Sawdust flies at crosscut

About 70 people gathered in front of the VFW Post 3596 to watch nearly 100 entrants try their hands at being lumberjacks for a couple of hours at the Plains Day Crosscut Competition.

The contestants, ranging from as young as 5 years old to as old as 72, competed in 10 categories. The contest, which started with the men’s crosscut and ended with an ax throw, lasted for over four hours and even when the competition was over, there were still people left throwing an ax at a target. “A lot of people had a lot of fun,” said Anthony “Spider” Lulack, who oversaw the event.

Dennis Olson and Matt Bellinger won the men’s crosscut with a time of 21.27 seconds. Olson was also on the second-place team in the category. Olson and teammate Juan “Batt” Lulack cut through the log in 24 seconds flat, just edging out Tony Larson and Randy Firestone, who came in third with a time of 24.02 seconds. The third-place time came on the duo’s second try, after they were forced to do a redo because the log didn’t cleanly come off on their first try. “I’m about good for two of them and that’s it,” an exhausted Firestone said after finishing his second attempt.

The winning crosscut team of Olson and Bellinger, faced off against each other in the single buck contest. Bellinger finished with a time of 1:19.90 to beat Olson, who finished with a time of 1:43.89. The much younger Bellinger didn’t have an easy time beating his 65-year-old teammate. “That hurts,” Bellingers said, immediately after he finished sawing through the log.

Next year, Olson said he plans to team up with Ray Morgan, who at 72 was competing in his first crosscut. Morgan and Lisa Read were one of six teams competing in the Jack and Jill crosscut category. Morgan and Read just missed out of placing in the top three with a time of 42.53 seconds. Morgan said he can still remember cutting firewood like that when he was a kid. He said it was like riding a bike. “It all comes back to you,” he said. Olson said it they can get in a couple of practices they should do pretty well next year.

Shannon Burrell and Firestone won the Jack and Jill crosscut with a time of 26 seconds. Burrell was also on the second place team. Matt and Trista Bellinger finished in third with a time of 40.40 seconds. Burrell and Trista Bellinger teamed up to win the woman’s crosscut. The two finished sawing through their log in 46.18 seconds to finish nearly 10 seconds ahead of Keaton Jones and Alexis Kunzer.

After the Jack and Jill, the saws were put away and the chainsaws were broken out. Firestone won the large chainsaw with a time of 12.71 seconds. Ken Saner finished right behind him with a time of 13.05 seconds and David McGonagle finished in third with a time of 13.42 seconds. Saner and McGonagle went toe-to-toe in the small cubic inch chainsaw event, with McGonagle coming out on top with a time of 12.28 seconds. Saner came in second with a time 13.37 seconds. Saner got his revenge in the speed and accuracy chainsaw event. Saner finished in 9.77 seconds, just hundredths of a seconds ahead of McGonagle, who finished in 9.86 seconds. Firestone came in third in the speed and accuracy with a time of 10.64 seconds.

Kyle Burbach beat out 12 other throwers to win the hatchet toss. Burbach finished with five points, including three for a bull’s-eye on his first throw. Chayton Lulack finished in second with four points. McGonagle hit bull’s-eyes on his first two throws and cruised to an easy victory in the first ax throw. McGonagle finished with eight points in the event, Lulack, who finished with four points, was the only other of the 20 competitors to score more than three points. McGonagle swept the ax throwing events, when he scored five points to beat the 18 other competitors in the second ax throw.

“I thought it went really well,” Lulack said. He said the crosscut usually has more competitors and a larger crowd, but the smaller numbers could be expected with the cold weather. The crosscut competition was originally left off the Plains Day’s schedule, but Lulack gathered over 500 signatures on a petition and the Plains Day committee put it back on the schedule. Lulack said the crosscut is an important part of the Plains Day tradition and one of the bigger draws. “Absolutely,” Lulack answered, when he was asked if he plans to put it on next year.