Wet and wild with Rockin’ Fig -- Rick Fignetti

Rick Fignetti

The focal point of the California coastline this lastweekend was the

Huntington pier, as the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. held its

Western Championships Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the south side. The

top amateurs on the west coast made their way to Surf City for the final

event of the season before the Nationals at Lowers.

The surf was outstanding last week too, with the combo of southwest

and west swells and had good peaky shape and some of the bigger sets ran

two to three-feet overhead at times. Contestants were ripping,

competition was fierce and alotta our Huntington Beach talent did well,

thriving on the pressure. In one of the hardest divisions, the open mens,

Huntington Beach High School shredder Brett Simpson was ripping and had

three solid waves too take it, then went on to win the Air show too,

going ballistic. Open juniors saw Seal Beach’s Chris Waring take fourth

with a couple nice fins out lip bashes. In boys Tommy Steury, just back

from the injured list, went big time and placed third, while Newport’s

Ford Archibald surfing a division up finished fifth. In the minigroms,

Archibald placed third, making another final and Huntington’s Jessie

Steelman came in fifth. The women saw Eva Lewington taking fourth and

Erica Hosseini fifth, with some good rides. In bodyboarding, it was a

one-two punch with Darren Moody and Chris Espinoza taking the top slots.

In the master blaster Explorer final, surfer and shaper Barry Deffenbaugh

found a couple set peak rights and bashed them hard for the victory,

while Seal Beach’s Chad Wells placed second with some hot exchanges. Chas

Wickwire took fourth, and Parker Naughton fifth. In seniors Wickwire came

back and pulled into second behind the South Bay slasher Scott Daley who

had some nines on the judging sheets -- almost perfection. In super

seniors West Coast champ Pat Schlick put and exclamation point on it,

with another win. Former Huntington Beach resident Steve Weaver had the

moves to take third, while the Figster pulled into fourth, and “P.T.”

Peter Townend surfed impressively and was fifth, picking off a couple

bomb sets out there. In the Explorer mens’s final Dan Fennell caught some

nice ones and got fourth. Explorer juniors, saw Korey Lapoint take fourth

and in boys Ian Ekberg finished fourth and Marty Weinstein sixth. Tommy

Steury made the menehune final too -- he took fourth there. Erica

Hosseini was second in the Explorer women. NSSA National Director Janice

Aragon and Southwest Conference Director Gayline Clifford were stoked

with the conditions as the sun broke through the cloud layer to shine,

and the wind dyed making it glassy for the finals on Sunday with pumping

good size surf. The tandem of Mike Morgan and yours truly, did the

play-by-play, music and color, to make it even more of a happening event.

And I gotta say this -- the trophies were huge. One left -- the biggie --

the Nationals at Lower Trestles, June 25-29, to see who the top dogs are.

See ya there or in the lineup, Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a six-time West Coast champion, has announced the

U.S. Open of Surfing the last eight years and has been the KROQ-FM

(106.7) surfologist for the last 15 years where he’s done morning surf

reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714)

536-1058.