Ups, downs and two 360s

At the two-star Assn. of Surfing Professionals Vans Pro at the Huntington Beach Pier last week, local surfers and up-andcoming young guns tore up lots of heats.

The surf ranged from 2 to 4 feet, with some hot sunny days at the end of the week. The man of the hour was none other than Surf City’s rising surf star Brett Simpson, who busted two air-reverse 360s on his last two waves in the men’s final to score 9.25 and 9.85, the highest two-wave score of the contest ? and the highest I can remember seeing in a pro-surf final here on the West Coast.

Simpson had such a commanding lead that he left the water with time still on the clock and pocketed $5,000 for first place. Second was Nate Yeomans, who ripped the whole contest, surfing down the beach away from the pier, kind of like Rob Machado at the U.S. Open.

Another H.B. surfer, Micah Byrne, was tearing it up, too, and finished third. The air blaster, Jason “Rat Boy” Collins from Santa Cruz, finished fourth.

Other notables were San Clemente’s Tanner Gudauskas and Central Cal’s Killian Garland, who finished tied in fifth, East Coaster Matt Keenan and Aussie Heath Walker, who tied in seventh, and H.B.’s Jessie Evans and Laguna’s Pat O’Connell, who lost out in the quarters.

In the Lost Pro juniors, Florida’s Eric Gieselman took the victory, showing why he was the top North American in the juniors last year. Ventura’s Nick Rozsa posted a second, even with a bad ankle.

Third was scholastic standout Cory Arrambide, and fourth went to Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves in a battle of the up-and-comers.

Seal Beach’s Chris Waring and H.B.’s Logan Strook and Ian Ekberg made it to the quarterfinals and had some great heats on the way before getting knocked out.

In the O’Neill Women’s Pro final, Florida’s Karina Petroni was slashing away on the rights and took the upset win over Carlsbad veteran Julia Christian.