2017 Hall of Famer - Brandon Bucher

Brandon Bucher was inducted into the IWSA Hall of Fame at the 2017 Awards Banquet.
Brandon entered his first State Tournament at the age of 5 in 1983.  He skied in his first Midwest Regional’s at the age of 8 and won his first Midwest Regional Jr. Boys Slalom Championship at the age of 9, then went on to win 10 Regional titles in a row in Jr. Boys, Boys, and Mens 1.  His first Regional Slalom Record erased a 25 year old record held by Paul Chapin of Minnesota.  He wasn’t just a slalom specialist and completed in all 3 events at Regionals and Nationals most of those years.
 
Brandon was invited to train with and work as a water ski instructor at the Jack Travers Ski School in Florida for two summers at age 16 and 17.  That first year in 1993, he made the US Jr. Water Ski Team and completed at the America’s Challenge in Sherbrook, Quebec, Canada where he won the slalom title.  The following year he recorded a 151’ jump in the first round of the Jr. Team Trials, then injured a knee in the second round keeping him from making the Jr. Team for the World Championships.
 
Brandon received a scholarship to ski for the University of Louisiana Lafayette.  In his second season he served as Team Capitan and skied all three events to help the team win the National Championship at Waters Edge in Illinois.  After that he moved to Orlando, Florida and trained with Chris Rossi at the Goode Ski Center and completed in many Pro Slalom Tour events over the next few years.  During his pro career he was sponsored by the Mastercraft Boat Company and Goode Water Skis.
 
Brandon retired from competitive water skiing after winning the Mens 2 National Slalom title and placing third Overall in the 2005 Nationals in West Palm Beach, Florida.  That same year Indiana slalom skiers Cale Burdick won Mens 1 and Nate Smith won Boys 3 titles.  Brandon was the first Indian slalom skier to run 39 off in a sanctioned tournament, a feat that has become common for Cale and Nate.
 
Now Brandon is married to Michelle and the father of four children, Joy, Jacob, Jena, and Jada.  He is actively involved in managing the Bucher Farm with his father, raising seed corn, commercial corn, and soybeans.  His involvement in water skiing is now as a driver and coach for this wife and three of his children who are now starting to ski.