Gravity Games are pinnacle for Struharik

& lt;a href=mailto:scalzo@vindy.com & gt;By JOE SCALZO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Let me tell you about ... (oof) ... a local wakeboarder who ... (oops) ... will be competing in the ... (ouch) ... Gravity Games this weekend in ... (splash) ... Cleveland.
His name is ... (glug) ... Rob Struharik and he's also teaching me ... (crash) ... to wakeboard.
It's going well.
Kinda.
(But we'll get to that in a second. First, some background.)
Struharik, 22, grew up in Boardman and started wakeboarding when he was 13, turned pro at 16, traveled the world, earned sponsorships, became famous, got married, and now has a scaled-down competitive career that also includes making videos, DVDs, promotions and a whole bunch of other stuff.
"It's a lot of fun," Struharik said with a smile.
And one of the highlights is this week's Gravity Games -- an action sports festival on Cleveland's lakefront that combines sports such as motocross, skateboarding and wakeboarding with games, give-aways and live rock concerts.
"It's just one huge party," Struharik, who finished fourth at last year's Games, which were held in Cleveland for the first time. "And it's twice as nice because it's all in the same place. You'd be wakeboarding and you look up and see motocross guys jumping in the air.
"So, when you're finished, you just stop and watch."
Costs and benefits
Of course, the lifestyle has its drawbacks. Specifically, injuries.
So far, Struharik has been lucky. Unlike most pro wakeboarders, he's never had any major knee injuries, which are the most common type of injury in his sport.
But his body has absorbed an awful lot of punishment over the years from splashes, crashes and dangerous stunts that didn't quite go right.
"My chiropractor said I'm the only person he knows who comes in looking like he's been in a car wreck," Struharik said.
He visits the chiropractor every other week -- at least -- and battles pain in his knees, ankles and back, just to name a few spots.
"He'll come home and say, 'Oh, my back hurts,' " said Joanna Struharik, his wife of four months. "And I'm like, 'I wish you would just quit this stupid sport.' "
She's kidding (usually). But as much as she loves watching her husband practice -- "I never get sick of it," she said -- it also takes a toll on her emotionally.
They pray before every tournament and, afterward, Joanna spends the majority of Rob's competition with a combination of flu-like symptoms. Her head aches. Her heart pounds. She walks in circles, picking at her nail polish while trying not to freak out.
"I'm just so afraid he'll get hurt," she said. "Everyone tells me I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. It's the same thing every time."
And it's not as if wakeboarders are immune to disaster. Ankles break. Ligaments tear. Injuries linger. And, in rare cases, disaster strikes.
Last year's Gravity Games wakeboarding champ, Mark Kenney, took a nasty fall during competition. Rather than rest, he used medication to mask the pain and accidentally overdosed.
He died just a few weeks after the Games.
Minimizing risks
Struharik, however, knows the profession has risks -- and he does his best to minimize them. His father, Bob, has been driving him during practice since they started, although never in competitions -- "It wouldn't be fair if he had his own driver," Bob said -- which helps maintain a level of consistency.
Most practices are held on the lake they own in New Middletown -- a strip-mined quarry filled with water.
Struharik uses the lake (it doesn't have a name -- it's just "The Lake") to try out new stunts. He's willing to take risks, but only if they're calculated risks. There's a difference between being brave and being stupid.
"Part of being a professional is knowing how to fall," said Struharik, who lives in Poland. "You can't just catch an edge and go big. You have to think about the consequences.
"Ninety-nine times out of 100 you might fall right, but sometimes you fall incorrectly because you lose your sense of awareness."
Bad falls lead to injuries, which lead to rest and rehab. (Both physical and mental.)
"Sometimes it's harder on you mentally," he said. "When you're 15 or 16, you feel this indestructible quality. You don't take into consideration the consequences. In my experience, that turned out to be a good thing, but some guys get pretty hurt."
Taking a spin
Which leads us to ... (oomph) ... me.
When Struharik does stunts, they look easy. Everything looks easy. Getting on the board. Navigating the wake. Doing flips, 360-degree spins and huge jumps.
It's really, really cool. And it's really, really tempting.
"Hop in the water," Struharik said. "I'll show you what to do."
Don't mind if I do.
For those of you who don't know, wakeboarding is pretty much the same as snowboarding, except it's on water instead of snow. It's actually pretty easy to learn, provided you have a good coach.
And Rob's one of the best.
I got up on my first try (basically) and, after navigating out of the wake, I felt like hot stuff.
Then I fell.
Then I got back up.
Then I fell.
Then I ... (well, you see where this is going).
If you get a chance, try it. Or, better yet, drive to Cleveland and watch Struharik. The wakeboarding competition goes from Thursday through Saturday.
"It's a blast," Struharik said. "I'm looking forward to it."
So ... (gurgle) ... am I.
& lt;a href=mailto:scalzok@vindy.com & gt;scalzo@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;