Champions Crowned in 13 Divisions at Nautique Wake Games Day Three,
Pro Riders Set the Stage for Dramatic Final Day of Competition
Orlando, Fla. — Top honors were bestowed upon 13 athletes who earned division championships at day three of the Nautique Wake Games presented by Rockstar. The world’s best wakeboarders, in the Pro Men and Pro Women divisions, also held highly competitive quarterfinal and semifinal heats respectively paving the way for a dramatic final day of action tomorrow at Orlando Water Sports Complex.
The Pro Men wasted no time unleashing a fury of progressive tricks off the G23’s massive wake. Heralded rookie and Nautique team rider, Noah Flegel, rose to the top of his heat with a textbook run that meshed huge aerials with technical grabs and a trademark style, showing judges the teenager belongs in the big leagues. To claim the heat win, Flegel’s first as a pro, he had to edge out veteran rider and fellow Nautique team rider JD Webb, who’s second place finish still secured him a spot in tomorrow’s semifinals.
“I’m stoked to be moving on to the semis,” said Flegel. “The G23 is insane! Every contest behind the G23 steps up the level of riding and I’m looking forward to all of this year’s Nautique Wake Series stops.”
The Pro Women continued to display excellent riding at the Nautique Wake Games with two neck-to-neck heats today. Nautique team rider, Meagan Ethell has positioned herself as the favorite heading into tomorrow’s finals with a mind boggling semifinals run that included an full arsenal of precise airs, on-point rail riding and flawlessly executed grabs. However, it will be no cake walk to victory for Ethell, who faces stiff competition tomorrow from a slew of Pro Women including another Team Nautique standout Raimi Merritt and Australian rider Amber Wing, who both registered two of today’s most impressive runs in the division.
The amateur ranks awarded championship trophies to 13 division winners today including: Cobe France (Junior Men), Tim Pitschke (Masters), Matt Vermillion (Veterans), Sam Brown (Boys), Gabriel Benetton (Junior Boys), Tyler Sommer (Amateur Wake Skate), Kat Laird (Veterans Women), Stacey Chrisman (Masters Women), Kyla Hendrick (Junior Girls), Zahra Kell (Girls), Xavier Olea Vorhauer (Junior Boys Beginner), Drew Drennan (Boys Beginner), Connor Aguilar-Poggetto (Adaptive Sitboarding),
Unique to Wake Games, this event also includes a team competition element. 10 preselected pro riders serve as team captains and hosted a live draft after yesterday’s competition consisting of the 90 remaining athletes who advanced past the initial qualifying rounds. Over the course of the final two days of competition, the athletes compete in their respective divisions, which are separated by age, sex and skill level, while contributing points toward a team score based on their individual placement in that division. The winner will be determined based upon tomorrow’s final results.
For more event information, including daily schedules, tickets, results, standings, photos, videos, athlete bios and more, visit www.kingofwake.com
Day Three Results (Riders in Bold Advance)
Pro men – Quarterfinals Heat 1
**1. Noah Flegel 76.67
2. JD Webb 69.33
3. Ryan Anderson 61.67**
4. Kyle Rattray 58.67
5. Jefferson Langley 53.33
Pro Men – Quarterfinals Heat 2
**1. Shota Tezuka 80.00
2. Stephen Pierce 74.00
3. Dean Smith 69.33**
4. David O’Caoimth 63.33
5. Jeff House 53.33
Pro Men – Quarterfinals Heat 3**
1. Danny Harf 79.33
2. Austin Hair 75.00
3. Adam Errington 64.33**
4. Jacob Valdez 60.00
5. Keenan Allen 51.67
Pro Men – Quarterfinals Heat 4
1. **Harley Clifford 88.33
2. Josh Twelker 83.33
3. Steel Lafferty 73.33**
4. Aaron Rathy 66.67
5. Darin Shapiro 40.00
Pro Men – Quarterfinals Heat 5
1. **Rusty Malinoski 82.50
2. Daniel Powers 78.33
3. Josh Palma 66.67**
4. Tony Carroll 61.00
5. Damian Adam 55.00
Pro Men – Quarterfinals Heat 6
1. **Phillip Soven 76.67
2. Shawn Watson 70.00
3. Jimmy LaRiche 67.00**
4. Oli Derome 63.33
5. Sam Carne 53.33
Pro Women – Semifinals Heat 1
1. **Meagan Ethell 80.00
2. Raimi Merritt 70.00
3. Dallas Friday 65.00**
4. Tarah Mikacich 60.00
5. Melissa Marquardt 53.33
Pro Women – Semifinals Heat 2
1. **Amber Wing 71.00
2. Nicola Butler 66.67
3. Rebecca Gange 61.67**
4. Chloe Mills 56.67
5. Larisa Morales 50.00
Junior Pro Men – Semifinals Heat 1
1. **Parker Siegele 93.25
2. Yun Sanghyum
3. Mac Schramm 76.00**
4. Joey Buss 74.00
5. Jamie McCauley 64.50
Junior Pro Men – Semifinals Heat 2
1. **Cory Teunissen 92.75
2. Jason Soven 89.00
3. Gunner Daft 86.75**
4. Jorge Gill 69.25
5. James Loisel 62.25
Junior Men – Finals
1. Cobe France 85.00
2. Guenther Oka 80.33
3. Jorge Alberto Perez Gordillo 73.33
4. Bryce Corrand 65.67
5. Tyler Sommer 60.00
6. Austin Ferguson 45.00
Masters – Finals
1. Tim Pitschke 86.67
2. Ty Udell 76.67
3. Kevco Michael 63.33
Veterans – Finals
1. Matt Vermillion 65.00
2. Darren Holsey 60.00
3. Ben Chrisman 60.00
Boys – Finals
1. Sam Brown 94.00
2. Pedro Machado Caldas 90.67
3. Elliot Digney 75.00
4. Keving Duffy 73.67
5. Tyler Worall 65.00
6. Rocker Steiner 53.33
Junior Boys – Finals
1. Gabriel Benetton 73.33
2. Daniel Johnson 66.67
3. Taiga Takamura 50.00
Amateur Wake Skate – Finals
1. Tyler Sommer 70.00
2. Michael Fay 50.00
3. Alexandre Pisaneschi 48.33
Veterans Women – Finals
1. Kat Laird 61.67
2. Joy Manning 50.00
3. Paula Fay 40.00
Masters Women – Finals
1. Stacey Chrisman 76.67
2. Kim Polhamus 51.67
3. Natalie Graham 36.67
Junior Girls – Finals
1. Kyla Hendrick 78.33
2. Sydney Deary 58.33
3. Adriana Muniz 50.00
Girls – Finals
1. Zahra Kell 85.00
2. Alice Virag 73.33
3. Chiara Virag 60.00
4. Sarah Deary 51.67
Junior Boys Beginner – Finals
1. Xavier Olea Vorhauer 70.00
2. Brett Powell 65.00
3. Laird Stidham 45.00
Boys Beginner – Finals
1. Drew Drennan 48.33
2. Kenny Prowse 44.00
3. Robert Smith 40.00
Adaptive Sitboarding – Finals
1. Connor Aguilar-Poggetto 85.00
2. Phil Kerr 58.33
3. Will Speed 53.33
