Above left: Taylor Everson (left) placed 5th in the U7 Division in the Lumberjack World Championships. Above: Jessica Berg-Collman shows the boom running form that took her to fourth in the Women’s Professional Boom Run. Left: Wellesley Howard-Larsen (middle) displays her second place plaque. Far left: Paige Everson and Dominic Wilson display their first and second place plaques
Once again the final match in the boys’ U10 log rolling division came down to the two Dominics— Dominic Magnone of Hayward, Wis. and Dominic Wilson of Grand Marais. Both had battled through their competition to get to the final, but this time the final match was on the biggest stage. This time the Dominics battled to see who would win the U10 World Championship.
Set in Hayward, the 2013 John Deere/Nortrax Lumberjack World Championship was held July 25-27 and featured 21 competitions in the professional and amateur divisions. And while Cook County had two pros competing, Jessica Berg-Collman and Jenny Atkinson, the competitions started with the amateurs.
Up two falls to none, it looked like Dominic Wilson would win the title easily. But Dominic Magnone came back to take the next two falls to set up the deciding final fall, and once again Wilson won, taking the final fall on the four log. The two had timed out on the two and three logs, and as the logs got smaller, the rolling got faster and fiercer.
So far this season the North Shore Rollers’ Dominic Wilson has won all three of his tournament appearances, but none of the wins has come easily.
In the U10 Girls’ Division the exciting final came down to a match between the North Shore Rollers’ Paige Everson and Morgan Thill. Everson got off to a great start and took the first two falls on the four log. Neither girl fell on the two or three logs, quite an accomplishment right there. But Thill fought back and won the next two falls, and despite Everson’s best efforts, she lost in the final fall—but just barely—so Thill took the crown while Everson took second, a tremendous accomplishment.
In the girls’ U13 Division the final match came down to Livi Pappadopoulas of LaCrosse, Wis., and Wellesley Howard-Larsen from the North Shore Rollers. These two met in the winter in a meet at Hudson, Wis. and Pappadopoulas won 3-1 on the four log in a long, hard-fought match. This time the two started on the two log, and Howard- Larsen got the first fall. Pappadopoulas came back and took the next two falls before they timed out and moved to the three log. Rolling like they had rockets on their feet, it looked like Howard-Larsen won a quick fall, but it was ruled a draw, and Pappadopoulas came back and won the third fall to take the championship.
Four other North Shore Rollers competed at Worlds and competed well. Taylor Everson placed 5th in the U-7 Division, rolling against a deep field of great upcoming log rollers. Reilly Wahlers, possibly the fittest athlete in the amateur division, fought back from the consolation bracket and placed fourth in the U13 Division by simply outlasting some great log rollers. Robin Henrickson and Bianca Zimmer both rolled well, but didn’t escape from the consolation brackets. Both are new to competition rolling, and both show great promise.
This was the first time that Cook County had three log rollers in the championship matches, so it was a big day for the North Shore Rollers.
“This was truly an outstanding performance by the North Shore Rollers,” said Coach Julie Collman. “Every year the North Shore Rollers are growing and they are putting Grand Marais on the map. It’s nice to hear other people from other teams say what a great team we have and what great sportsmanship our kids display.”
Collman-Berg places fourth in Boom Run, Atkinson seventh
On Thursday night, July 18, Jessica Berg-Collman was up two falls to one over the heavily favored Gretchen Greene in the professional logrolling division. A stunned crowd was silent as Greene came back to win the match 3-2. Had Jessica won, Greene would have been regulated to the consolation bracket and the title would have been up for grabs. However, Greene, who seems to be unstoppable this year, went on to win the World Championship and Berg-Collman lost in her next logrolling competitions. Disappointed, yes, but the boom run was up next, and Berg-Collman was coming off a sixth place finish the week before in a big meet, so it was no time to hang her head.
Sprinting down and back on the uneven boom logs is no easy task, and falls are common, but Berg- Collman has quick feet and great balance, so it wasn’t a huge upset when she placed fourth overall, just 1½ seconds behind first place.
Berg-Collman’s coach and mentor, Jenny Atkinson, placed seventh overall in the boom run and won her first two matches in the log rolling competition before being knocked from title contention. Although she is twice as old as many of her competitors, the eight-time logrolling/boom running champion is still a force at age 40.
Minnesota State Log Rolling Championship
Hosted by the North Shore Rollers and sponsored by Stone Harbor, Steve’s Sports, Northstar Cabling, Studio 61 Hair Design, Arrowhead Pharmacy, and Glenn Petersen Construction, the Minnesota State Logrolling Championships starts Saturday, August 3 in front of The Pie Place restaurant on Wisconsin Street. Competition starts at 9 a.m.; come out and cheer for these young log rollers!
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