The Story of the first Top Shop Contest

The Story of the Top Shop  Competition…

This was our first annual Top Shop Comp. The format for this contest was the brainchild of our resident pro skater Chad Benson. The idea was to invite shops from all over the Midwest to come to the 3rd Lair and compete against the other teams. The scoring was done in a team format - combined cumulative of everybody on the team. There were five riders on each team; their top run went toward the team score. This contest format seemed to appeal to everybody we invited and the turn out was great. We had teams come all the way from Chicago - Bad Boyz Toyz and Uprise. Almost every Minnesota skate shop entered the competition - Fobia, Cal Surf, The Hut, Board to Death (Rochester), G-Shock Skatepark, and The Pit Skatepark (Rockford, Il.). The notables that did not make it to the competition were - The Youth Shelter from St. Cloud, Freestyle of Duluth, Sky High and Phase II from Milwaukee. We hope to see you guys next year and many others. There were ten teams that entered the competition - 50 riders total. Each rider would get 2 one-minute runs. The heats were divided up with one rider from each team - 5 heats total. Everybody got a good couple of hours to practice their lines and the contest started promptly at 5:00pm on Saturday, March 1st. It was great to see these guys skate the park all by themselves without anybody getting in their way. The course is very big and each rider had their own unique way of utilizing the obstacles. Our course was definitely designed with a contest in mind and I know our head builder - Erik (Woody) Froland was interested in seeing how these elite skaters would put their lines together. Steve Gareri was of course on the mike and did a great job of emceeing the competition. I got some good photos during practice but I was too intimidated to go out onto the course during the actual contest runs. I did not want to screw up anybody's line. Everybody that rode represented their shop well. The level of skating was insane. I knew it was going to be good, but I had no idea how consistent some of these riders were. Notables were: Nate Compher - he's from the Fobia team and had a great run, he utilized the course well and has a sick, laid back style of skating. He's got the 'I'm not really trying' style; yet he still makes everything. I really enjoyed his runs and I know the crowd did too because everybody went just nuts. Jason Burne - is another Fobia rider and he had the best most consistent run of the contest in my opinion. He did not bail one of his tricks! That's right he rode that course for a minute straight and did not miss anything. I think the crowd was just stunned and could not believe their eyes. This humble, young kid just blew every other rider out of the water. He definitely has a good future ahead of him in skateboarding. Jeremy Reeves - he rides for us so I probably shouldn't hype him up to much not to be bias. The level of difficulty in his runs were on a pro level without a doubt. He stuck a switch frontside boardslide down the handrail and it was the best trick of the contest in my opinion.

Congratulations to Joe and all the riders over at Fobia - you have assembled an amazing team and have set the bar very, very high. I'm sure that these guys will be ready to defend their title next year. Later on that night during the after party we had a best trick contest. Woody had built a secret obstacle to hold this on and busted it out for everybody to ride. It was a sick homemade picnic table and an intense session ensued. Andy Paulson was trying this insane no-grab foot plant maneuver that might have won the contest if he had made it. It was between Mike Munzenrider and Chad Benson for the winner, after much deliberation we decided to give it to Mike because he stuck a hardflip backside 180 over the table. A special thanks goes out to our Judges - Brian Perry from Hardflip.com, Ryan Rousslang, Josh Holton, Darren McCannon and Rob Sissi from Supernatural Clothing. Also thanks to Rob Miller who had the hectic job as the official scorekeeper. Scott O from Cal Surf and Joe G from Fobia for each buying a keg of beer for the party. And especially everybody that traveled to enter this contest, your journey made it extra special and we hope to see you all again soon. Also thanks to all the bands that played - you rocked down the house and we hope to have you back next time. It should also be noted that we did not have one outside sponsor for this competition. Its not that we didn't want sponsors but we felt like it would be hard to get companies to donate prize money on such short notice. Next year we will be seeking sponsors for this event to donate prize money. Please contact the 3rd Lair if you are interested. In closing, this was a very fun event and we will be doing it on an annual basis. We hope they everybody had a great time and invite you to come back for our next special event - Our Cinco De Mayo Out Contest… stay tuned.

-Mulla