Big Sandy Wake Fest turned out to be an even better event than advertised... it was the largest and the funnest WakeboardNebraska event to date. People just kept flocking into the wakeboarding oasis in the middle of nowhere that we now know as Big Sandy Lake. There were 67 riders competing in 6 different divisions throughout the day, which was a terrific tournament showing. Overall, there were over 300 spectators enjoying a fun day of wakeboarding an lake life! The weather was incredibly hot all day long, so the majority of the crowd spent the day in the water! People came from all over to enjoy the day with us- seeing riders and specators from South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa, and even Texas! We appreciate you all who travelled the distance to Big Sandy, but I am sure you will all agree that it was well worth it. It is so great to meet new riders and make new friends! The crowd also had the chance to do a "meet and greet" w/ Red Bull and Mastercraft pro team riders Nick and Julz Heaney who came in from Orlando to check out the Nebraska scene. Alot of kids took home autographs and pics of 2 of the best ambassadors of our sport!

The youth division started the day off with 11 grom riders ages 11 and under. These kids were a blast to watch out on the water. These kids are definitely the future of our sport! The Intermediate division was a HUGE class of riders- 20 total. It was an extremely tough division to judge because there are so many quality up and coming riders. These are the guys you will be cheering on in the Outlaw division here in the next season or two for sure- but in the end it was Jared Bazis that ended up on top of the Intermediate division throwing down a clean run which included a scarecrow, a ts front roll, some styley grabs, 180's, and a switch hs 3. The Advanced division also proved to be an exciting group of talented riders. Again, a super hard division to judge since everyone was throwing down behind the X Star. Fort Dodge, Iowa local Justin Harvey ended up taking top honors in the Advanced division. We will definitely see him competing in the Outlaw division next season! Another notable finish in the Advanced division in Wakeboard Nebraska team rider Casey Hevlin taking 2nd Place stomping a run that we were all proud of... that included a crow, tantrum, hs back roll, ts 540, and some nice grabs and 180's! Another Wakeboard Nebraska team rider took top honors in the Masters division, Shawn Keeler. Shawn threw down a great run and finished it off strong with a giant method roll to revert off the double. The Outlaw division was small (6 riders) but packed with talent. Iowa City local Kris Kretschmar threw down one of the biggest hoochie glides any of us had seen. AJ Powell killed his run, as well throwing down a perfect crow mobe right in front of the crowd! When it was all said and done WN team riders Kyle Alberts and Ben Bazis took top honors on the day and took home some cash. Two tricks that stood out in everyone's mind in Kyle's run were a nuclear whirlybird (ankle :)) and a gigantic dum dum. He ended his winning run just popping the handle on hs 7 off the double. Watch for big things from Kyle on the Jr Mens pro tour! One final notable trick came from 2nd place finisher Ben Bazis who hit arguably one of the biggest doubles ever served up catapulting him over 15 feet in the air on a HS 3.

The day also ended on a great note. Immediately following our awards ceremony the crowd enjoyed our first ever bikini contest which featured some of the WN.com 2006 calendar girls. One of the most notables on the bikini contest came from 2 sisters Shelby and Shauna Hill as the cartwheeled and flipped around the stage, they decided to do an "unannounced" stage dive into some unexpecting dude in the front row! I was just happy no one ot hurt :) But it was hilarious! Stay tuned later this winter for our first ever WN.com calendar for 2006.

As I stated many times that day, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING OUT and hanging with us all day long on a 100+ degree day. And big thanks, of course go out to all of our event sponsors- Hyperlite Wakeboards, Mastercraft Boats, Nebraska Watersports, Cire Board Wear, 1080 Clothing, Billabong, Michael Builders, Wake N Skate Boardhouse, and BuyWake.com.

Extra special thanks go out to Mike Murman and family & Todd Peterson for allowing the entire event to take place on their lot at Big Sandy. Both Mike and Todd are now honorary WN.com team members:) We really appreicate everything you guys did to put this event together. And thank you to the entire Big Sandy orginization and home owners for allowing us to enjoy your great new lake!

As always- huge props to the men (and women) behind the scenes making these events run so smoothly- Nikki Romero, Shana Haith, Greg Haith, Todd Feltman, Shawn Keeler, Casey Hevlin, Matt Schwarz, Ben Sims, Joel, Dusty Paulsen, Jeremy Chrastil, Ben Bazis, Zach Renner, Roger Chopp, Mike Schmidt, Kyle Alberts, Jared Bazis, Pat, Lindsey Strnad. THANK YOU all for your help- you guys made this event another success!!!

YOUTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS!	Novice Division 1. Ryan Schumacher 2. Brady Johnson 3. Jordan Harvey
Intermediate Division 1. Jared "Bic" Bazis 2. Doug Taylor 3. Bryce Johnson	Masters Division 1. Shawn Keeler 2. Kyle Miller 3. Steve Wilbur
Advanced Division 1. Justin Harvey 2. Casey Hevlin 3. Kyle Thompson	Outlaw Division 1. Kyle Alberts- $300 2. Ben Bazis- $150 3. Chase Powers- $50