This will mark the third time Roza has skipped a team in the world junior championships since 1998. In 1999, the team took home the bronze medal. Nicole Joraanstad, of Madison, Wis., was part of the women's team that struck bronze at last year's World Championships. This will be the first year she skips her team in the world's top juniors showcase. Every end, or inning, each team member slides a pair of 42-pound Scottish granite stones toward a scoring area called the house.
Teams alternate throws, with the skip having the final shot for each team.
A squad scores a point when one of its rocks stops closest to the center of the house's colored scoring rings. Roza's team is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Men's U.S. National Championships in Madison. The Nebraska foursome came in second overall at the 1999 men's U.S. nationals and had a top-eight finish at the 2000 event. Roza, who began curling in 1990, said playing against America's finest was good preparation for the world juniors event. The skip said though the competition will be stiff, his team is looking to top the international field in Ogden.