Three men from the metro area carved out a scene that many Minnesotans can relate to in winning the St. Paul Winter Carnival multi-block ice carving competition on Saturday.
Tom Schiller of Hastings, Rob Graham of Minneapolis and Trevor Pearson of Eden Prairie snagged the $2,000 first prize with a creation called "Fishing to Win."
The entry featured a fish house with a man sitting on a tree stump hooked into a walleye that's part of an underwater scene beneath a sheet of ice. The walleye is being chased by a muskie swimming out from some tree roots. In an interview, Graham said the trio carve ice all the time and will probably use the money to replace broken tools.
Second place, with a $1,000 prize, went to "Aerial Aquatics" by Chad Peterson and Jerry Sarff, both of Monticello, and Eric Rotter of Detroit Lakes.
In third place for $500 was "Dream Chaser" by Greg Schmotzer of Hastings and Chris Swarbrick of Hudson, Wis.
Teams had from noon Thursday until noon Saturday to show the judges what they could do with 20 blocks of ice.
The masterpieces are on display in Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.
Jennifer Bjorhus
