Madison Bear

Bear first competed at the United States Junior Curling Championship in 2015, as skip of a team consisting of Jenna Burchesky at third, Allison Howell at second and Annmarie Dubberstein at lead. Despite being newcomers on the national stage, Team Bear made it to the finals where they lost to defending champion Cory Christensen.{{Cite magazine|last=Kolesar|first=Terry|date=Spring 2015|title=Minnesota boys, High Performance girls capture 2015 Junior Nationals titles|url=https://www.teamusa.org/-/media/USA_Curling/Documents/Curling-News/Spring-2015/CNewsSpring2015_web.pdf|magazine=U.S. Curling News|pages=12–13|access-date=Jan 3, 2020}}

The following season, Bear joined Christensen's team as lead. The team also included Sarah Anderson and Taylor Anderson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2015/May/22/High-Performance-Program-team-for-upcoming-season-announced|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526002546/http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2015/May/22/High-Performance-Program-team-for-upcoming-season-announced|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 26, 2015|title=High Performance Program team for upcoming season announced|last=Kolesar|first=Terry|date=May 22, 2015|website=USA Curling|access-date=Jan 30, 2020}} With Team Christensen, Bear won her first World Curling Tour event, going undefeated at the 2015 St. Paul Cash Spiel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=3854&teamid=87679&profileid=|title=Champion: Christensen wins 2015 St. Paul Cash Spiel|website=CurlingZone|access-date=Jan 30, 2020}} At the 2016 Junior National Championship, Bear earned her first Junior National title when the team finished with a perfect 11–0 record, never needing to play a full ten end game.{{Cite web|url=https://www.delcotimes.com/sports/broomall-s-anderson-sisters-curling-national-champions-again/article_cd85b289-4cf6-574f-9275-d75c8db8c263.html|title=Broomall’s Anderson sisters curling national champions again|last=DeGeorge|first=Matthew|date=Jan 26, 2016|website=The Delaware County Daily Times|language=en|access-date=Jan 30, 2020}}{{Cite news|date=January 26, 2016|title=UW-BSC's Bear wins Junior National title|page=8|work=Baraboo News Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51707791/2016-usjcc-champions/|access-date=May 19, 2020}} Winning Junior Nationals earned Team Christensen a spot at the Women's National Championship in Jacksonville, Florida, where they earned the fourth seed in the playoffs with a 3–3 round-robin record. They defeated Jamie Sinclair in the 3 vs 4 page playoff game,{{Cite web|url=https://www.wiscnews.com/sports/amateur/curling-bear-advances-to-semifinals-at-usa-curling-national-championship/article_c3082b85-8010-5f01-891a-b2b77c691197.html|title=CURLING: Bear advances to semifinals at USA Curling National Championship|date=Feb 11, 2016|website=Portage Daily Register|language=en|access-date=Jan 30, 2020}} but then lost to Nina Roth in the semifinals, earning themselves the bronze medal.{{Cite magazine|last=Davis|first=Terry|date=Summer 2016|title=Brown, Clark rinks earn national titles|url=http://content.yudu.com/web/y5b2/0A1yadv/Summer2016/flash/resources/index.htm|magazine=U.S. Curling News|page=14|access-date=Jan 30, 2020}}

Winning the Junior National Championship also earned Bear her first opportunity to represent the United States at the World Junior Championships in Copenhagen. Bear's team finished the round-robin with a 7–2 record, good enough for the second seed in the page playoff system. In the 1 vs 2 playoff game, Team Christensen defeated the number one seed Canada, skipped by Mary Fay. This gave the United States a path straight to the final where they ultimately faced Canada again, this time losing 4–7 to earn the silver medal.{{Cite web|url=http://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/553|title=VoIP Defender World Junior Curling Championships 2016|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=Dec 27, 2019}}

For the 2016–17 season Bear was back to skipping her own team, this time composed of Cora Farrell, Cait Flannery, and Lexi Lanigan.{{Cite news|date=January 14, 2017|title=Portage pair gunning for title|page=B1|work=Portage Daily Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51708205/2017-usjcc-lineups-for-team-bear-and/|access-date=May 19, 2020}} Team Bear got silver at the 2017 Junior Nationals, losing to Annmarie Dubberstein in the final. Bear still returned to the World Juniors as alternate for Dubberstein's team and finished in 7th place.{{Cite web|url=https://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/577|title=VoIP Defender World Junior Curling Championships 2017|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=2020-02-20}}

In her final season as a junior curler, Bear joined back with her original juniors teammates: Dubberstein, Burchesky, and Howell.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usocdev.org/USA-Curling/Features/2017/May/19/High-Performance-Program-athletes-for-upcoming-season-announced|title=High Performance Program athletes for upcoming season announced|last=Davis|first=Terry|date=2017-05-19|website=USA Curling|access-date=2020-02-20}} They won the gold medal at the 2018 United States Junior National Championship, earning Bear her third straight trip to World Juniors.{{Cite web|url=https://curlingseattle.org/news/violette-richardson-repeat-national-junior-champs|title=Violette, Richardson Repeat as National Junior Champs|last=Potter|first=Doug|date=2018-02-04|website=Granite Curling Club|access-date=2020-02-20}} At the 2018 World Junior Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland, Bear and her team just missed the playoffs, finishing in fifth place.{{Cite news|last=Monteith|first=Austin|url=https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4416022-curling-sinclair-persinger-teams-win-nationals|title=US men take fourth at World Juniors|date=2018-03-10|work=Grand Forks Herald|access-date=2020-02-20}}

Out of juniors for the 2018–19 curling season, Bear rejoined Christensen's team as lead. The team also added a new coach, Canadian Darah Blandford, in her first year with the USCA High Performance Program.{{Cite news|last=Pavitt|first=Michael|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1069071/usa-curling-add-six-coaches-to-high-performance-programme|title=USA Curling add six coaches to high performance programme|date=2018-08-21|work=Inside the Games|access-date=2020-02-06}} Team Christensen was chosen to represent the United States at the third leg of the Curling World Cup in Jönköping, Sweden; the Curling World Cup was a four-part international tournament held around the world throughout the curling season.{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingworldcup.com/news/team-shuster-the-star-attraction-for-home-crowd-in-omaha|title=TEAM SHUSTER THE STAR ATTRACTION FOR HOME CROWD IN OMAHA|date=2018-09-28|website=Curling World Cup|access-date=2020-02-06}} There they finished with a 3–3 record.{{Cite news|url=https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/4565846-curling-duluth-curlers-out-world-cup|title=Curling: Duluth curlers out in World Cup|date=2019-02-02|work=Duluth News Tribune|access-date=2020-02-06}} At the 2019 United States Women's Championship they finished the round-robin with a record of 5–2, good enough for the third seed in the page playoffs. In the 3 vs. 4 playoff game they defeated Stephanie Senneker's team by one point, 9–8. In the semifinal match against Nina Roth's team, it came down to the last stone, but, as she did three years prior, Roth came through with the win, resulting in the bronze medal for Team Christensen.{{Cite web|url=https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2019/February/15/Finals-set-at-2019-National-Championships-in-Kalamazoo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207004936/https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2019/February/15/Finals-set-at-2019-National-Championships-in-Kalamazoo|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 7, 2020|title=Finals set at 2019 National Championships in Kalamazoo|last=Davis|first=Terry|date=2019-02-15|website=USA Curling|access-date=2020-02-06}}{{Cite news|last=Perelman|first=Rich|url=http://www.thesportsexaminer.com/curling-schuster-wins-seventh-u-s-nationals-title-sinclair-takes-third-straight/|title=CURLING: Schuster wins seventh U.S. Nationals title; Sinclair takes third straight|date=2019-02-17|work=The Sports Examiner|access-date=2020-02-06}}

Shortly after the season ended, it was announced that Christensen's team was dissolving and Bear would again skip her own team. For the 2019–20 season Jenna Burchesky and Lexi Lanigan rejoined Bear, along with Katie Dubberstein and Emily Quello.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/sports/4617187-bemidjians-named-usa-curling-high-performance-program|title=Bemidjians named to USA Curling High Performance Program|date=2019-05-23|work=The Bemidji Pioneer|access-date=2020-02-20}} Bear failed to qualify for the 2020 United States Women's Championship, getting knocked out of the Challenge Round with a 2–3 record.{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=6331&teamid=143204#1|title=Bear 2-3 at USA Women's Challenge Round|website=CurlingZone|access-date=2020-02-20}} The next offseason brought another team change for Bear as in June 2020, the United States Curling Association announced she would be the skip of the new women's U-25 national team. The U-25 team program, which stands for under 25 years old, was added in 2020 as a new part of the High Performance Program with the intention of bridging the development gap between juniors and women's curling.{{cite web |title=U-25 NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM |url=https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2020/June/24/U-25-National-Team-Program |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717064453/https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2020/June/24/U-25-National-Team-Program |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 17, 2020 |website=Team USA |accessdate=September 18, 2020 |date=June 24, 2020}}

Bear also was selected, along with teammate Andrew Stopera, to be the U-25 mixed doubles national team for the 2020–21 season. Despite a difficult year marred by COVID-19, Bear made the most of her 2020–21 season. At the "bubble" in Wausau, Wisconsin, Bear won the silver medal at the 2021 US Mixed Doubles Championship. The silver medal qualified her and Stopera for the 2021 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials, where they finished 9th with a 3–6 record.

Bear joined forces with Aidan Oldenburg starting in the 2023–24 season, where they finished in 9th at the 2024 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with a 4-3 record. Bear and Oldenburg would finish 2nd at the 2024 United States Mixed Doubles Olympic Pre-Trials, qualifying them for the 2025 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials. At the Trials, Bear and Oldenburg would finish 3rd, losing to Sarah Anderson and Andrew Stopera 7–5 in the semifinal.

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Category:1997 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Portage, Wisconsin

Category:Sportspeople from Wisconsin

Category:American female curlers

Category:21st-century American sportswomen