Rip Curl GromSearch Gisborne

Makorori Beach Gisborne, NZ
3 - 4 October 2009

Tane Wallis rules Rip Curl GromSearch event in Gisborne

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 October, 2009 : - - The first of two Rip Curl GromSearch events was completed at ‘Red Bus’ Makorori Beach just north of Gisborne in wind affected 1.0m waves. Today’s conditions contrasted the picture perfect waves of Saturday with the predicted southerly rolling up the coast before the first heat of the day.

Wallis looked to find some long lost form in the difficult conditions, seamlessly surfing the tricky conditions and making it look easy all day. His 14.13 point heat total had his opponents requiring excellent scores to catch him.

It was Wallis’ second win of the year and comes at a perfect time with the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team being named in just over two weeks. Wallis will be aiming to make the New Zealand team for the first time and represent his country at his home beach when the EWorld Junior Championships come to Piha in January 2010.

Today, Wallis was challenged on several occasions by Sandy Bay’s Patxi Scott – Arrieta and Hawkes Bay’s Tyler Lawson. Both surfers looked powerful in the final completing big turns but both surfers failed to back up these turns either falling off or having their waves close out limiting their scoring potential. In the end it was Scott – Arrieta that placed second for his best ever result ahead of Lawson in third with Todd Doyle (Mnt) placing fourth.

Wallis and Scott – Arrieta by way of their placings secured invites to the Rip Curl GromSearch national final which will be held at Raglan in February in conjunction with the Rip Curl Pro. Earlier in the day Wallis and Lawson eliminated brothers Paul and Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata) in the first semifinal and Scott – Arrieta and Doyle eliminated Peri Matenga (Mnt) and Dune Kennings (WGM) in the second semifinal.

Grace Spiers (WGM) surfed her way to first place in the Under 16 Girls Division scoring 10.27 points to win the final. Spiers looked strong all weekend and in the final her backhand attack got her the nod over Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) who scored 9.33 to place second. Raglan’s Alexis Poulter found it hard to find any reasonable length in her rides that would allow her to complete more than one turn and she ultimately finished third ahead of Ella Williams (WGM) in fourth.

Spiers and Martin – Fitzharris both secure invites to the Rip Curl GromSearch national final by way of their first and second placings. Kahu Craig Te Ranga (Waihi Beach) continued his fine form at Gisborne events by winning the Under 14 Boys final. It is the second event in a row that Te Ranga has won after his excellent performance at the last SNZ Grom Series event in May.

Te Ranga took the same approach to his opponents today using superior wave selection and surfing away from the pack. This allowed him to select any wave that came his way and he posted a 15.3 point total heat score with individual scores of 8.33 and 7.0 to combo the other three surfers.

First-time-finalist Josh Taylor (Mnt) was the best of the rest of the pack sneaking into outright second while Levi Stewart (Waihi Beach) got the nod for third after a count-back against Peri Matenga (Mnt) who finished fourth.

The Under 14 Girls final was effectively a one horse race after the first wave of the heat when Ella Williams (WGM) completed two explosive turns to post a 6.67 point ride in the challenging conditions. From there Williams posted another 3.8 point ride to seal the win over local girl Jayda Martin - Fitzharris in second, Gabriella Sansom (Auck) in third and double finalist Milly Crewe (Muri) in fourth.

Korbin Hutchings (Gis) and Milly Crewe (Muri) were victorious in their respective Under 12 divisions dominating their opponents to post scores of 9.57 and 11.0 respectively. Please see below for the final results from the Rip Curl GromSearch held at Makorori Beach, Gisborne over the weekend (3-4 Oct).

Under 16 Boys Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Paul Moreiti (Mimiwhangata), 1, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 2, Fraser Chatham (Whmata), 3, Josh Kettle (Tara), 4
Heat 2
Tane Wallis (Piha), 1, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 2, Levi Stewart (Waihi Bch), 3, Fintan Cram (Whmata), 4
Heat 3
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 1, Todd Doyle (Mnt), 2, Mackenzie Christie (Tau), 3, Sean Kettle (Tara), 4
Heat 4
Patxi Scott-Arietta (Sandy Bay), 1, Peri Matenga (Mnt), 2, Kahu Craig-Ranga (Waihi Bch), 3, Ella Williams (Whanga), 4

Under 16 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Tane Wallis (Piha), 1, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 2, Paul Moreiti (Mimiwhangata), 3, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 4
Heat 2
Patxi Scott-Arietta (Sandy Bay), 1, Todd Doyle (Mnt), 2, Peri Matenga (Mnt), 3, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 4

Under 16 Boys Finals
Tane Wallis (Piha), 1, Patxi Scott – Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 2, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 3, Todd Doyle (Mnt), 4

Under 14 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Levi Stewart (Waihi Bch), 1, Kahu Craig Te Ranga (Waihi Bch), 2, Jules Craft (Gis), 3, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 4
Heat 2
Josh Taylor (Mnt), 1, Peri Matenga (Mnt), 2, Mackenzie Christie (Tau), 3, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 4

Under 14 Boys Finals
Kahu Craig Te Ranga (Waihi Bch), 1, Josh Taylor (Mnt), 2, Levi Stewart (Waihi Bch), 3, Peri Matenga (Mnt), 4

Under 12 Boys Final
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 1, Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 2, Jack Virtue (Gis), 3, Taine Craig Ranga (Wahi Bch), 4

Under 16 Girls Final
Grace Spiers (Whmata), 1, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 2, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 3, Ella Williams (Whmata), 4

Under 14 Girls Final
Ella Williams (Whmata), 1, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 2, Gabriela Sansom (Auck), 3, Milly Crewe (Muri), 4

Under 12 Girls Final
Milly Crewe (Muri), 1, Abby Falwasser-Logan (Gis), 2, Paige Penny (Gis), 3, Dayna Story (Gis), 4, Claudia Fraser (Piha), 5

Check out the date for the final event of the Rip Curl GromSearch scheduled for Piha later in the year. Rip Curl GromSearch Event 2 – Piha Beach, Auckland, 5-6 December 2009 The Rip Curl GromSearch is brought to you by Rip Curl, Kiwi Surf Magazine, The Edge and surf2surf.com

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