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Construction on Brian
Toth’s brand new Puerto Rican casa finished
two months ago — but the 26-year-old Isabela native is just now resting
easy after spending the last 60 days on the road. Of course, Toth returned home
on Tuesday with a fresh accomplishment under his belt: his maiden ASP victory,
scored last weekend at the inaugural 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan. “I’m
getting mauled by my dogs, because they haven’t seen me in a while,” he told EasternSurf.com mere hours after flying
in. “I’m finally home home, finally
into my new house that got built about two months ago. Finally enjoying it.” And
what better way to enjoy it than with 1,000 valuable points on the ASP’s World
Rankings — and a $12,000 1st-place paycheck? “It’s a good way to start
paying the bills,” Brian laughed.
Although Toth had a
formidable East Coast cheering section waiting to hoist the Puerto Rican flag
after he clinched victory, the Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan was no walk in the
park. Held at “El Camaron,” a tricky rock reef break with a long left and a
quick, explosive right, it wasn’t exactly your traditional Mainland Mexico
barrel-fest. “The wave they had the contest on was pretty soft,” Toth said.
“But it got plenty rippable once the sets came through. There are a couple of
waves by my house in Puerto Rico that are super similar, though, so I felt
comfortable when I was out there. I also got to surf some other area waves
during the event, and that place definitely has a lot of potential.”
Which is exactly why
Quiksilver created the Clasico Mazatlan in the first place, even enlisting
esteemed big-wave surfer and contest organizer Gary Linden to marshal the
proceedings. “We’re going into our third year doing the 4-Star at Puerto
Escondido,” said Jim Compton, Quiksilver’s Latin America Marketing Manager.
“After last year’s event, a couple of guys I’ve known for a long time in
Mazatlan came to me with the idea of putting an event together there. Being in
the state of Sinaloa, Mazatlan gets a bad rap — everybody thinks
violence, so the city has kind of become guilty by association. But truthfully,
Mazatlan is the original Mexican surf city, so we just wanted to help kick
start the local economy and get them back on the map.”
Planning a beachside
music festival along with the surf contest, Quiksilver capitalized on the
luxurious beachfront resorts just north of Mazatlan’s historic old city. And
although the contest definitely boasted more of a beach festival vibe than a
hardcore surf comp, Compton said that’s coming in the future. “The long and
short of it is the event was hosted at probably the worst wave in all of
Mazatlan,” he admitted. “But we did it there because we knew we would have a
big crowd on the beach, which hopefully will attract sponsors for next year.
There’s already talk of turning it into a 5-Star and maybe going mobile to some
of the unbelievable empty reef and pointbreaks north of the city. That way, we
can have a full day of surfing and still have the music festival and party that
people can filter back to before doing it all over again the next day.”
But Toth and the
other East Coasters in attendance — Jeremy Johnston, Fisher Heverly,
Michael Powell, Jensen Callaway, Evan Thompson, Chris Tucker, Nathan Behl, Nils
Schweizer, Michael Dunphy, Balaram Stack, and Keto Burns — seemed to be
perfectly content enjoying a fresh slice of Mainland Mexico. “I didn’t know what to expect in Mazatlan, but I don’t think anyone knew
what to expect,” Callaway said. “I walked down the beach the first night
and saw that the so-called ‘pointbreak’ was a weird left coming off this little
rock, but the forecast for the contest was really good and we had waves
basically all the way until the last hours of the last day. We also had a solid
Right Coast crew, and the town was rad with a music festival going on in
conjunction with the contest. So there was never a dull moment with hundreds of
people enjoying the festivities and surfing going on.” Toth added, “The vibe was super cool. People were saying it was going to be gnarly,
but it was actually the mellowest place ever — good food, and the hotels
were super cheap, too. Top notch, poolside, right on the beach with waves out
front, for like $60-70 a night.”
Minus all the Pacifico
tall boys and stoked señoritas,
though, the contest was actually pretty high stakes. Standouts included aerial
savant Mitch Coleborn, former WCT fixtures Kalani Robb and Shane Beschen,
Hawaiian stars Tanner Hendrickson, Jesse Merle-Jones, and Dylan Goodale, and
Peruvian hell man Gabriel Villaran, among others. Powell fell early in the
Round of 96, while Callaway, Behl, Stack, and Burns were all downed in the
Round of 64. Johnston had the hardest path laid out in front of him, having to
surf out of the opening Round of 112, but JJ manhandled his first three heats
before falling in the Round of 32 to Coleborn, Merle-Jones, and Mexican charger
Dylan Southworth. Heverly overcame a shaky early start to win his Round of 64
heat, before facing a Rightside death match with Toth and Thompson in the Round
of 32; only Toth advanced, relegating Thompson and Heverly back to the beach. And
Tucker, who went on to win the Air Show and an all-expenses paid trip back to
Mazatlan, also lost in the Round of 32.
Meanwhile, Dunphy, who
enjoyed a solid seeding straight into the Round of 64, actually tied Sean Moody
for 1st-place in his first exchange, before advancing in 2nd behind Villaran in
the Round of 32. In the Round of 16, Dunphy got his revenge on Moody, but Robb and Coleborn prevented him from advancing any further. “Kalani
Robb was a standout,” Compton said. “Everybody had him pinned for the finals
from the first day, because he looked smoother and faster than anyone out
there. We were really fortunate to have big names like him and Mitch show up.” Like Dunphy, Nils Schweizer also started
slow, advancing in 2nd-place through both the Rounds of 64 and 32 before winning
a tight Round of 16 heat over Hendrickson, Mexico’s Diego Cadena, and
California’s Taylor Thorne. That surprisingly set Nils in the first man-on-man
heat of his career, against Matt Pagan in the Quarterfinals, which Nils
won, 12.67 – 10.40. Although ESM just missed Schweizer in Mazatlan as he set out for Pasquales, the New Smyrna
Beach 25-year-old did tell the ASP, “I’d never been in a man-on-man heat before. I
liked it because you could sit on the inside and try and pick waves when you
didn’t have priority, which was cool.”
Unfortunately for the Rightside brigade,
Schweizer faced Toth in the Semifinals, forcing us to hedge our bets while breathing
easy knowing at least one East Coaster would end up in the Quiksilver Clasico
Mazatlan final. Toth handily dispatched Nils, 14.00 – 10.66, but
Schweizer was more than gracious in a post-heat interview with the ASP. “That
was fun and 3rd-place is good for me,” he said. “It’s my best result ever, and
to have a heat with my good friend Brian, I’m happy.” Toth was happy, too, because that Semifinal heat
gave him plenty of fuel for his Final against Coleborn, where he outlasted the
Australian 14.33 – 11.76. “I was a little freaked, because Mitch was
getting good scores every heat,” Toth admitted. “I knew he could turn a
three-footer into a 7.5. I started off with that 8 and got another 6. When they
said 8, I thought, ‘This heat is mine; it’s got to be mine.’ I just went out
there and gave it my all, surfing 100% and not holding back like I had in other
heats. I guess I waited for the final to explode, but I was feeling really
solid throughout — no pressure, just having a great time with it. That’s
why it turned out good.”
Compton, who’s spent years working in Latin American and now lives in
Buenos Aries, Argentina, with his wife, said Toth’s embrace of the south-of-the-border
lifestyle was key. “Toth was in a good groove, which was nice, because in
Mexico we always say it’s not just about who’s surfing the best,” Compton
laughed. “It’s more about being in that Mexican mindset, rolling with the
punches. And that’s what Brian was doing — enjoying himself, eating the
local food, meeting local people, and having a good time. That translated to
the water, where he looked really comfortable. He was just in the best rhythm
throughout the entire event.”
And as any ASP warrior will tell you, you can’t maintain that
winning rhythm until you’ve established it — which means Toth might just
find himself on a much-needed late-season roll. “I’ve had a shocker of
a year so far,” he said. “I haven’t been able to get into any Primes; I was
first alternate for Lowers and didn’t get in, and then I wanted to go to Brazil
but I couldn’t get in. Now I’m on for the next Prime in Portugal [Quiksilver
Pro Portugal] because this win just gave me a 1,000 points, which isn’t bad at
all — a hell of a lot better than a bunch of 400s.”
Toth said his
increased ranking would get him a few more pats on the back at home, while also
adding fire to his World Tour desire. “Everybody is definitely psyching here in
Puerto Rico,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to get high-fives everywhere
I go. But yeah, me and Dylan [Graves] want to get on Tour really bad; Dylan
just had a good quarterfinal result in Brazil, which bumped him up. We’re still
making a charge for it, but we’re also just taking it step by step and enjoying
it. You gotta be relaxed and have fun; if you have too much weight on your
shoulders nothing good’s going to happen.”
Laughing, Brian added
one more thing about his place in Puerto Rico’s hallowed surfing history. “I
think the only other ASP win we’ve had was Josie [Graves] at Barbados,” Toth
said. “Like Josie said, ‘Now the older brothers can just sit back and watch our
little bros try and get that title.’”
For full results,
photos, video, and more from the ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan, visit www.itv360.com/QuiksilverClasicoMazatlan
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