BY BILL GIDUZ

 

Longtime friends David Cain and Jay Gilligan won the Fargo Intermediate and Juniors Championships, proving that friends are great, Ohio rules and persistence pays!

 

Emcee Dave Walbridge, an apologetic former street mime, entertained the crowd between seven Juniors and five Intermediate acts, amusing the crowd with quips and stunts like the world's fastest balloon dog. He also uttered one of the more quotable pieces of philosophy heard during the week - 'Juggling is the hard way of doing something unnecessary. "

 

The winners for the evening in Juniors were Jay Gilligan (Gold) Corey Hoelcker (Silver) and Jason Kariotis (Bronze). Others entered were Joey Cousin, Mike Sackett, Brian Panky and Charlie Peachock. Five of the seven entrants were from Ohio.

 

It was the first year for an IJA Intermediates Championship, which was open to anyone who had never entered the Seniors, regardless of age. Juniors competitors must be under age 18.

 

The top Intermediates were David Cain (Gold), Jay Pittman (Silver) and Ben Schoenberg (Bronze), and other entrants were Jeff Jehrio and Otto the Great. A special IJA Esprit de Corps Award was given to Brian Patz for his technical excellence, humor and joy, and for representing the highest ideal and spirit of the IJA competition. Patz competed at IJA festivals for five straight years, and would have been in this year's competition had he not suffered minor injuries in a car accident on his way to the festival.

 

Cain, a 23-year-old from Middletown, Ohio, juggles with the DAMAJ Jugglers in Dayton. This was his fifth IJA competition, and he said the secret of his win was two years preparation. "I practiced it every single day," he emphasized. 'I've had that exact routine together for about six months, and just kept working on it."

 

His routine was almost flawless, and demonstrated a variety of unique four ball bounce moves and three and four club tricks. It was also short and sweet, lasting just four minutes. He and Gilligan, who lives about 2­1/2 hours away, got together about once a month to practice together and critique each other's routines.

 

Cain graduated last December from the University of Cincinnati with a psychology degree and performed full time this year for the seventh summer in a row at Kings Island Amusement Park in Cincinnati. He hopes to continue working at juggling jobs for another year, and then attend seminary to pursue a career in the ministry.

 

Gilligan got points for his arching ring prop stand and a foot pedal that tossed two balls up to join his three ball pattern. He performed with up to five balls and presented some unique moves with five rings. He skillfully handled three clubs, and his five club single spin finale brought some members of the audience out of their seats in standing applause. He said his act had been set at Christmas, and he had practiced it a couple of hours a day ever since.

 

This was Gilligan's fifth entry in IJA championships, and his highest previous finish was fifth. "I like to perform and show peo­ple what I've been working on," he said. "The championships is what makes me practice, what pushes me farther. If it wasn't for the championships I wouldn't be half as good as I am now."

 

Gilligan won $5,000 in a Youth Talent International competition earlier this year, and has a trophy case full of unicycling medals to accompany his new IJA gold. He is a junior in high school in Arcadia, Ohio, and does occasional performances in and around his hometown.

 

Corey Hoelcker, a 17 -year-old from Sioux City, Iowa, worked skillfully with balls, rings, clubs and a hat to win the Juniors silver medal. Especially notable was his footwork, which included continuous kickups with clubs, and spinning drops of clubs from his hands down to his feet. He also was skilled with head rolls, and showed some eye-catching multiplex lift bounces with up to seven balls.

 

Hoelker, another high school junior, has been juggling as a hobby for four years, and this was his first IJA competition. He said he got advice on his act from Steve Ragatz, and practiced every day in study hall during school!

 

Jason Kariotis, who has studied juggling with Benji Hill, did a very clean act with up to six rings, five balls and five clubs. High­lights of his performance included five balls overhead and a full pirouette under three rings of a five ring cascade. His stage movement was well-rehearsed and included several well timed applause points, and he maintained a friendly, casual demeanor despite the difficulty of his tricks.

 

Intermediate silver medalist Jay Pittman from Williamsburg, W.Va., presented the most theatrical routine of the evening. He appeared in face paint and performed some artful, dramatic ball spinning to a haunting melody. It included two ball arm curls, exchanges from hand to hand, and ball-on-ball spins. He continued the mood through work with four, five and six rings, then abruptly changed it with a switch to a tune from "West Side Story." In this more energetic second segment, he used up to four clubs and did two ping pong balls in his mouth, then finished with a brief run of five ping pong balls using his hands. He danced and moved around the stage very skillfully to maintain the moods he was setting, and suffered almost no drops.

 

Bronze medalist Ben Schoenberg wrote, played and recorded all the music for his act, mixing several tracks on a synthesizer and sequencing it all on a computer. He also worked theatrically, entering as if studying a "Learn to Dance" book. His balance skills were demonstrated by kickups of balls from foot to fore­head and back to foot, and he did two balls using one foot for four throws, and four balls between two hands and one foot. He did an eight ball flash, then three balls between the faces of two squash rackets. He flashed five hula hoops and did tricks with three, and jumped on a rola bola for his club work. He did an under the leg toss while standing lengthwise on the rola bola, and eventually succeeded at balancing on two rola bolas.