Co-op Invitational Day 3 Takeaways: Team Hoesli punches ticket to playoffs with dream start

A week before the Co-op Invitational began, Switzerland’s Team Marco Hoesli didn’t know if they would be competing in the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season.

That was until they won the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic on Oct. 5, a GSOC satellite event, earning the 16th and last available spot on the men’s side of the tournament.

Now, they’re 3-0 on the week and are headed to the GSOC playoffs for the first time in their careers after missing on their first 10 tries. The playoff berth is well deserved considering the quality of opponents the Swiss squad has faced.

Hoesli and his teammates have taken down all three of the Scottish curling giants so far this week, with victories over Bruce Mouat, Kyle Waddell and Grant Hardie.

If you’re wondering why Hoesli’s squad has looked so sharp compared to the Scottish teams — mainly Mouat and Hardie, who are ranked above them in the world — during the first Slam of the year, well, there’s a reason.

For some men’s teams this is only the second or third event of the season. However, for Team Hoesli, it’s their seventh (!) already this year. In fact, according to DoubleTakeout.com , Hoesli came into the tournament having already played 44 games with a 31-13 record this season. That's the most of anyone ranked in the top 10.

So, while all the Scottish teams did play some games before coming to the Co-op Invitational, this week is more about getting the rust off. This has allowed Hoesli’s team, who look to be in mid-season form, to take advantage.

Draw 9 Bottcher 5, Carson 4 Y. Schwaller 7, Ramsfjell 6 (SO) Epping 10, Waddell 5 Hoesli 7, Hardie 4

Draw 10 Wrana 8, Nihira 5 Maeda 9, Eriksson 3 Dunstone 8, Casper 7 Gim 9, Ueno 3

Draw 11 Miura 6, Homan 3 Jacobs 9, Yamaguchi 4 X. Schwaller 6, Paetz 3 Hasselborg 8. Fujisawa 7

Draw 12 Kang 8, Reese-Hansen 7 (SO) Einarson 5, MacMillan 4 Mouat 7, Koe 3 Zardini Lacedelli 9, Dupont 7

During the Slam season last year, Xenia Schwaller proved with her talent that she was a skip teams would have to be on the lookout for. Schwaller’s future, while it felt like she was still a couple of years away from competing for championships, was bright.

At just 23 years old, Schwaller wrote her name into the history books by winning the Women’s World Championship last March. Doing so, Schwaller became the second-youngest skip to win the event, behind only Britain's Eve Muirhead, who was 22 when she won in 2013.

After losing the first game at the Worlds, Schwaller and her teammates rallied off 13 straight wins to claim the title.