A Short Hills resident and his team qualified for the USA Curling Nationals Championships in March in Michigan.

Dean Gemmell is part of Team Hames, which, led by Matt Hames, defeated Wes Johnson from Seattle and his team 7-2 to earn a berth during the qualifying round. The match took place at the Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Md. The men's 2010 Olympic curling team led by John Shuster earned an automatic berth to the nationals.

Matt Stevens and his Bemidji, Minn., team defeated Kevin Kakela's North Dakota team in the playoff to win the Midwest North qualifier, 9-4. Craig Brown's Wisconsin team captured the final berth in the Midwest South qualifier in Mankato with a 7-1 win over Kroy Nernberger's Wisconsin team.

The remaining three teams to fill the field for the 2010 Nationals will be determined at the challenge round Feb. 4-7 in Grafton, N.D.