Flying through guitar riffs in rock-star style, Ryan Gebhardt from Waltham, Minn. won the $10,000 grand prize in the 2008 “Rock the Lake” Guitar Hero tournament at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel on Saturday.

Gebhardt beat out a field of more than 700 competitors, and received a $10,000 check in return. The event gave out more than $20,000 in cash and prizes, including the grand prize.

The event attracted competitors from across the country as the biggest guitar hero tournament in the state of Minnesota.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even play Guitar Hero very often,” Gebharst said. “I just have a great memory for pattern recognition. It’s genetic.” “I don’t want to seem unexciting but I plan to put the money toward my college tuition.”

Competitors battled head-to-head on 50 Guitar Hero stations during the qualifying rounds Saturday afternoon.  The final round was held on the Mystic Showroom stage as Gebhardt and runner-up Joseph Viseth from Elk River, Minn. battled for the grand prize.

“Guitar Hero fanatics from across the Midwest came out to participate in today’s tournament,” said Bryan Prettyman, vice president of marketing for Mystic Lake Casino Hotel.  “The energy from all of the competitors was electric.  We would like to congratulate Ryan Gebhardt as well as the rest of the finalists, and thank everyone who came out to compete.”

Participants in the tournament had to be at least 18 years old and be Club Mystic members. Every registered participant was guaranteed one match in the qualifying round and a free T-shirt.

All songs during the competition were randomly selected and played on “medium” difficulty, with the semifinals and final round increased to the “hard” difficulty level. The top three “Best Dressed” rockers also were be rewarded with cash prizes.

List of “Rock the Lake” Finalists and Prizes:

* Tournament Champion: $10,000 — Ryan Gebhardt: Waltham, Minn.

* Tournament Runner Up: $3,000 — Joseph Viseth: Elk River, Minn.

* Third Place: $1,500 — Daniel Lew: Minneapolis, Minn.

* Fourth Place: $1,500 — Chris Bock: Lakeville, Minn.

* Fifth Place: $750 — Mike Clawson: Litchfield, Minn.

* Sixth Place: $750 — Matt Levahn: Maple Grove, Minn.

* Seventh Place: $750 — Dan Read: Carver, Minn.

* Eighth Place: $750 — Yifu Chen: Shanghai,China

Best Dressed Rockers and Prizes:

* First Place: $300 — Jaek Packniak: Milwaukee, Wisc.

* Second Place: $200 — Kevin Boese: Brownton, Minn.

* Third Place: $100 — Darcel DuPris-Fleming: Maplewood, Minn.