The 3rd Annual Midwest Bowl Riders just finished here at 3rd Lair.
Midwest Bowl Riders is a three stop contest series; this stop was the last of the three. Check out http://www.midwestbowlriders.com for info about the first two stops, as well as some more info about the Lair stop.
Overall about 40 people skated in this year’s event. The beginner division consisted of 4 young and hungry rippers. Jacob Hanson-Flores skated the waterfall in quite an interesting way, and did one of the most boned out ollie one foots off of it that I’ve seen in recent memory. Alex Pope ripped some frontside airs in the shallow and had a solid showing. Chelsea Olson, from Chicagoland, took first place, with some rad slashers in the deep end, straight roll ins in the shallow, and overall fast and stylish runs.
The intermediate division was packed with about 15 skaters. Little Dakota White wound up in a respectable fourth place, and also made an appearance as a mini Jay Adams later on in the day. The top three places went to locals. Jordan Beecham got 3rd place with some nice style, while Matt Plumdahl ripped his way into 2nd. 1st place went to Alex Strandell, who steadily skated way above the speed limit, and always ground just a little bit further than you thought he would.
The advanced division was pretty gnarly. People came in from all over the Midwest to get their shred on, with crews coming from Iowa and even Kentucky. After the initial runs were taken, the Slayer was put on for the remainder of the contest, which was a jam format. What ensued was a storm of skateboarding awesomeness. If you’ve never seen a bowl jam go down, you gotta come next year. You get near collisions, very close calls, and some really good skateboarding too. Right before the jam turned into a category 5 snake sesh, London Luke chilled everyone out by skunk flipping right into the wall in the deep end and splitting his eye open. Don’t worry, after a visit to Dr. (Brian) Perry and some New Skin, he was fine. The momentary break in the action chilled everyone out, and what came after was a great session. Greg Fountain found himself in a very respectable 5th place. Greg skates really fast, loves leopard printed pads, and can no footed frontside air like it’s none of your business. 4th place was a tie between Josh Folley and Ryan Weed. Josh skates really fast as well, grinds way, way farther than you think he will, and he also loves candy. Ryan stands up mean frontside 50s in the deep end, and is not afraid to do noseslides to fakie in the deep as well. SICK!. Morgan Burgess came from Kentucky and got 3rd. Morgan has a cool Dad, can do Miller Flips, and was way too consistent. 2nd place went to a guy named Matt, who goes by the nickname of “Popcorn”. I don’t know why he’s called that, but I do know he did a Russian Boneless from shallow to deep. Since he can do that, I”ll call him whatever he wants. 1st place went to Roadkill, one wild dude from Iowa. Tha Kill threw crazed out half-cab mutes in the deep end, skated by the skin of his teeth the whole time, and somehow managed to air from the small quarter pipe by the judges stand and into the shallow end of the bowl. Wow.
Best Trick took place about 15 minutes after the Jam ended. Roadkill was literally stopping the show by attempting an air from the 6 foot quarter on the street course into the deep end of the bowl. Think that over. Even if you completely bailed out, you’d still have to jump down 9 feet, going full speed, and if you were lucky your knees wouldn’t explode upon landing. Roadkill put it down a good four or five times, though he kept running out of transition and just couldn’t ride it out. On the other side of the bowl Josh Folley was skating the fan as an extension. After a couple bailed blunt nose grab fakies on the fan, Josh put one down. Two tries later Josh made another one, this time with a nice leg kick, and he sealed the deal. Josh got 149 big ones for his efforts, and that was the end of the day. Don’t blow all that loot on candy man!
Thanks to Glenn Jones and Ted Damon for making this thing happen, and OTC Matt for helping with the judging. Speaking for the staff at the 3rd Lair, we of course kicked butt as well and made sure everyone had a very enjoyable experience here at the Lair. Thanks to all the sponsors, everyone that competed and those who came down to show their support. Let’s make sure this event happens next year.
Beginner
1.Chelsea Olson
2.Alex Pope
3.Jacob Hanson-Flores
4.Seth Payne
