By Emily Wicklund
Cor Powersports officially capped off the Midwest Extreme Snowmobile Challenge (MESC) at Lutsen Mountain in northern Minnesota this past weekend. Despite a bit of initial skepticism surrounding this extremely “late-season” snowmobile event around the time of its debut 5 years ago, this race has become a favorite for competitors of all ages and disciplines. HillCross and HillClimb competition was held on Saturday and Cross-Country races were slated for Sunday.
Hill X
Saturday started out first with Hill X. Each class had 2 heats; an LCQ (if needed) and, of course, a final. In the Sport 600 Mod class: Nick Polzin went 2 and 3 in his heats but pulled off the win in the final. Jason Larson, who went 1 and 1 in his heats finished 2nd and Jori Hughes in 3rd.
In the Sport 600 Stock class: Garett Frantz and Cory Napper both won both of their heats but Frantz was able to best Napper by just one position in the final. Justin Blazevic won the Sport Jr. 10-15 final as well as all his heats. In the Sport 900 Stock class, Alex Gillespie took home the win. Seth Engel went 1 and 1 in his heats and landed at the top of the podium for the Vet 30+ class. In the 900 Mod class, Max Holmes was victorious. Alec Plaisted had another win up his sleeve in the Open class. In the Sport 900 Mod class, Jori Hughes went 1 and 1 in his heats and won the final as well.
Hill Climb
Also on Saturday, was Hillclimb. There were 3 Jackson Hole Qualifier tickets up for grabs at the end of the end of the day, motivating the competition. In the Sport 600 Stock class, Michael Neeley won with a time of 52.94 seconds. Jack Kurtz was victorious in the Pro 900 Stock class with a time of 54.14 seconds. In the Schoolboy class, Even Peppel was able to clock in at 52.40 seconds and take the win. In the Pro 600 Mod class, Jason Larsen won with a time of 52.36 seconds. Michael Neeley was even faster in the Vet 30+ class winning with a 51.36. William Arnold III went on to win the Sport 600 Mod class with a 63.24.
Jack Kurtz was victorious again in the Pro 900 Mod class with a faster time of 52.21. Nate Mealey took home the win in the Open class at 56.12 seconds. In the Jr. 10-15 class, Justin Blazevic timed in at 54.20 to take the win. In the last qualifier of the year, Nate Mealey won the Sport 900 Stock class with a 56.31.
In the Stock King round, Jake Kurtz beat out Charlie Revering putting him in the running for King of Kings. Jason Larson also won the Mod King title beating out Jake Kurtz. Next it was time to find out who the King of Kings were and who punched their ticket to Jackson Hole.
Cross Country
Sunday’s racing brought riders from across the Midwest to battle for the top spot in their class. Race #1 consisted of Sport Factory 600 and Vintage II. The Sport class was a close battle up front with 1st-4th being a total of only 18 seconds apart. Nels Wicklund took home the victory in the Sport Factory 600 class with Caleb Nymann in 2nd and Maverick Paulson in 3rd. It seems that the Vintage-class is gaining some popularity as more cross-country racers brought their old-school sleds to the slopes this weekend contributing to a grand total of 8 entries. Derick Krug went home with the victory, Dillian Dohrn took 2nd and Charlie Revering rounded out the podium. In the second race of the day, the lone Junior rider of the weekend, Brayden Nelson, went home with the win and Jamie Smart was victorious in the Vet 30+ class.
In Race #4, Zach Herfindahl dominated the Pro Factory 600 class. David Brown came in 2nd and Dillan Dohrn placed 3rd. In the Sport Stock class, Tommy Coon took the top spot with Jason Larsen and Wayne DeBruin behind him. Alex Gillespie took home the win in the Trail class with Nathan Schoeberl in 2nd and Maverick Paulson in 3rd. Alex Gillespie won the Trail class and Samantha Beckman, despite being the only entry in the Women’s class, put down some fast times and of course took the win.
Matt LaMourea dominated the Open class with Dillian Dohrn taking 2nd and Austin Dohse in 3rd. Jon Arneson decided to battle it out on the slopes and won the Pro Am 30+ class beating Michael Neeley (2nd) and Wayne DeBruin (3rd) Maverick Paulson was the lone entry in the Sport Improved class and took home the win.
In Race# 7, Jamie Smart won the Masters 40 class. Chad Breaw took 2nd and Andy Tijan finished 3rd. The Schoolboy 16-24 class was very competitive with numerous entries. Tommy Coon ended up taking the win with Polaris riders Boe Bunke and Evan Peppel rounding out the podium.
