Portugal's Francisca Veselko and Australia's Jarvis Earle, who were both granted a wildcard into the event, have been crowned the World Surf League Sambazon World Junior Champions.
Earle, 18, from Cronulla Australia, came into the event seeded 24th of the 24 men in the event. Prior to this his biggest win was the Taiwan Open of Surfing in November.
Veselko, 19, from Carcavelos Portugal, won the Caraibos Lacanau Pro QS in France last August. She came in seeded 8th.
The championship, which took place at Seaside Reef in Encinitas, brought together 48 of the best surfers 20-and-under.
It was the first time since 2019 the WSL held the event. and organizers couldn't have asked for a better set up. The waves were at their peak the entire time and the weather, with the exception of one day that the rain prevailed, was perfect.
With that, we go to Finals day;
Men's Results
Quarterfinals -
Eli Hanneman took down Brodi Sale with scores of 8.33 and 7.67 for a 16.00 heat score.
Levi Slawson secured a spot in the semifinals by taking the win over Kauli Vaast in a close heat 14.50 -14.00.
In heat number 3, Jarvis Earle dropped the high wave score of the event with a 9.93 and sailed to a win over fellow aussie Oscar Berry16.70-10.60.
Alan Cleland rounded out the semifinal entrants with a 14.36-12.70 decision over Jackson Bunch. Cleland dropped a 9.43 in the win.
Semi-Finals-
Slawson scored on just 4 waves but one of them was a 9.00 and he used that to defeat Hanneman 16.60-15.33. Hanneman came out with scores of 7.33 and 8.00 but could not match Slawson down the stretch.
Earle trailed much of his heat against Cleland but caught the deciding wave with under 20 seconds left and made it count with a 7.23 to flip the result from a loss to a win.
Finals-
Slawson jumped out to an early lead with a 6.73 but on his fourth wave, Erle grabbed the lead with a 7.50 and later put the match away with a 9.50 on his final attempt to claim the championship.
Ladies and Gentleman, the 2023 WSL World Junior Men's Champion - Jarvis Earle
Ladies Results
Quarterfinals -
In a low scoring heat, Alyssa Spencer got the score she needed with a 2.10 wave score to turn the heat in the final seconds and beat Raupp 7.93-7.60
Sawyer Lindblad followed that with huge 15.50 heat score to down Sol Aguirre 15.50-14.17. She opened the scoring with an 8.00 wave score and ended the heat with a 6.67. Aguirre had an 8.17 in the loss.
In heat 3, Francisca Veselko took down Erin Brooks 13.33-9.67, opening with a 7.83 score.
Rounding out quarterfinals was Sierra Kerr, who downed fellow Aussie Zahli Kelly 13.77-10.76
Semi-Finals-
The match up of local stars Spencer and Lindblad, went to Lindblad 13.07-11.77. Spencer fell victim to a surfboard to the face, causing her to come beachside and get treated for her injury. Lindblad had the high wave of the heat with a 7.50.
In heat number 2, Veselko used an 8.50 in her score line and defeated Kelly 140.33-12.50. Veselka caught five waves to just three for Kerr.
Finals-
Lindblad got off to a fast start and ended with wave scores of 5.83 and 6.50 for a 12.33 heat total. However, it was Veselko who did a bit better with scores of 7.00 and 5.47 to take the title, in a close match, with a 12.47.
Ladies and Gentleman, the 2023 WSL World Junior Ladie's Champion - Francisca Veselko