VQS World Champs

Volcom Qualifying Series
54th Street Newport Beach California
8 - 10 May 2009

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Volcom's VQS World Champs Hillbilly Stomp rocks 54th

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 May, 2009 : - - A bunch of old friends Paked up thier kids, goats, cousins, chickens, and lefd the old hollar behind an cetched a ride down to 54th Street in Newport Beach, CA on A' May 8th-10th for the VQS Hillbilly Stomp. We tossed out a whoppin $50,000 in greenbacks plus a bunch of prizes.

The final day of the VQS Hillbilly Stomp turned out to be an absolute barn burner with some rip roaring moves from every division. The Mountain Momma’s hit the water first and the judges were having a hard time figuring out if it was the Bootleggers or the Momma’s with the man size hacks that were being thrown down. Lauren Sweeney looked like a favorite going into the final after absolutely blowing up in her semi final heat.

However, as the final heat entered the water, it turned into an all out battle between every Momma' in the final, with each posting huge scores. As the heat wore on however, one Momma’ began to rise above the rest.

Malia Manuel put on a performance that had every guy on the beach wishing they could surf even close to her ability and she placed herself above the rest with the precision of an expert moonshiner. For her incredible surfing, Malia walked away with 4 grand and more prizes than anyone on the beach had ever seen. Kaleigh Gilchrist and Demi Boelsterli surfed well and rounded out the Mountain Momma final.

Nate Tyler : photos Carey/Morris/Ruddy

The Grasshoppers hit the water like a pack of rabid squirrels. The guys in the Grasshopper division were launching so high that the judges thought they were flying squirrels. Matt Meola looked like a favorite going into the final after launching one of the craziest airs early in the event and he nailed a few solid ones in the final.

However, as the heat wound down, it became an old fashioned stomp off between last year’s Airshow champ Kilian Garland, and the Big Island’s Torrey Meister. In the end it looked like Torrey had gotten the extra ounce of kickapoo joy juice he needed and launched a huge upside down air reverse that grabbed him the win, $2000 dollars cash and a whole mess of prizes. Gavin Beschen and Matt Meola had been surfing insane the entire event and rounded out the rest of the Grasshopper final.

The Porch Babies division pretty much turned into an aerial shoot out. All the little guys were absolutely punting and the judges were having a hard time figuring out which division was the Grasshoppers and which one was the Porch Babies. A showdown between the California kids and the Hawaiians got underway.

After an absolute battle, it came down to Ian Crane and Zeke for the win. Just as it looked like the heat was in Ian’s hands, a massive southern set came through and Ezekiel managed to grab the huge right which he went straight up on, blasting his tail like he was playing the lizard launch game. Zeke managed to nail some huge maneuvers giving him an 8 and the clear lead when the final buzzer sounded.

Hillbilly Huck winner Matt Meola : photos Carey/Morris/Ruddy

For his hillbilly heroics, Zeke was awarded with $5000 dollars, a Volcom snowboard, Rivera complete skateboard and enough prizes to land him some serious excess baggage fees from Hawaiian Airlines.

The Nightcrawlers division had a lot to prove and hit the water with the quickness of a bootlegger running from the law. Jesse Mendes came all the way from Brazil and was clearly going for the win throwing some huge scores down right off the stick. Kyle Galtes from Kilauea, HI quickly answered back with some massive tail blasts. In the end however, the battle came down to last year’s champ Albee Layer, and Tanner Hendrickson, both from Haiku, HI.

These two were slicing and dicing with the precision of a banjo picker each wanting to return back to Haiku as the hometown hero. When the straw dust finally settled, Tanner Hendrickson was just able to get the edge over Albee and brought home $7,000 dollars cash, a Volcom snowboard, and a massive gunny sack crawlin with prizes.

No one knew what to expect from the Bootleggers division but they definitely did not disappoint, as each was gunning for their chance at the $10,000 first place check.

Mitch Coleborn : photos Carey/Morris/Ruddy

The final was a nuts mix, from creepy dark horses like Blake Howard and Nate Tyler, to Aussie stand out Mitch Coleborn, and finally defending champ Dustin Cuizon. Mitch lit the heat up right off the bat throwing down some of the craziest moves ever seen in a heat, from upside down reverses, to fin throws, to ridiculous upside down back flips Mitch was not pulling everything but definitely going for it on every wave.

Dustin on the other hand waited carefully out the back for the sets, lighting each one up with the speed and quickness that won him the coveted title last year. Blake sat up the beach and surfed each wave with the same precision that had got him his spot into the talent filled final. Nate sat straight out in front of the judges picking off the steep rights running down the beach, which he surfed with the speed and power needed to win an event and grab the title of VQS World Champ.

For his combination of incredible surfing and huge airs, Nate was rewarded with $10,000 dollars and a Monster Kawasaki Jet Ski plus a crazy amount of prizes.

Electric Visual, Monster Energy Drink, Fuel TV, Riviera Skateboards, Chipotle, Skull Candy, Santa Cruz NHS, DVS Shoes, Vestal, Pro-Lite, Future Fins, Famous Wax, Speck Products, Eboost, Sun Cure & Ding All, Headhunters, X-Trak, Magma Wax, Channel Island Surfboards, Fender, M10 Surfboards, Beachbikes.net, Indo Board, Becker Surfboards, Ocean Potion, WRV Surfboards, SB Surfboards, Crown Skateboards, Eastern Skate Supplies, Globe Shoes, Astrodeck, Dakine, Blackline Traction, TPatterson Surfboards, Ollie Pop, Surfing, Surfer, Transworld Surf, Bike Magazine, ESM, Surfline, Blisss, Foam

For VQS coverage and updates, check out The Weekly Update on Fuel TV.

The folks who make it happen : photos Carey/Morris/Ruddy

Results:

BOOTLEGGERS (PRO-AM)
1.Nate Tyler-Templeton, CA $10,000 + Monster Kawasaki Jet Ski
2.Mitch Coleborn-Australia $4,000
3.Dustin Cuizon-Ewa Beach, HI $2,000
4.Blake Howard-Carpenteria, CA $1,000

NIGHTCRAWLERS (JUNIORS)
1.Tanner Hendrickson-Haiku, HI $7,000
2.Albee Layer-Haiku, HI $3,000
3.Kyle Galtes-Kilauea, HI $2,000
4.Jesse Mendes-Brazil $1,000

PORCH BABIES (GROM)
1.Ezekiel Lau-Honolulu, HI $5,000
2.Ian Crane-San Clemente, CA $2,000
3.Ian Gentil-Paia, HI $1,500
4.Kolohe Andino-San Clemente, CA $1,000

MOUNTAIN MOMMAS (GIRLS)
1.Malia Manuel-Kapaa, HI $4,000
2.Lauren Sweeney-Encinitas, CA $2,000
3.Kaleigh Gilchrist-Newport Beach, CA $1,500
4.Demi Boelsterli-Goleta, CA $1,000

GRASSHOPPERS (AIR)
1.Torrey Meister-Kailua, Kona $2,000
2.Kilian Garland-Santa Barbara, CA $1,000
3.Gavin Beschen-North Shore, HI $500
4.Matt Meola-Maui, HI $500

ELECTRIC HILLBILLY HUCK
1.Matt Meola-Maui, HI $1000 

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