The Lottawatta Survivor this weekend definitely lived up to all of it's hype!  Everyone on site agreed that the survivor format was awesome and a lot of fun.  We saw some great battles throughout the day and A LOT of personal bests were set, some people multiple times throughout the day.

The weekend got kicked off on a bit of a down note after a massive storm on Thursday night rendered the Lottawatta jump useless as it ripped the side curtains off for the second year in a row forcing the jump event to be cancelled.  It was quickly decided that trick would be moved to Saturday evening after slalom so that all events could be finished in one day.  Despite the hit on Thursday night, the weather didn't disappoint on Saturday.  All day long there was no more than a slight breeze leaving the water perfect for skiing.

For the first round of the tournament, all skiers were seeded based on their average buoy count (handicap average), and then placed into groups of four skiers. Those four skiers competed against each other every round eliminating the lowest score after each round.  Skiers were competing hard in the first round with only 1 skier missing their opening pass and 9 skiers running beyond their handicap average with most of those 9 setting new tournament personal bests.  The lowest scores of each group were sent to the consolation group leaving the remaining 21 skiers moving on to the second round of the survivor bracket.

Things got more heated in the second round with some tight competition to determine who was to be "kicked off the island".  Nick Perrino was first off the dock in his group running his average of 2 buoys and giving him a handicapped score of 100% (2/2).  Normally a score of 100% would be a pretty comfortable score for advancing to the next round, but Sarah Rosenblum and Taylor Luckhaupt proved otherwise as both skiers skied new personal bests to advance to round 3.  After the second round 14 skiers advanced to round 3 for a head-to-head battle that would determine what 7 skiers would make the finals.  The third round would face off Taylor Luckhaupt vs. Sarah Rosenblum, Matt Wolff vs. Chris Kennard, Clint Howell vs. Kristen Dammeyer, Chris Luckhaupt vs. Kevin Dammeyer, Pat Ewald vs. Gar Bradley, Dane Mechler vs. Kurt Mecher, & Greg Kuenning vs. Kyle Dammeyer.

The tightest battle in round 3 was between Clint Howell and Kristen Dammeyer.  Clint managed to tie his personal best set earlier that day of 4 buoys @ 22 off 36 mph only to have Kristen Dammeyer come out and increase her average for the second time from 1 @ 22 off 32 mph to 3 @ 22 off 32 mph giving her the edge she needed to make the finals.  The other great battle of the round was father-son match up Kurt Mechler vs. Dane Mechler.  Kurt had scraped by in round 1 and 2 to qualify for round 3 and he would now be facing his son Dane, who up to that point had been one of the most consistent skiers of the day including a score of 3 buoys @ 38 off in round 1 to set a new personal best, a new Ohio Boys 2 record, and a new Midwest record for Boys 2!  Kurt went off the dock first running 4 @ 35 off, just shy of his average and forcing Dane to run 2 @ 38 off in order to advance to the finals.  Dane went down at 35 off for the first time all day leaving Kurt to advance to the finals.  Other skiers advancing to the finals were Sarah Rosenblum, Matt Wolff, Kris Luckhaupt, Gar Bradley, and Greg Kuenning.

The 7 finalists headed to the dock for the finals.  It only took one skier for the field to realize that it was going to take everything they had if they were going to be crowned the "Lottawatta Survivor".  Sarah Rosenblum got things started first by running her average of 4 buoys @ 32 mph for a handicap score of 100%.  For everyone else, that meant they had to BEAT their average score if they were going to win.  For many, that would mean running a new personal best.  The next skier off the dock wasn't fazed, Matt Wolff after running a PB earlier in the day and increasing his average to 2 buoys @ 36 mph took to the water and promptly ran 2 buoys @ 36 mph to tie Sarah for the lead.  Kristen Dammeyer was third off the dock running 2 @ 22 off 32 mph, just one buoy shy of her average.  Chris Luckhaupt with an average of 3 @ 28 off 34 mph came out next knocking down his second PB of the day with 4 @ 28 off and taking over the lead with a handicapped score of 101.2%.  Gar Bradley was next off with an average of 2.5 @ 35 off 34 mph.  Gar looked strong on his opening passes and was off to a great start at 35 off but he skied just inside 3 ball for a score of 2 @ 35 off, just 1/2 buoy below his average.  The only two skiers remaining were Kurt Mechler and top seeded Greg Kuenning.  Mechler would need to run 35 off and get a buoy at 38 off in order to steal first place from Luckhaupt.  Mechler ran 32 off and came back down the lake looking very strong at 35 off all the way around 6 ball and out the gates!!!  However according to the judges it wasn't quite that easy.  Mechler had turned just inside 5 ball and then went around 6, so ultimately he was scored 4 buoys @ 35 off leaving him just 1.25 buoys short of his average.  Kuenning was last off the dock and with an average of 3.5 @ 35 off 36 mph he would need a minimum of 5 @ 35 off to take the win.  Kuenning breezed through 32 off setting himself up for the opportunity to win.  He rounded 1 at 35, then 2, then 3, but skied just inside 4 ball @ 35 off leaving him 1/2 buoy short of his average and sealing the win for Kris Luckhaupt.

Final Results

Every skier in the finals had run within 1.25 buoys of their average.  That makes for a great finals!  Since this was the first stop in the Buckeye Buoy Tour, these seven skiers lead the pack in the overall tour standings which can be found on the Buckeye Buoy Tour webpage.

Trick

Since the jump event was cancelled, the trick event was run on Saturday after slalom.  8 trick skiers took to the water also skiing against their average for a top 3 finish.  Trick and Jump of the Buckeye Buoy Tour will always be two rounds against your average with both rounds being averaged together to determine the winner.  After both rounds had been skied and the dust settled, the top 3 skiers against their handicap were:

Great job by all skiers who competed in the first ever stop for the Buckeye Buoy Tour.  Everyone agreed that the "Survivor" format was a winner and should definitely be utilized for future events.  The next stop on the Buckeye Buoy Tour will be the Top Cat Challenge on July 11th & 12th.  Register Online now if you plan to attend!

Lottawatta Survivor Photos

 Lottawatta Survivor Final Brackets 10.12 Kb

Complete Scorebook 5.86 Kb