High-Flying Day of Action at MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Mich. ― A dramatic day of action at Millennium Park culminated with a multitude of inspiring performances at day one of the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, presented by Rockstar. Top wakeboarders Harley Clifford (AUS), Rusty Malinoski (CDN) and Shota Tezuka (JPN) highlighted the day with huge, technical and complete flowing passes behind the awe-inspiring MasterCraft X-Star.
“Today was a lot of fun. A ton of great riding went down,” says five-time Pro Wakeboard Tour Stop Champion Rusty Malinoski. “For me personally, had a little bit of a bobble on a couple of tricks, but came back strong, and I’m absolutely looking forward to tomorrow.”
With the crowd pumping, 900s, Front Mobe 5s, massive Indy backside 180s and tons more were the trend in the smooth conditions. Riders were able to launch off of the wake without having to worry about a choppy or rolley setting; it was a concrete way to set the standard of riding for tomorrow’s rounds.
Prior to the Pro Men’s finals tomorrow, the crowd of thousands will witness one of the most exciting spectacles in professional wakeboarding, the CONTOUR Big Air Contest. The mind-boggling specialty event features a handful of the World’s most progressive riders launching from a ramp to perform massive rotating aerials that are rarely accomplished in a traditional contest setting.
Tomorrow’s rounds will be intense. With more than just the coveted Pro Wakeboard Tour Grand Rapids Championship on the line, the entire series of the 2014 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour Overall Championship will be crowned. Only 10 points separate MasterCraft team riders Harley Clifford (AUS) and Rusty Malinoski (CDN), with 265 and 255, respectfully, making this year’s Pro Wakeboard Tour one of the tightest races in recent history.
MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour Day One Results
Men’s Pro ― Round 1 (Riders in bold advance to Quarter Finals, other riders advance to Round 2)
Heat 1
1. Massi Piffaretti 91.00
2. Danny Thollander 50.00
3. Keenan Allen 38.33
4. Brad Teunissen 36.67
Heat 2
1. Josh Twelker 89.00
2. Daniel Powers 85.00
3. Damian Adam 51.67
4. Chad Sharpe 38.33
Heat 3
1. Noah Flegel 83.33
2. Stephen Pierce 73.33
3. Aaron Rathy 70.00
4. Tony Iacconi 61.67
Heat 4
1. Oli Derome 86.67
2. Tony Carroll 78.33
3. Austin Hair 60.00
4. Gunner Shuler 40.00
Heat 5
1. Steel Lafferty 90.00
2. Pierce Homsey 80.00
3. Joshua Palma 73.33
4. Ian Cole 50.00
Heat 6
1. Shota Tezuka 93.67
2. Phillip Soven 90.67
3. Danny Harf 80.00
4. Kyle Evans 30.00
Heat 7
1. Rusty Malinoski 90.00
2. Darin Shapiro 81.67
3. Kyle Rattray 73.33
4. John Zdeblick 46.67
Heat 8
1. Harley Clifford 88.33
2. Dean Smith 75.00
3. Jason Bannatyne 58.33
4. Thomas Herman 30.00
Men’s Pro ― Round 2 (Riders in bold advance to Quarter Finals)
Heat 1
**1. Keenan Allen 75.00
2. Thomas Herman 40.00**
3. Danny Thollander DQ
Heat 2
**1. Austin Hair 80.00
2. Pierce Homsey 70.00**
3. John Zdeblick 43.33
Heat 3
**1. Dean Smith 78.33
2. Joshua Palma 63.33**
3. Kyle Evans 38.33
Heat 4
**1. Darin Shapiro 68.33
2. Jason Bannatyne 61.67**
3. Ian Cole 36.67
Heat 5
**1. Phillip Soven 87.67
2. Kyle Rattray 73.33**
3. Gunner Shuler 46.67
Heat 6
**1. Danny Harf 79.33
2. Brad Teunissen 63.33**
3. Stephen Pierce 38.33
Heat 7
**1. Daniel Powers 84.33
2. Aaron Rathy 78.33**
3. Chad Sharpe 68.33
Heat 8
**1. Tony Carroll 81.67
2. Tony Iacconi 76.67**
3. Damian Adam 68.33
