Upsets Abound as Cold, Waves, & NewComers Wreak Havoc at Footstock
Ron Blouw upsets World Champion Keith St Onge
to take National Endurance Crown.

Story by Gary Mueller

Crandon, Wisconsin – At the start of the day Sunday, nobody would have ever predicted the final pairing at Footstock would be little known upstart, Ron Blouw of Grand Rapids Michigan and defending Footstock champ, Keith St Onge of Florida. And if you had a couple bucks to bet on the final run, most people would have put their money on the defending champ.

But as the world’s top skiers fell one after another to Blouw throughout the day, the crowd began to sense he might be able to actually beat the World Champ. And beat him he did, as Blouw won two out of three times down the stretch to win the National Championship and pull off the biggest upset in Footstock history.

The upset was just one of many surprises that marked the weekend’s two-day championship and made it one of the most memorable ever. The biggest surprise of the weekend, however, came in the form of the weather.

As the skiers arrived at the site Saturday morning, they found the conditions were better suited for duck hunting than for barefooting. Overcast and only 48 degrees, a steady north wind wreaked havoc on the one-on-one, double elimination competition, making the step-off area, at times, look more like a demolition derby than a world class barefoot championship.

Dozens of veteran skiers struggled with their step-offs, as top-seeded barefooters like JJ Link, and current World Overall Women’s Champion, Elaine Heller received early losses in the Open Division after uncharacteristically short runs in the cold and rough water conditions. The biggest upset of the day however came when tiny 12-year old Nick Ruchti beat the fifth-seeded skier, John DeBelak, after DeBelak caught a toe.

“I just wasn’t paying attention to the waves in front of me,” explained a stunned DeBelak. “I was thinking ahead to the far turn and it cost me.”

Besides the brutal north wind, the cold also caught many of the competitors off guard.

“This is as cold as it gets in the winter where I am from,” described South African World Team skier, Andre DeVilliers, who was still suffering from jet lag at the start of the competition. “We would never barefoot on a day like this back at home.”

DeVilliers was just one of a dozen world class barefooters from warm weather climates who donned every piece of clothing possible to stay warm.

“This is the coldest and roughest, I have seen it here in 10 years,” described Tournament Organizer, Gary Mueller. “There were a lot of missed step-offs and extremely short runs. The first eight didn’t happen until 2:30 in the afternoon Saturday-which is a record.”

The day came to a blustery end with the crowning of the Senior Division champion Saturday night, as Jon DeBelak outlasted Ron Blouw and Rob Christiansen to take home his second straight title.

The conditions Sunday, however, couldn’t have been more different. With the sun blazing, and not a breath of wind, the famed mile and a half course turned to glass, making long runs the order of the day.

Favorites Pete Fleck, Lucas Twelmyer, Josh Bruns, Jon DeBelak, Chad Mietz, and JJ Link all skied more than a dozen eights each throughout the day to finish in the final eight.

But the story of the day and the tournament was the amazing run made by the amateur Grand Rapids skier, Ron Blouw, who singlehandedly wiped out all of the past champions and favorites in the field, with a dominating performance start to finish.

Of course, the championship didn’t come easy. After stunning the crowd by knocking out defending champ, St Onge in the semi-finals with one of the longest runs of the day, an undefeated Blouw lost to St Onge in the first of two championship runs, setting up a run-off to decide the National Endurance title. A run-off that Blouw won easily, as an exhausted St Onge fell in the boat waves after going only an eight and a half.

The day was also highlighted by the strong showing of several local skiers. Greg Fatla, Jacob Weber and Joe Heilman all put in big runs to finish in the Sweet Sixteen. While Bucky Dailey and Gary Mueller put in consistently solid performances rounding out the top 25.

The Juniors and Women’s Divisions also crowned new champions on Sunday as Pierce Pluemer and Elaine Heller took their respective titles.

Overall 135 skiers from 8 states and 2 countries competed at Footstock and over 235 runs were pulled, making it the largest and busiest two-day barefoot tournament in the world.

“It was an amazing championship,” described Tournament Director, Jacob Weber. “Even with the challenges of the weather and the bad economy, we had a huge turnout. There was some great drama for the fans down the stretch. And overall, the tournament couldn’t have run smoother. The volunteers from the community and the Crandon Water Shows did a fantastic job. And they proved again why Footstock is the greatest barefoot competition in the world.”

Official Results

Open
1st Ron Blouw (Michigan)
2nd Keith St Onge (Florida)
3rd Pete Fleck (Florida)
4th Chad Mietz (Wisconsin)
5th JJ Link (Florida)
6th Lucas Twelmyer (Wisconsin)
7th Josh Bruns (Texas)
8th John DeBelak (Wisconsin)
9th Jacob Weber (Wisconsin)
10th Tyler Descent (Wisconsin)
11th Jeremy Petrie (Wisconsin)
12th Luke Bruckner (Wisconsin)
13th Dave Webster (Wisconsin)
14th Greg Fatla (Wisconsin)
15th Mike Netzer (Wisconsin)
16th Joe Heilman (Wisconsin)
17th Scott Reed (Wisconsin)

Masters Division (Seniors)
1st Jon DeBelak (Wisconsin)
2nd` Rob Christensen (Illinois)
3rd Ron Blouw (Michigan)
4th Dave Hopkins (Minnesota)
5th Joe Heilman (Minnesota)
6th Craig Campbell (Minnesota)

Women
1st Elaine Heller (Wisconsin)
2nd Dawn Van Alsine (Wisconsin)
3rd Liana Sikora (Wisconsin)
4th Lauren Lindeman (Wisconsin)
5th Jaci Mayer (Pittsburgh)
6th Kristina Ruchti (Minnesota)

Juniors
1st Pierce Pluemer (Wisconsin)
2nd Kyle Kazle (Wisconsin)
3rd Quinn Mcfarlane (Minnesota)
4th Kreg Ziarnek (Illinois)
5th Jeremy Jorgenson (Wisconsin)
6th Nick Ruchti (Minnesota)

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