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Less than one week ago, Long
Beach, NY, was downright firing, with well overhead Hurricane Earl swell,
perfect offshore winds, and a host of East Coast pros in town to sample the
area’s gritty sandbars and urban charm (see Tom Dugan’s Earl Phlog here http://www.easternsurf.com/feature_phlogging4/). With the seriously upgraded 2010 Unsound Pro
— including the Grade-4 ASP Nike 6.0 Unsound Jr. Pro — coming up,
contest organizers and Western Long Island staples Mike “Nellie” Nelson and
Dave Juan must have been thrilled to see their homebreak rifling, much as it
has in the past for epic Unsound iterations.
Come Wednesday, September
8th, though, with the best juniors in North America assembled in the Big Apple
to take a bite out of the first ASP Pro Junior contest of the 2010-2011 season,
Long Beach had plenty of waves — just not of the pristine tropical
variety. Lincoln Blvd. was waist- to occasionally chest-high, with a wonky side
wind making the ocean look more like summertime Huntington Beach than autumnal
East Coast glory. But the show had to go on, as Surfline forecasters weren’t
seeing much on the horizon for the rest of the weekend.
So the juniors powered
through 27 heats in just over nine hours, a marathon affair for even the
fittest surfer in attendance. But with the Grade-4 rating — the highest
in North America for a junior contest this year — came a host of Hawaiian
and Californian stars, putting our Rightside representatives on the ropes as
everyone was hungry for valuable points towards next year’s ASP World Junior
Tour events in Bali and Australia.
In the opening Round of 48,
Southern North Carolina/ Hawaii half-timer Dylan Kowalski proved that his
intense training with heavywater legend Ben Aipa continues to pay off, as he
won his heat over North Shore phenom Kalani David with a 10.60. Fellow Tarheel
Nick Rupp also emerged victorious in his exchange with a 9.93, while St.
Augustine, FL’s, Keto Burns squeaked through his own heat behind Californian
standout Jake Halsted. Gulf Coast star Tayler Brothers slid in behind Mexican
darkhorse Dylan Southworth, and hometown Unsound Surf Shop boy Balaram Stack
upped his own Empire State ante by winning his first heat with a 10.77.
In the Round of 32, with
high seeds like Evan Geiselman, Luke Davis, Keanu Asing, Kolohe Andino, and Nat
Young waiting to chew up the little pups, our varsity squad performed well,
with Kowalski, Virginia Beach’s Michael Dunphy, and golden boy Geiselman all
winning their heats. Evan notched the highest heat score of the round, a 16.00,
while Stack advanced in 2nd behind Andino and Jacksonville, FL, technician Evan
Thompson made it through behind Dunphy.
The waves started dropping
fast in the Round of 16, but that didn’t stop the cream of the crop from
throwing up ridiculous airs and blowtails in the difficult conditions.
Geiselman was again able to put up the highest heat total of the round,
notching a 15.00 with Balaram Stack advancing to the quarterfinals behind him
with a 13.27. And Dunphy came in 2nd to an on-fire Andino, setting up two heavy
quarterfinal match-ups — Kolohe and Stack, Dunphy and Geiselman.
Michael took control against
good friend Evan in the opening minutes, posting up a quick 6.67 and 8.67 that
left Geiselman in the uncharacteristic two-hole. Geiselman battled back with a
7.23 and 7.43 in the deteriorating conditions, but his 14.66 total fell just
short of Dunphy’s 15.34. And Nassau County pride and joy Balaram Stack never
had a chance again Andino, as Brother posted an opening 7.10 and followed it up
with a solid 7.40 to keep Stack in combo-land throughout the heat. But Balaram
wasn’t bummed about his equal-5th and $900 payday in the least. “I’m psyched on
this result; I surf here every day and to have the best surfers here at my
homebreak has just blown my mind,” Stack told the ASP. “To take them to the
city as well and show them around has been amazing.”
Dunphy suffered a similar
fate against Andino in his semifinal, only mustering a 3.67 to match Kolohe’s
opening 8.00 ride. On Brother’s next wave, another air-reverse clinched the
deal, as he earned a 6.33 that buried Dunphy for the remainder of the heat. But
an equal-3rd and $1,200 in the biggest junior event of the year is nothing to
sneeze at for our favorite Sherpa. “The wind was onshore most of the day, but
in my semifinal it went offshore and started blowing the waves out to sea,” he
told the ASP. “I would have liked to make the final and do better, but
3rd-place is good… making a little money at a fun event like this one is a good
way to prepare for the Belmar Pro next weekend.”
After Dunphy’s loss, the
final between Nat Young and Andino was anticlimactic, and not just for the East
Coast contingent, as those pesky offshore winds beat down what was left of the
little windswell. But Brother dominated the 27th heat of the day on his magic
Mayhem Scorcher, and although the 16-year-old San Clemente star struggled
against Evan Geiselman throughout the 2009-2010 season, his victory rocketed
him straight to the top of this 2010-2011’s ASP North America Pro Junior Series
ratings. “There were lots of waves out there, but wave selection is such a huge
part of surfing heats, so I just focused on my waves,” Andino told the ASP.
“Everyone was surfing so well and I’m just stoked to have ended up in the
final.” Sweetening the pot for Andino, the very next day Hurley announced they
would award him a wildcard for the upcoming Hurley Pro Trestles World Tour
event, where he’ll match up in his first heat with another East Coaster —
King Kelly Slater.
For full results from the Grade-4 ASP
Nike 6.0 Unsound Jr. Pro, visit www.nike6unsoundjrpro.com
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