Sterling Middleton

{{Short description|Canadian curler}} {{Infobox curler | name = Sterling Middleton | image = | image_size = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1998|12|8}} | birth_place = [[Fort St. John, British Columbia]]<ref name="Media Guide">{{Cite web|url=https://www.curling.ca/files/2023/03/2023-Tim-Hortons-Brier-media-guide-5.pdf|title=2023 Tim Hortons Brier Media Guide|website=Curling Canada|access-date=February 26, 2023}}</ref> | Curling club = [[Victoria Curling Club|Victoria CC]], <br> [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria, BC]] | Skip = [[Matthew Hall (curler)|Matthew Hall]] | Third = '''Sterling Middleton''' | Second = [[Alex Horvath (curler)|Alex Horvath]] | Lead = [[Thomas Thierbach]] | Alternate = | Mixed doubles partner = [[Julianna Mackenzie]] | Member Association = {{AB}} (2011–2015; 2024–2025) <br> {{BC}} (2013–2024; 2025–present) | Brier appearances = 2 ({{Brier|2023}}, {{Brier|2024}}) | Top CCA ranking = 15th ([[2022–23 curling season|2022–23]]; [[2023–24 curling season|2023–24]]) | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's [[curling]] }} {{MedalCountry| {{CAN}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[Winter Youth Olympics]] }} {{MedalGold | [[2016 Winter Youth Olympics|2016 Lillehammer]] | }} {{MedalCompetition | [[World Junior Curling Championships]] }} {{MedalGold| [[2018 World Junior Curling Championships|2018 Aberdeen]] | }} {{MedalGold| [[2019 World Junior Curling Championships|2019 Liverpool]] | }} {{MedalCountry| {{BC}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[Canada Winter Games]] }} {{MedalBronze | [[Curling at the 2015 Canada Winter Games|2015 Prince George]] | }} }}

'''Sterling Middleton''' (born December 8, 1998) is a Canadian curler, originally from [[Fort St. John, British Columbia]].<ref name="AHN">{{cite news|title=Sterling Middleton and Jason Ginter part of same team for upcoming 2022-23 season|date=April 5, 2022|newspaper=Alaska Highway News|url=https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/local-sports/sterling-middleton-and-jason-ginter-part-of-same-team-for-2022-23-5233968|access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref> He currently plays [[Third (curling)|third]] on Team [[Matthew Hall (curler)|Matthew Hall]]. He is a two-time World Junior champion, three-time Canadian Junior Champion, and Youth Olympic gold medallist.

==Career== ===Juniors=== Growing up in the [[Peace Region]] of [[British Columbia]] meant that Middleton was eligible to curl competitively out of B.C. and [[Alberta]]. Middleton curled for the [[Falher, Alberta]] based Dustin Turcotte rink for two seasons from 2013 to 2015. After seeing him at the 2013 B.C. High School Championship, Middleton was picked up to also play for the [[Tyler Tardi]] rink in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ringers rounded up for a shot at curling glory|date=February 17, 2015|page=38|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119749833/the-vancouver-sun/|access-date=February 26, 2023}}</ref> The team went on to win the BC qualifier for the [[2015 Canada Winter Games]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Victoria's Henderson will throw stones at Canada Winter Games|date=March 28, 2014|page=43|newspaper=Victoria Times-Colonist|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119749057/times-colonist/|access-date=February 26, 2023}}</ref> At the 2015 Canada Games, the team picked up a bronze medal.<ref name="Media Guide"/>

Middleton was chosen to be play lead on the Canadian team at the [[2016 Winter Youth Olympics]], along with skip [[Mary Fay]], Tardi and [[Karlee Burgess]]. The team steam-rolled through the opposition, winning all 10 of their games before claiming a gold medal for their country.<ref name="Media Guide"/> In the [[Curling at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics – Mixed doubles|mixed doubles event]], Middleton was teamed up with New Zealand's [[Holly Thompson]]. The pair made it to the quarter-finals before losing to the eventual gold medallists of [[Yako Matsuzawa]] of Japan and [[Philipp Hösli]] of Switzerland.

Middleton fully joined the Tardi junior men's rink in 2016, playing [[third (curling)|third]] on the rink. The team won the provincial junior title in 2017. Representing British Columbia at the [[2017 Canadian Junior Curling Championships]], the team lost one round robin game en route to winning the national championship, defeating Ontario's [[Matthew Hall (curler)|Matthew Hall]] rink in the final. The team represented Canada at the [[2017 World Junior Curling Championships]], where they finished the round robin with a 6–3 record, but lost to Norway in a tiebreaker game. That year, Tardi and Middleton also represented British Columbia at the [[2017 Canadian U18 Curling Championships]],<ref name="Media Guide"/> losing just one round robin game. However, they were not successful in the playoffs, losing in the semifinal, but rebounded in the bronze medal game, defeating Saskatchewan's [[Rylan Kleiter]].

In 2018, the Tardi rink won another provincial junior title. At the [[2018 Canadian Junior Curling Championships]], the team would defend their title. After losing three round robin games, the team had to fight through a tiebreaker before winning two playoff games, including defeating Northern Ontario's [[Tanner Horgan]] rink in the final. The team represented Canada at the [[2018 World Junior Curling Championships]], where they were much more successful. The team lost two round robin games, and won both playoff games, including defeating Scotland in the final to claim the gold medal.

In 2019, Team Tardi won yet another provincial junior title. At the [[2019 Canadian Junior Curling Championships]], the team won their third-straight national championship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/tyler-tardi-canadian-junior-curling-championship-1.4995369|publisher=CBC|title=Tardi makes junior curling history with 3rd consecutive Canadian title}}</ref> The team lost just one game en route to the title, and defeated Manitoba's J.T. Ryan in the final. The team once again represented Canada at the [[2019 World Junior Curling Championships]]. After posting a 7–2 round robin record, they won both playoff games, including defeating Switzerland's [[Marco Hösli]] rink in the final.

The [[2019-20 curling season]] would have been the team's last year of junior eligibility, but they decided to make the jump to men's curling full-time, eschewing the junior ranks.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tsn.ca/tyler-tardi-not-tardy-in-jump-from-junior-curling-to-elite-men-s-ranks-1.1408193|publisher=TSN|title=Tardi not tardy in jump from junior curling to elite men's ranks}}</ref>

Outside of the Tardi rink, Middleton won the [[CCAA/Curling Canada College Curling Championships]] in 2018, playing third on the [[Douglas College]] curling team.<ref name="Media Guide"/>

===Men's=== While in juniors, the Tardi rink also played in men's events on the [[World Curling Tour]]. The team won their first tour event at the 2016 [[Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic]]. They played in his first [[Grand Slam (curling)|Grand Slam]] event at the [[2018 Humpty's Champions Cup]] by virtue of winning the World Junior championship. They went 1–3 at the event, missing the playoffs. They won another tour event to begin the next season at the 2018 [[King Cash Spiel]]. The team qualified for the [[2019 Champions Cup (curling)|2019 Champions Cup]] by winning the World Juniors again. There, the team went win-less in their four matches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=5324&teamid=133666&profileid=|title=Tardi 0-4 At 2019 Humpty's Champions Cup|website=CurlingZone|access-date=March 11, 2023}}</ref> In their first post-junior season, Team Tardi won the 2019 [[Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic]], and the next season, they won the 2020 [[Raymond James Kelowna Double Cash]] event.

Middleton played in his first [[BC Men's Curling Championship]] [[2017 belairdirect BC Men's Curling Championship|in 2017]] as a member of Team Tardi, going 3-3 at the event. The rink didn't enter playdowns in 2018, but were back at it at the [[2019 BC Men's Curling Championship]]. There, the team were eliminated after posting a 2–3 record. They finally made the playoffs at the [[2020 BC Men's Curling Championship]], where they lost in the final to [[Jim Cotter (curler)|Jim Cotter]].

Team Tardi did not play in any major events in the [[2020–21 curling season]] due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. The next season, they played at the [[2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials]].<ref name="Media Guide"/> After finishing group play with a 4–2 record, they lost in the B quarter-finals to [[Glenn Howard]]. The team played at the [[2022 BC Men's Curling Championship]], where they were eliminated in the C1 vs. C2 page playoff game against [[Jim Cotter (curler)|Jim Cotter]].

The Tardi rink disbanded in 2022.<ref name="disband">{{cite news|url=https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/local-sports/sterling-middleton-in-search-of-new-team-5122252|publisher=Alaska Highway News|title=Sterling Middleton in search of new team}}</ref> It was later announced that Middleton had joined the [[Jacques Gauthier (curler)|Jacques Gauthier]] rink for the [[2022-23 curling season]].<ref name="AHN"/> In their first season together, the team won the [[2023 BC Men's Curling Championship]] and represented British Columbia at the [[2023 Tim Hortons Brier]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/victoria-curling-team-headed-to-national-brier-cup-1.6243967|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124181619/https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/victoria-curling-team-headed-to-national-brier-cup-1.6243967|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2023|publisher=CTV|title=Victoria curling team headed to national Brier cup (sic)}}</ref> At the Brier, the team finished with a 3–5 record. After Gauthier announced that he would be joining the [[Kevin Koe]] rink in Alberta, Middleton, Ginter, and Horvath announced they would be bringing in [[Catlin Schneider]] to skip their team for the [[2023-24 curling season]]. In their first season together, they defended their title at the [[2024 BC Men's Curling Championship]], representing BC at the [[2024 Montana's Brier|2024 Brier]]. There, they would slightly improve their record from last year, finishing with a 4–4 record, but still missing the playoffs. When Schneider announced he would be returning to Saskatchewan at the end of the season, Middleton and Ginter announced they would be joining the [[Evan van Amsterdam]] rink out of Alberta. In Alberta, the van Amsterdam team had a good season, qualifying for the [[2025 Boston Pizza Cup]], the Alberta men's curling championship. At the provincial championship, the team would finish in second, losing to [[Kevin Koe]] in the final 9–5.

Middleton would move back to British Columbia for the [[2025-26 curling season]], reuniting with former teammate Horvath, and joining the new [[Cameron de Jong]] team. The new de Jong team would start the season off strong, winning the [[2025 Saville Shootout]] 7–1 over [[Matthew Blandford]] in the final.

==Personal life== Middleton lived in [[New Westminster, British Columbia]],<ref name="AHN"/> moving to the [[Lower Mainland]] in 2016. In 2022, he worked as a pro shop assistant at a golf course in North Vancouver.<ref name="disband"/> He currently works as a club professional at the [[Victoria Curling Club]],<ref name="Media Guide"/> and lives in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]].<ref name="MG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.curling.ca/files/2024/02/2024-Montanas-Brier-media-guide-Ver2.pdf|title=2024 Montana's Brier Media Guide|website=Curling Canada|access-date=February 26, 2024|archive-date=February 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226212618/https://www.curling.ca/files/2024/02/2024-Montanas-Brier-media-guide-Ver2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Teams== {| class="wikitable" ! scope="col"| Season ! scope="col"| Skip ! scope="col"| Third ! scope="col"| Second ! scope="col"| Lead |- ! scope="row"| 2013–14<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/player.php?playerid=24656&view=Teams#1|title=Sterling Middleton Past Teams|website=CurlingZone|access-date=April 23, 2024}}</ref> | [[Dustin Turcotte]] || Sterling Middleton || [[Bradley Limoges]] || [[Steven Brulotte]] |- ! scope="row"| 2014–15 | Dustin Turcotte || Sterling Middleton || Bradley Limoges || Steven Brulotte |- ! scope="row"| 2015–16 | [[Mark Zahacy]] || Sterling Middleton || [[Doug Scott (curler)|Doug Scott]] || – |- ! scope="row"| 2016–17 | [[Tyler Tardi]] || Sterling Middleton || [[Jordan Tardi]] || [[Nick Meister]] |- ! scope="row"| 2017–18 | Tyler Tardi || Sterling Middleton || Jordan Tardi || [[Zac Curtis (curler)|Zac Curtis]] |- ! scope="row"| 2018–19 | Tyler Tardi || Sterling Middleton || [[Matthew Hall (curler)|Matthew Hall]] || [[Alex Horvath (curler)|Alex Horvath]] |- ! scope="row"| 2019–20 | Tyler Tardi || Sterling Middleton || Jordan Tardi || Alex Horvath |- ! scope="row"| 2020–21 | Tyler Tardi || Sterling Middleton || [[Jason Ginter]] || Jordan Tardi |- ! scope="row"| 2021–22 | Tyler Tardi || Sterling Middleton || Jason Ginter || Jordan Tardi |- ! scope="row"| 2022–23 | [[Jacques Gauthier (curler)|Jacques Gauthier]] || Sterling Middleton || Jason Ginter || Alex Horvath |- ! scope="row"| 2023–24 | [[Catlin Schneider]] || Jason Ginter || Sterling Middleton || Alex Horvath |- ! scope="row"| 2024–25 | [[Evan van Amsterdam]] || Jason Ginter || Sterling Middleton || [[Parker Konschuh]] |- ! scope="row"| 2025–26 | [[Cameron de Jong]] || Sterling Middleton || Alex Horvath || [[Corey Chester]] |- ! scope="row"| 2026–27 | Matthew Hall || Sterling Middleton || Alex Horvath || [[Thomas Thierbach]] |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Footer Youth Olympic Champions Curling Mixed Team}} {{Footer World Junior Curling Champions (men)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Sterling}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1998 births]] [[Category:Canadian male curlers]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Fort St. John, British Columbia]] [[Category:Sportspeople from New Westminster]] [[Category:Curlers at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics]] [[Category:Youth Olympic gold medalists for Canada]] [[Category:Curlers from Victoria, British Columbia]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian sportsmen]] [[Category:Medallists at the 2015 Canada Winter Games]]