Augusto Perez was throwing last rocks for the James Pierce team that earned the right to represent the U.S. at the 2007 World Wheelchair Curling Championship.

Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.) and teammates Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.), Jimmy Joseph (Hartford, N.Y.) and Danell Libby (Sprakers, N.Y.) defeated the Mark Taylor rink in a best-of-three competition, winning the first two games to clinch the title.

The team will compete at the 2007 World Wheelchair Championship ,Feb. 17-24 in Sollefte, Sweden. They have selected Taylor (Deansboro, N.Y.) to join them in Sweden as the team's fifth player.

The Pierce rink, with Perez throwing last rocks, capitalized on a big steal in the first game Friday afternoon to take the pivotal first game. Up 4-2 after three ends, the Pierce rink stole three in the fourth end to take a commanding 7-2 lead in the six-end match. Taylor and teammates (Yorkville, N.Y.), Bob Prenoveau (Chittenango, N.Y.), Tom Hanson (Yorkville, N.Y.) and Melissa Keiser (New Hartford, N.Y.) couldn't catch up, eventually losing 8-3.

In Saturday's second match, the Pierce rink scored in the first three ends to take a 5-0 advantage. Taylor tried to get back in it, scoring a deuce in the fourth, but would be kept off the scoreboard thereafter in a 7-2 loss.

"The game on Saturday was closer than the score showed," Perez said. "Some people portrayed Team Taylor as a Cinderella team but I knew better than that. They are excellent players and they showed it. By winning Friday, we knew the pressure was on them, so we play a conservative game and we forced them to take chances and then we capitalized on them. There was great shooting by both teams. It was a game worthy of TV time."

This will be the second trip to the World Championship for Pierce, Joseph and Libby, who teamed up with Perez at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games. The team finished eighth at the Paralympics and eighth at the 2005 World Wheelchair Championship. Perez, who only began curling in 2005, has quickly caught on to the game and adds a great amount of skill to the team.

"I am personally really happy and honored to be able to represent the USA at the worlds in Sweden but at the same time sad because to achieve this I had to knock out of competition my friends on the other team," Perez said.

The team will compete at the Wheelchair Worlds in a round robin against teams from Canada, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland. Canada won the wheelchair curling event at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games and Scotland is the defending world champion (There was not a world championship in 2006 due to the Paralympic Games).

"I hope we can display the same level of curling in Sweden as everyone exhibited this weekend," Perez said. "I don't promise medals; I just promise I will do my best on the ice, and if it is meant to happen it will happen."

Wheelchair curling teams must be composed of a mix of men and women when competing at the national and world level. No sweeping of the stone is allowed in competition. Rather, athletes rely upon arm strength and true aim. Games at the national and world level are six ends in length in accordance with the World Curling Federation's rules of play.

Line scores:

Game 1

Team Pierce     004 301  8
Team Taylor     110 010  3

Game 2

Team Pierce      212 011  7
Team Taylor      000 200  2

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies, Nike and The Hilton Family of Hotels as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.