LAFAYETTE >> More “Average Joe” than Olympian by appearance, famed U.S. curler Matt Hamilton became a fan favorite at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

Those back home took to his twizzled mustache and mullet as he helped lead the Americans to their first gold medal in the sport. This week, CBS Sports turned to him to help bring a draw to the Everest North American Curling Club Championships hosted at Rock Creek Curling.

Same ‘stache, same mullet — just trimmed a bit — he offered his commentary as the top men and women curling teams from the U.S. and Canada competed in Lafayette on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Canadians swept.

“We hear ‘Team Canada’ chants quite a bit,” he sighed in jest.

Plenty of Canadian fans had found their way to Colorado this week for an event sold as the biggest televised curling event in North America since the Olympics. He could only smile as they chanted “Canada, Canada” after the men concluded the festivities with a 5-2 win Wednesday night.

“Canada is essential to this sport and they have so many fans,” said Hamilton, who again plans on representing Team USA at the 2026 Games under four-time Olympic skip John Shuster. “They are certainly motivating when they start chanting ‘Team Canada’ because we just want to silence them.”

The pro’s time will come later. For this week in Colorado, though, he agreed with the event’s organizers — calling the club event a success.

“We can’t sit back and hope for the Olympics to generate interest every four years,” said Randy Ferbey, a decorated former Canadian curler who is now an executive with the Everest championships. “We got to do that every year and every month, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

Over the past decade, curling has exploded in popularity, especially in the States.

A survey conducted by FiveThirtyEight said curling has become the most popular Olympic sport over the past 15 years.

Another study by North Carolina State University from last November said that 53% of respondents were introduced to the sport by seeing it on TV. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s events were broadcast live on CBS Sports Network in the U.S. and The Sports Network in Canada.

“For three years now, the U.S. hasn’t watched any curling,” Ferbey said. “So, we brought this to them. And hopefully this will generate interest for them when they watch the Olympics. We got to attract new fans and this is the first step in doing that.”

Inside the arena was a much more intimate affair. A thin sheet of ice split a couple hundred people dressed in either U.S. or Canada apparel. They could hear as the rock bumped down the ice towards its target. The sweeping orders hollered out by each team was amplified, much like conversation heard in the middle of a library.

Out of the hush, fans were finally able to get loud after each shot, slapping together plastic balloons and ringing bells. The ones rooting for Canada were at their peak after their teams’ wins.

“This has been even better than I expected,” U.S. men’s skip Ryan Berg said after his team’s loss. His North Dakota-based squad qualified for the Everest tournament by winning the U.S. national club championship in April. “They treated us like we were playing for the world championship. It was a great time.”

Rock Creek Curling will host the Colorado Curling Cup next week from Sept. 27-29. A spot in February’s U.S. Mixed Doubles Olympic Team Trials is on the line.