Lake Country logrolling program sweeps Lumberjack World Championships podium
Logrolling is often something you might have seen on TV or social media — but not in person. That is unless you go to the YMCA at Pbast Farms in Oconomowoc, where you can find world champions.
At the Lumberjack World Championships on July 21 in Hayward, three men and one woman from Lake Country took home podium finishes in the professional divisions. This followed three straight years with world champions in a sport that combines the precision footwork of a boxer with the endurance of a track runner.
"It's a bizarre, weird niche sport, but it is a lot of fun, and the whole logrolling community is fun to be a part of," said Susie Polentini, the mother of three logrollers from Hartland.
Anthony Polentini, the eldest of the three and a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was crowned this year's champion, outlasting his lifelong friend, Tanner Hallett, in the final. Anthony still finds it surreal that 12 years after starting in the sport he is at the pinnacle of a sport with international competitors.
He said it might not be like golf or tennis, but he admitted, "It's pretty cool to say you're the best in the world."
"Lumberjacking was centered around the upper Midwest in its heyday, but it's really cool being in the Milwaukee area, which isn't what people would say is a forestry or lumberjack area," Anthony added. "It's cool to see college kids and others doing the sport and going to college, work for normal companies, and in the summer we do this crazy sport called logrolling. It's pretty cool."
So what is making Lake Country a logrolling incubator for success? The answer is the legendary coach who calls Oconomowoc home: John Hallett.
How logrolling came to Lake Country
When Hallett moved to Wisconsin in 1998, he settled in Oconomowoc to open his veterinary practice, Hallett Veterinary Hospital. After years in Connecticut, he wanted to start a logrolling community and program near home.
That started at City Beach with a few logs Hallett obtained with the city's parks and recreation department. Soon after, the YMCA opened at 1750 Valley Road and agreed to allow Hallett's program to practice there on carpeted logs that didn't leave woodchips in the water.
Being front and center drew many eyes, including the Polentini family. Twelve years ago, they attended the Syttende Mai Festival in Stoughton and first witnessed logrolling professionals put on a show. They even let the kids try it out when the show was over.
"The kids had so much fun falling off the log and getting back in line," Susie said. "We took them home thinking it was a great day and fun experience they'll always remember. That was it."
In fact, that was not it. Months later while taking swim lessons at the YMCA, Anthony, the eldest Polentini, looked across the pool and was surprised to see logrollers practicing. He asked his mom to sign him up for the next session.
Stories like this are common among local logrollers. Brian Joas, the president of US Log Rolling Association, found Hallett's program while living in Oconomowoc. He grew up in Green Bay, and while he saw logrolling on ESPN 2 and knew of it, he was shocked to see it at his local pool.
"My stepdaughter, who was 12 at the time, and I said we have to sign up," he said. "That was it. That's all it took."
Hallett said that the younger the better in the sport because it's easier to learn balance on the log when you're smaller. That's why the kids who started as young as 6 and have rolled for a decade already are facing off as pros like the Polentinis and Hallett's son, Tanner, who took second to Anthony at the 2022 Lumberjack World Championships and is now a SpaceX engineer.
Pro or not, Hallett's athletes have one goal.
"The whole objective is athlete development and having fun," Hallett said. "It's a really great group of people and a great way to meet people from around the state, the country and even the world."
Friends from all over state, country and world
While rolling in the pool is fun, the real action begins on and off the log in the summer. Hallett's group practices weekly on Upper Oconomowoc Lake, where they have logs of varying sizes, both carpeted and uncarpeted red cedar logs.
All are welcome to participate. Some face off against one another, bobbing the log, splashing (it's legal) and maneuvering the log back and forth with precision to throw off an opponent. Others work off to the side. Some wear regular shoes that can get wet. Others wear modified soccer cleats with metal spikes on the bottom. These are mostly worn for competitions on red cedar logs without carpeting.
Each has their own things to work on and strive for from Hallett.
"For a lot of kids, it's fun for a while, but they realize this sport doesn't come with instant success; it can be frustrating," Susie said. "We are so lucky to have a coach who is such a calming force and gives them small, achievable goals.
"It's never about winning. It's looking for them to stay up for a certain time and then more the next time, or getting one fall on their competitor. He also teaches them to coach each other and they motivate each other. It's incredible."
Hallett is too modest to accept the praise, but his athletes and the parents agree that he is the key ingredient to Lake Country's success in logrolling.
"It's all John," Anthony said. "It's a winning culture. What I mean by that is he doesn't focus on winning much. He builds a good environment and wants you to have fun. You're responsible for your own success and failures, but we work together to improve as a team and individuals. What he has done for this group and this sport, it's immeasurable."
With 40 years of coaching under his belt, plus years of traveling with a lumberjack show earlier in his life, he brings a unbeatable knowledge, passion and coaching ability that is developing world champions as well as an activity so many enjoy at all levels of the sport.
Additionally, Hallett's introducing so many to sport has helped build the community at home and with logrollers from all over the Midwest and the world. This happens each summer when competitions take place all over the upper Midwest.
Logrollers are most prominent in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and parts of Canada. However, for the Lumberjack World Championships, competitors come from as far as New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Europe.
They all may be competitors on the log, but outside of that, they are also each other's biggest supporters.
"You wan to win out there, but how many sports do you have where your daughter is running around with not just her local teammates but friends she's made from so many different areas?" Joas said. "It's not cutthroat. We make it a positive experience because we want to welcome new rollers and encourage each other to keep improving. We compete, but we want it to be fun."
The years of competing together from a young age culminated with Lake Country's success in recent years, with world champions in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. This includes sweeping the men's podium the last three years and Ellie Davenport taking second in the women's pro division in 2022. This is on top of other accolades and finishes from local athletes.
It's a sport they hope more join.
Getting involved
Logrolling isn't mainstream, but it is certainly growing. College programs are popping up all over the country, including at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Colleges can use carpeted logs in pools or key logs, which are plastic ones that fill with water but are much more expensive. Red cedar logs are around $700, whereas plastic logs are a couple thousand.
Hallett welcomes anyone and any age (usually 6 and older) to give logrolling a chance. He hosts sessions during the school year at the YMCA, typically at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. He said he gets people who want to do it for fun, to compete or to cross train for other sports.
The Lake Country group also hosts two events annually: one in May at the beginning of the season and one in October at the YMCA, Rock N Roll Log Rolling Contest. This year, the event is scheduled for Oct. 2. starting at 10:30 a.m. It will include pros and amateurs facing off and offer opportunities for anyone to try logrolling.
More information is available at uslogrolling.com/home, searching for "Oconomowoc log rolling" on Facebook or by calling the YMCA at Pabst Farms, 262-567-7251.
For anyone interested in trying the sport, Hallett said he understands the hesitation but offers this wisdom: "When you goof up when you're learning, you fall in the water," Hallett said. "What's more fun than that?"
And some world champion's advice?
"Be patient," Anthony said. "There is a heck of a learning curve. You will be really bad when you start, but stick with it. The more you try, the easier it'll get. It's always fun, and whether you're a world champion or not, you can bring it up at Christmas to relatives or in job interviews. Trust me, people always want to hear about it."
Drew Dawson can be reached at ddawson@jrn.com or 262-289-1324.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lake Country logrolling program sweeps Lumberjack World Championships
