The 2010 Mad City Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge was held this past weekend and your winner is Mike Netzer!
Mike skied like the Iron Man he is all day long and had to beat JJ Link twice in a championship style showdown in order to be crowned the 2010 Mad City Clean Lakes Figure 8 WINNER!!
1st Place: Mike Netzer
2nd Place: JJ Link
3rd Place: Luke Bruckner
Click here to view the bracket
Click Read More link for story
**Here's a nice video from Eric@talesfromthefoot.com**
Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge - 2010 Finals[video].
The day started out with a strong wind directly from across the lake. This provided very sketchy water conditions with wind chop anywhere from 4-10 or better inches with some white caps at times. Weather wise, it was sunny and warm and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The competition started off without a hitch and it was becoming very evident that anyone who could complete one figure 8 was going far in this tournament.
From half an 8 to just making the step offs, the participants were falling one after the other. The highlight of the tournament came in the form of a 13 year old, Grant Johnson. Grant drove in with his parents hoping to compete in a Juniors division. Unfortunately there wasn't enough for a juniors division so Grant opted to ski with the big boys and boy did it pay off for him. After he won his first matchup against Chuck Stein, Grant was going head to head with the 2010 Footstock champ himself, Marc "Porn Star" Donahue. This matchup was a very closely watched one from the shore and proved it doesn't mater who you are or who you've beaten in the past. All that matters is the moment. Well, Grant surprised the crowd as well as the Footstock champ by taking him down just past the second set of rollers(can you ski farther than a 7th grader Marc? Not that day you couldn't). The crowd went wild. Grant ended up finishing tied for 5th. Congratulations Grant, you did a great job!!
As the event progressed it was turning into the Mike Netzer and JJ Link show. JJ skied all day without a loss and was looking strong as he awaited the winner from the loser's bracket. Mike lost early in the competition and had to battle his way through the losers bracket, defeating footer after footer. Finally, we were down to Mike and JJ. Mike needed two wins to become the champ, while JJ needed one win to take the crown. They both entered the water and prepared for their step off. They progressed around the course and over the first set of rollers and then into the second set and what happened next was unbelievable. Both Mike and JJ fell at virtually the same exact time.(we're hoping Edge from Tales from the Foot has the video). So, we were back to the starting dock for a re-run. This time Mike outlasted the Florida boy JJ and we were down to a final run. After a 5 minute break, JJ and Mike went at it again. Netzer and Link then skied their way around the Figure 8 and soon after, Mike Netzer was the last man standing which gave him the 2010 Mad City Clean Lakes Figure 8 Championship!
Congratulations to all competitors. Bob Mahnke and his crew did a great job setting up the site and provided some good BBQ..err. I mean Sloppy Joe mix for all the footers and their families.(I still don't know why they call Sloppy Joe mix BBQ up there in Wisconsin...according to Annie Mietz, BBQ sounds better than Sloppy Joe)
Figure 8 Series Points and Tournamnet results:
1.Mike Netzer 55
2.JJ Link 40
3.Luke Bruckner 30
4.Paul Stokes 25
5.Greg Wilkinson 20
5.Grant Johnson 20
6.Bob Mahnke 15
6.Rob Christinsen 15
7.Jim "Bumper" Casper 15
Marc Donahue 10
Craig Campbell 10
Paul Elsen 10
Mike Rotar 10
Ben Deiser 10
Craig Baker 5
Chris McWatters 5
Shane Sweeney 5
Dan Ehlers 5
Brad Bocke 5
Chad Mietz 0
Dan Tanis 0
Alex Mahnke 0
Rick Wild 0
Tyler Sweeney 0
Jeff Hoekstra 0
Jerome Conway 0
Neal Anderson 0
Mike Miller 0
Curt Johnson 0
Chuck Stein 0
Sponsors included the following:
