Evan “Golden Boy” Geiselman Nabs Premiere Boys Under 18 Win At Surfing America U.S.A. Champs;
Morgan Gore, Leah Dawson, And Steven Mangiacapre Also Earn Titles By Nick McGregor
Forgive me
if it all sounds too familiar: Evan Geiselman, currently East Coast surfing’s
hottest commodity, enters a contest. Any contest — this time around, it’s
the Surfing America 2010 U.S.A. Championships. Evan shows up the uber-talented
competition around him, including last year’s defending champion; overcomes an
uncharacteristic late stumble; and emerges victorious in the contest’s marquee
division.
So what was
different about Evan’s latest big win, which came at the culmination of the
ten-day U.S.A. Champs, held in Southern California between June 19th-28th at both Huntington Beach
Pier and the famed cobblestone peaks of Lower Trestles? Hard to say, as it’s
all part of Geiselman’s near-perfect 2010, which has seen the “Golden Boy” bag
an ASP North America Pro Junior ratings lead, a handful of NSSA regional
titles, double pro wins at home in New Smyrna Beach, FL, a media-saturated trip
to Bali, and even an Innersection.tv submission thrown in for good measure.
But this
story isn’t just about Evan Geiselman — how’s that for something
different? New Jersey native Morgan Gore backed up her 2009 U.S.A. Champs
Women’s Shortboard victory with another title in the same division; Southern
North Carolina’s Steven Mangiacapre cruised to a convincing Men’s Longboard
win; and Central Florida native-turned-Hawaiian heavy Leah Dawson won in
Women’s Longboard.
Other East
Coast finalists included New York’s Quincy Davis (3rd in Girls Under 16), South
Carolina’s Katie Gordon (3rd in Girls Under 12), Maryland’s Kelsey Willison
(2nd-place Women Shortboard), Texas’ Wes Beck (4th in Men’s Shortboard),
Southern North Carolina’s Bradley Rose (2nd in Junior Longboard), and Central
Florida’s Steve McLean (4th in Junior Longboard).
Now back to
Geiselman — rewinding to the beginning of the Surfing America 2010 U.S.A.
Champs reveals just how dominant he was from the outset. In Round One, Evan
came out swinging with a 9.0 and a 9.5 in the first few minutes of his first
heat to nail a commanding win. Jacksonville Beach, FL’s, Evan Thompson, Ocean Isle Beach, NC’s, Nick
Rupp, and Garden City Beach, SC’s, Cam Richards all aced their first heats,
while Puerto Rico’s Hector Santa Maria nearly upset 2009 Boys Under 18 and Boys
Under 16 champ Kolohe Andino in a tight exchange.
But Andino
exacted revenge on the Right Coast in Round Two, dispatching Richards, Chris
Tucker, and Dylan Kowalski, before Geiselman won another heat with a 15.50,
Rupp prevailed with an 11.00, and Thompson advanced behind Maui standout Tanner
Hendrickson. In the Quarterfinals of Boys Under 18, Rupp and Thompson fell to
Andino, but Geiselman nabbed another heat win with a 16.27, leaving only one
East Coaster in the premier division's semifinals.
And that’s
where things got interesting — Geiselman was nailed with an interference
at the beginning of his three-man semifinal exchange with Andrew Doheny and
Ezekiel Lau, but luckily Evan bagged an 8.50 in the heat’s dying seconds to
advance. “I was sweating [that semifinal], but I pulled it off and I’m stoked,”
Evan told Surfing America. “And I always love surfing Lowers with only three
guys out.”
In the
final, Geiselman let Andino get an early lead with a 7.17 before answering back
with a 7.10, but it was a split peak with Lau as time ran out that decided it.
Evan spun a trademark off-the-lip reverse, worked in a few slashing cutbacks in
the midsection, and then finished with a frontside air to earn an 8.27 and the
title as time ticked away. "It feels great — the final was so hard,”
he said. “For me, it's a big win. I know the judges want to see airs, so I'm
always trying to do something with my tail above the lip and put an exclamation
point on my waves."
Exclamation,
indeed — not only did Evan bag the Boys Under 18 trophy, but he also
earned the 10th Annual California State Parks Governor’s Cup Award, given to
the Boys Under 18 and Girls Under 18 winners. Surely he’ll laugh all the way to
his Sunshine State bank with that one, as he stole the award from San Clemente
native and Lower Trestles loc’dog Andino. "We're great friends,” Geiselman
said of Andino, “but anything we do we have this rivalry... chicks, basketball,
whatever. He was the one I thought was surfing the best throughout the entire
event, but I was able to get one on him."
Evan
will surely use the momentum from his U.S.A. Champs win to blitzkrieg the NSSA
Nationals competition later this week, so stay tuned for more on the Golden Boy,
and for the announcement of the 2010-2011 PacSun U.S.A. Surf Team. It can be hard to
compete against the best young surfer on the East Coast, but an additional big
ups go out to Gore, Dawson, and Mangiacapre for their hard-fought U.S.A. Champs
wins, earned against the best of the best from California and Hawaii.
For
more photos, video, and in-depth coverage of the 2010 Surfing America U.S.A.
Championships, visit www.surfingamericalive.com
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 2010 SURFING
AMERICA U.S.A. CHAMPIONSHIPS:
BOYS UNDER 18
1. Evan
Geiselman (FL)
2. Kolohe
Andino (CA)
3. Ezekiel
Lau (HI)
4. Tanner
Hendrickson (HI)
GIRLS UNDER 16 1. Kaleigh
Gilchrist (CA)
2. Courtney
Conlogue (CA)
3. Nage
Melamed (HI)
4. Lakey
Peterson (CA)
BOYS UNDER 16 1. Kolohe
Andino (CA)
2. Parker
Coffin (CA)
3. Colin
Moran (CA)
4. Ian
Gentil (HI)
GIRLS UNDER 16 1. Tatiana
Weston-Webb (HI)
2. Brianna
Cope (HI)
3. Quincy
Davis (NY)
4. Harley
Taich (CA)
BOYS UNDER 14 1. Ian
Gentil (HI)
2.
Imaikalana Devault (HI)
3. Kalani
David (HI)
4. Joshua
Moniz (HI)
GIRLS UNDER 14 1. Tatiana
Weston-Webb (HI)
2. Bailey
Nagy (HI)
3. Kulia
Doherty (CA)
4. Frankie
Harrer (CA)
BOYS UNDER 12 1. Jake
Marshall (CA)
2. Kaulana
Apo (HI)
3. Griffin
Colapinto (CA)
4. Log Ng
(CA)
GIRLS UNDER 12 1. Mahina
Maeda (HI)
2. Dax
McGill (HI)
3. Katie
Gordon (SC)
4. Mainei
Kinimaka (HI)
MENS 1. Aaron
Swanson (HI)
2. Antoine
Allain (CA)
3. Chad
Eastman (CA)
4. Wes Beck
(TX)
WOMENS 1. Morgan
Gore (NJ)
2. Kelsey Willison
(MD)
3. Heather
Jordan (CA)
4. Chloe
Buckley (CA)
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