# Thomas Howell (curler)

Thomas "Tom" Howell (born October 14, 1994) is an American curler from Bentleyville, Ohio. He currently plays third on Team Korey Dropkin.

## Curling career
### Juniors

As a junior curler, Howell won three United States Junior Curling Championships, in 2012, 2013, and 2016. As such, he played for the United States at three World Junior Curling Championships, notably finishing 5th at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships and 7th at the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships.
Howell was a member of the U.S. team at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, playing second on a team that included Korey Dropkin, Sarah Anderson, 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.
Howell also represented the United States at the 2013 Winter Universiade, as the alternate for the Chris Plys's team. That team finished in 5th place.

### Men's

On the World Curling Tour, Howell, as a member of the Dropkin rink, 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 16. Howell won his first Tour event by winning the 2014 Twin Cities Open.
From 2016-18, Howell and Dropkin joined the Heath McCormick rink, with Plys at third and Dropkin at second. During Howell'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 2021, Howell 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 Howell and the Dropkin rink finished in fourth.
Dropkin and Howell formed a new team in the 2022-23 season, joining former junior teammates Stopera and Fenner. 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.

## 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) |
| 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 (fourth) | Tom Howell | Mark Fenner (skip) | Alex Fenson | | | 2019 USMCC (4th) |
| 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 | Tim Solin | 2021 USOCT 2022 WCC (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

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

### Mixed doubles

| Season | Male | Female | Coach | Events |
| 2011–12 | Yang Ying | Thomas Howell | Li Hongchen | 2012 WYOG (9th) |