After a weekend off of their busy youth schedule, the NSSA Southwest Tour reached stop number 4 at Huntington Beach this weekend and 6 of the nine winners, reached the top spot for the first time this season.
Off to the Southside of the Pier we go;
OPEN MENS
Finalists: Wheeler Hasburgh, Lucas Senkbeil, Titus Santucci, Ren Okano
Wheeler Hasburgh was full of confidence when he hit the water for the final of the Men's open division. And why not?
He had a solid weekend of surfing to make the final and when the finale began, he didn't disappoint.
After a slow start to the heat, he put up back-to-back wave scores of 7.37 and 7.20 to take a lead and was not caught. Lucas Senkbeil, who was aiming for his second straight title, made a run by putting up a 6.30, but the inconsistent waves didn't give him another solid chance and Hasburgh had title number one on the season.
The Canandian Hasburgh sailed through the earlier rounds with heat scores of (8.33,14.33), (6.50, 12.50), (7.70,15.00) and (7.33,13.53)
Senkbeil settled for second and Titus Santucci, the top seed in the event based on his top two finish in all 3 earlier events, finished third
OPEN WOMENS
Finalists: Sara Freyre, Sierra Downer, Hana Johnson, Maddie Sranton
Sara Freyre took the title for the second time in the last three weeks, as she held off a tough group of competitors and narrowly beat Sierra Downer 11.67-11.33.
Freyre dropped a 7.17 and backed it up with a 4.50. Downer, needing a 6.84 for the win, dropped a 6.50 in her final wave.
Earlier in the day, Freyre led all scorers in the division with an 8.83 wave total in a 13.36 heat score.
Other notable scores were by Maddie Stanton (7.00 wave score in the semifinals) and Marlee Lovell with an 11.10 quarterfinal heat score.
OPEN JUNIORS (u16)
Finalists: Dylan Sloan, Lucas Senkbeil , Dane Libby, Luke MacBeth
Huntington High surfer Dylan Sloan took his first title of the season, combining a 6.00 with a late score of 5.47 to seal the deal.
Senkbeil, the top seed in the division based on his top two finish in all three events this season, was denied his third title of the season.
Sloan made the final with a second-place finish in his semifinal heat, that was won by Luke MacBeth 10.87 to 10.54. Sloan's last wave of 5.37 just edged out Eeli Timperi who scored a 10.43 in a great heat.
Senkbiel had his normal high scoring day, putting up a 8.00/15.50 score in the semifinals. Dane Libby, and up and coming ripper, scored a 13.00 in the semifinal and finished third in the final.
OPEN GIRLS (u16)
Finalists: Marlo Leigh Harris, Kaia Howard, Hana Bakker, Madyson Stone
While some finals lacked in wave opportunities, this one did not.
The foursome surfed 24 waves and when the white water settled, in was Marlo Leigh Harris with her first 16U title of the season. She won a 14U championship earlier in the season.
Harris was very consistent in the finals, scoring higher than a 5.0 on four of her six waves surfed. In fact, she was the only girl in the final to score a wave higher than a five.
Kaia Howard had a strong day through out and in the final had a pair of 4.60 scores for a 9.20 heat total.
Hana Bakker and Maddyson Stone both surfed well. Bakker won both her quarterfinal and semifinal heats while Stone won her quarterfinal heat.
OPEN BOYS (u14)
Finalists: Brody Buck, Rintaro Suneya, Finn McCarty, Masamune Uno
Brody Buck trailed late in the boys final and knew he needed one big score. With that, he took off on his forehand side and ripped a multi turn wave down the shoreline and scored a 6.67 to take the win.
His 13.17 heat score narrowly beat Japan surfer Rintaro Suneya, who had a 12.27. Suneya's last gasp effort got him his best backup score, but the 4.60 fell short of what he needed.
Finn McCarty surfed just one wave in the final and settled for third place.
Buck made the final with an 11.93 semifinal score while Masamune Uno, also from Japan, had a great run with an 11.26 semifinal and 10.50 quarterfinal win.
OPEN SUPER GIRLS (U14)
Finalists: Eden Walla, Reid VanWagoner, Marlo Harris, Victoria DuPrat
Eden Walla was dominant in winning her first title of the season. How dominant you ask? Not only did she drop a perfect 10 but she Combo'd the whole field in the championship.
Walla's last two scores of the day were a 10.00 and 7.90. Reid VanWagoner was valiant in defeat, garnering scores of 5.20 and 4.67 for a second-place finish.
Marlo Harris, who won the 16U, had a third-place finish here with a 9.34 score.
Walla gained the final with a solid showing earlier with a 15.24 semifinal score and a13.50 round 1 score.
Victoria DuPrat had a great day, winning all three of her heats leading into the final.
OPEN MINI GROMS (u12)
Finalists: Zion Walla, Finn Castle, Shuto Lida, Wyatt Yount
Zion Walla watched his older sister win her division then went out and captured his first title of the season.
Walla's 6.67 got him off to a good start and in a tough heat, sealed it with a 5.90 in the closing minutes.
Finn Castle was tough in defeat, with a 6.27 high wave in his second-place finish and Shuto Lida wasn't far behind with a 11.20 final heat total.
Walla had good scores all day as he put up a 7.83/15.06 mark in the semis and a 5.77/11.10 score in the quarters.
Castle had a great day as well, scoring an 8.00/11.57 quarterfinal total and 6.27/12.57 score in the finals.
OPEN MINI GROMS GIRLS (u12)
Finalists: Teagan Meza, Ruby Stringfellow, Peeta Kenworthy, Zoe Panettiere, Isla Pinto.
These girls will be battling each other for years to come and this weekend, Teagan Meza got the best of it with a 9.26 final score to just get past Ruby Stringfellow's 8.90 toal.
Ruby was looking to three-peat. Stringfellow has been first or second in all four stops this season.
Meza got her best two scores, 5.13 and 4.13 on her final two waves on the final. Stringfellow led early with a 5.07 opener.
Peeta Kenworthy was third but had a great day putting up a 7.67/13.00 mark in the semis and an 8.00/12.83 mark in the quarters.
Isla Pinto made her fist final with a fourth-place finish.
OPEN BOYS (u10)
Finalists: Cruz Freyre, Waylon Brennan, Brett Gregorius, Cash Schillmoeller
Cruz Freyre has become the one to beat in the youngest division. Sunday, he won his third title in four weeks (the other being a runner up).
Freyre took home the second title of the day in the Freyre family (sister Sara win the women's open), by knocking down a 7.83 in the final for a 13.66 heat score. Waylon Brennan had a huge 6.83 in the final and settled for second place.
Brett Gregorius was 3rd and Cash Schillmoeller roudned out the field in fourth.
Next up, the Northwest Conference holds stop numbers 3 and 4 in Santa Cruz this weekend while the Southwest Explorers see action at 9th street in Huntington Beach.