posted Jun 27th, 2006 - The second meet of the 2006 season was a huge success for the Northern Plains Skydiving League. The competitors were greeted with beautiful weather Saturday morning. A total of nine teams competed, and once again the teams were ready and willing to move up the start time to help get a head start on what proved to be a very busy day for the hosting dropzone.

The AAA/Open Class competition had a heated battle, with Gang Green ahead by one point going into the fifth round. Fast Forward came charging back to pick up two points in each of the last two rounds and took the first place with a total of 52 points over Gang Green's 49. Both teams now have a first and second place after two NPSL meets, which puts them in a tie for the NPSL Championship 2006 after league points.

The recently crowned "Poster Boy of Big Way Swooping", Bob Stumm of team Gang Green made a feeble attempt to influence the judging by bringing the team's own "Cheer Leaders". Even though they proved to be a serious distraction, the professionalism of Robert Chromy was no match for the scantily clad women, and he still found three busts (no pun intended) for the team. However, many of the competitors did comment that the door on the judging room "...seemed to be closed much more often than in the past".

The AA Class competition, which has always been popular in the Northern Plains, was well attended once again with six teams. Microburst came out strong and never looked back taking the first place with a 9.0 average and a total 54 points. The real showdown was between the next three teams.

Tears for Beers and the Wissota Shockers tied with 38 points each and a 6.3 average, but Tears for Beers took the second place after NPSL handicap. A new NPSL team, Skydive Superior, gave a great showing with 37 points for a 6.2 average. The three veteran jumpers picked up a very young skydiver, Nick Rockow, at the last second, just prior to the start of the meet to fill in at the tail slot.

Nick Rockow had actually come to pack for the team. He did an excellent job for having no real 4-way experience. Skydive Superior was leading the charge for second place after the fifth round. Unfortunately, an engineering mistake cost the team three deductions in round six, and they settled for fifth place. Team Rewind and Cockeyed scrambled to pick up players the day before the meet and took fourth and sixth place respectively.

Local team I Don't Know once again took the first place in the A Class where no other NPSL team gave them a competition on site. They did however improve their average by 30% over the first meet.

Just as the last load of the last round was landing, it started sprinkling and shortly thereafter the first rain turned into a fully blown thundershower, which lasted for the rest of the day. Congratulations to all the teams, and thanks for coming out to play. The next NPSL meet is scheduled for July 22 at Baldwin, with the NSL founder and president "Papa Kurt" Gaebel as our event coach.

Written by NPSL Director Sandy Grillet