dropkin (born June 11, 1995) is an American curler originally from Southborough, Massachusetts. He currently skips his own team out of Duluth, Minnesota.

## Curling career
### Juniors

As a junior curler, Dropkin won three United States Junior Curling Championships, playing third for brother Stephen in 2012 and skipping in 2013 and 2016 while curling at Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, MA. As such, he played for the United States at the World Junior Curling Championships, finishing 5th at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships and 7th at the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships.
Dropkin was a member of the U.S. team at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, skipping a team that included Sarah Anderson, Thomas Howell and Taylor Anderson. The team finished 5th at the event; after going undefeated in the round-robin, they were eliminated in the quarter-final against Italy. Dropkin did not go away from the event empty handed, as he picked up a bronze medal at the mixed doubles event with teammate Marina Verenich of Russia.
Dropkin also represented the United States at the 2013 Winter Universiade, playing lead for the Chris Plys's team. That team finished in 5th place.

### Men's

On the World Curling Tour, Dropkin has been a regular at events held in the U.S., playing in his first event at the 2010 Laphroaig Scotch Open at the age of 15. Dropkin won his first Tour event by winning the 2014 Twin Cities Open.
Dropking usually plays skip, but for two seasons from 2016 to 2018 played second for Heath McCormick. The team also included Chris Plys at third and Tom Howell at lead. During Dropkin's second season with Team McCormick, he won his first medal at the United States Men's Championship, earning silver when they lost to Greg Persinger's team in the final.
In 2019, Dropkin competed at his first World Men's Championship, as alternate for John Shuster's team. The team finished fifth, losing their first playoff game to Team Yuta Matsumura from Japan.
In 2021, Dropkin won his first United States Men's Curling Championship, which was postponed until after that year's Worlds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following season, he finished runner-up at the 2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials, after losing to the defending Olympic champion John Shuster rink in the final. As the 2022 US nationals were cancelled due to the pandemic, Dropkin's rink was invited to represent the US at the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship, where he led his team to a fourth place finish.
Dropkin formed a new team in the 2022-23 season, joining former junior teammates Stopera, Fenner, and Howell. 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.

### Mixed doubles
#### Sarah Anderson (2015–2022)

Dropkin first played mixed doubles with Sarah Anderson, where they won the United States Mixed Doubles Championship twice, in 2015 and 2018. At the 2015 World Mixed Doubles Championship, they finished the round-robin second in their group but lost to Team Canada in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. They again made the playoffs when they returned to the Worlds in 2018, but again went winless in the playoffs, losing to Team Hungary and Team Italy to finish in 13th place. Dropkin also played with Jamie Sinclair at the 2017 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials, where they finished in seventh place. At the 2020 U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship, Dropkin and Anderson lost to Joe Polo and Tabitha Peterson, the eventual champions, in the semifinals, but defeated Monica Walker and Alex Leichter to win the bronze medal. Dropkin and Anderson played in the 2021 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials, where they finished in third, losing to Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen in the semifinal.

#### Cory Thiesse (2022–Present)

Dropkin started playing mixed doubles with Cory Thiesse during the 2022–23 curling season, where they found immediate success, winning the 2023 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship over former partner Anderson and men's teammate Andrew Stopera. This qualified them to represent the United States at the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, where they would finish 7–2 in the round robin, and then go on to win the gold medal, beating Japan's Chiaki Matsumura and Yasumasa Tanida 8–2 in the final for the USA's first world mixed doubles gold medal. Dropkin and Thiesse would be unable to repeat their title in 2024, after losing the 2024 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship final to Becca Hamilton and Matt Hamilton. Their silver medal performance however, qualified them for the 2025 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials. At the US Olympic Trials, Thiesse and Dropkin went 8–1 in the round robin, and then went on to beat Anderson and Stopera in a best of three games final to qualify for the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, and if they qualify, represent the USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

## Personal life

Dropkin attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and is employed as a realtor in Duluth, Minnesota.

## Teams
### Men's

| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Coach | Events |
| 2009–10 | Stephen Dropkin | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Ryan McMakin | Cameron Ross | | 2010 USJCC (4th) |
| 2010–11 | Stephen Dropkin | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Derek Corbett | Cameron Ross | | 2011 USJCC |
| 2011–12 | Stephen Dropkin | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Derek Corbett | Cameron Ross | Sandra McMakin | 2012 USJCC 2012 WJCC (5th) |
| 2012–13 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Alex Fenson | Connor Hoge | Keith Dropkin | 2013 USJCC 2013 WJCC (7th) |
| 2013–14 | Chris Plys | Stephen Dropkin | Sean Beighton | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Phill Drobnick | 2013 WUG (5th) |
| 2013–14 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Alex Fenson | | | 2014 USJCC |
| 2014–15 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Andrew Stopera | Luc Violette | | 2015 USJCC 2015 USMCC (6th) |
| 2014–15 | Ethan Meyers | Quinn Evenson | Steven Szemple | William Pryor | Korey Dropkin | Linda Christensen | 2015 WJCC (5th) |
| 2015–16 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Alex Fenson | Quinn Evenson | Wally Henry (WJCC) | 2016 USMCC (4th) 2016 USJCC 2016 WJCC |
| 2016–17 | Heath McCormick | Chris Plys | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | | | 2017 USMCC (6th) |
| 2017–18 | Heath McCormick | Chris Plys | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | | | 2018 USMCC |
| 2018–19 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Alex Fenson | | | 2019 USMCC (4th) |
| 2018–19 | John Shuster | Chris Plys | Matt Hamilton | John Landsteiner | Korey Dropkin | Derek Brown Don Bartlett | 2019 WMCC (5th) |
| 2019–20 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner | Alex Fenson | Joe Polo | | 2020 USMCC (5th) |
| 2020–21 | Korey Dropkin | Joe Polo | Mark Fenner | Tom Howell | Alex Fenson | | 2021 USMCC |
| 2021–22 | Korey Dropkin | Joe Polo | Mark Fenner | Tom Howell | Alex Fenson | | 2021 USOCT 2022 WMCC (4th) |
| 2022–23 | Korey Dropkin | Andrew Stopera | Mark Fenner | Tom Howell | | Mark Lazar | 2022 PCCC 2023 USMCC |
| 2023–24 | Korey Dropkin (Fourth) | Andrew Stopera (Skip) | Mark Fenner | Tom Howell | | Mark Lazar | 2023 PCCC (4th) 2024 USMCC |
| 2024–25 | Korey Dropkin | Tom Howell | Andrew Stopera | Mark Fenner | Chris Plys (WMCC) | Mark Lazar | 2025 USMCC 2025 WMCC (TBD) |

### Mixed doubles

| Season | Female | Male | Events |
| 2011–12 | Marina Verenich | Korey Dropkin | 2012 WYOG |
| 2014–15 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | 2015 USMDCC 2015 WMDCC (5th) |
| 2017–18 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | 2018 USMDCC 2018 WMDCC (13th) |
| 2018–19 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | 2019 USMDCC (QF) |
| 2019–20 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | 2020 USMDCC |
| 2020–21 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | |
| 2021–22 | Sarah Anderson | Korey Dropkin | 2021 USMDOT 2022 USMDCC (5th) |
| 2022–23 | Cory Thiesse | Korey Dropkin | 2023 USMDCC 2023 WMDCC |
| 2023–24 | Cory Thiesse | Korey Dropkin | 2024 USMDCC |
| 2024–25 | Cory Thiesse | Korey Dropkin | 2025 USMDOT (TBD) |

### Mixed

| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Coach | Events |
| 2011–12 | Korey Dropkin | Sarah Anderson | Thomas Howell | Taylor Anderson | Wally Henry | 2012 WYOG (5th) |

## Grand Slam record

Key :
| C | Champion |
| F | Lost in Final |
| SF | Lost in Semifinal |
| QF | Lost in Quarterfinals |
| R16 | Lost in the round of 16 |
| Q | Did not advance to playoffs |
| T2 | Played in Tier 2 event |
| DNP | Did not participate in event |
| N/A | Not a Grand Slam event that season |
| Event | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
| Tour Challenge | DNP | Q | T2 | T2 | N/A | N/A | T2 | Q | Q |
| Canadian Open | Q | DNP | DNP | QF | N/A | N/A | QF | Q | DNP |
| The National | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | SF | QF | DNP |
| Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | N/A | DNP | Q | Q | QF |
| Players' | DNP | DNP | DNP | N/A | DNP | DNP | Q | DNP | |
| Champions Cup | Q | DNP | DNP | N/A | DNP | Q | DNP | N/A | N/A |