LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s Dylan Goodale, 19, of Kilauea, celebrated his final birthday as a teenager in style by capturing the Vans Pier Classic, an ASP World Qualifying Series 2-Star event at Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday. The first ASQ WQS win
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s Dylan Goodale, 19, of Kilauea, celebrated his final birthday as a teenager in style by capturing the Vans Pier Classic, an ASP World Qualifying Series 2-Star event at Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday.
The first ASQ WQS win of his young career came in a final heat where he edged out Micah Byrne, a former Vans Pier Classic winner, as well as Peter Mel and Jason Collins, who each have about two decades of experience on Goodale.
Goodale was sitting in second place behind Byrne, when he was able to take the lead as he hit two clean turns and finished with an air-reverse, scoring an 8.55 on the ride for a 16.30 combined score.
Byrne finished in second place with 15.65 points, followed by Mel (9.75) and Collins (6.95).
A field of 136 competitors came out for the Men’s event, including fellow Kaua‘i surfers Kaimana Jaquias and Koa Smith, both members of the Ambassadors of Aloha Junior Surf Team.
Goodale made his first splash at the event by besting defending champion Mike Losness in the Round of 64.
“I started out on those rights, but I saw Losness getting those good lefts,” he told ASP. “I ended up moving over and was able to get a couple to get through. It’s always good to start an event strong, so I’m happy to come away with the heat win.”
Little did he know that there would be nothing but heat wins for the rest of his time at Huntington Beach.
He scored an 11.25 in his Round of 32 heat to advance alongside Byrne (9.55), while eliminating Nick Rupp (8.85) and Jimmy Herrick (7.50).
The quarterfinal heat was one of the tightest of the competition, as Goodale again took first place with a 13.75 score. Anthony Petruso took second with a 12.00, as Asher Nolan (11.75) and Ted Navarro (11.35) saw their events come a close, despite putting up solid scores.
Goodale continued to set the pace in his heats, again grabbing the first-place finish with a 13.30 in the semifinals, which was the highest of all remaining competitors.
Byrne came through with a 12.00, but Petruso (10.70) and Brandon Guilmette (9.55) were knocked out one heat shy of the finals.
While Goodale was taking care of business in the Men’s event, Jaquias, Tyler Newton and brothers Alex and Koa Smith were doing some damage of their own in the Pro Junior event.
Alex Smith and Jaquias surfed the same heat in the Round of 48, coming through as Smith scored a 16.00 and Jaquias just held off Tayler Brothers (10.25) to also advance (10.60).
Newton moved on with a 10.65 and Koa Smith did just enough to join his fellow Kauaians, finishing second in his heat with a 7.75.
Jaquias and Koa Smith were each knocked out shortly thereafter, but Alex Smith continued his high scores, earning comparisons to a young Andy Irons from Transworld Surf, with a 15.25 in the quarterfinals.
Newton also continued to lead all his heats, notching a 14.00 in the quarterfinals to knock out recent headliner Evan Geiselman.
Unfortunately for Alex, his semifinal heat featured some high scores by Kolohe Andino (16.85) and Luke Davis (15.25), which edged his 11.75 tally.
But Newton continued to shine, taking first in his semifinal heat with a 14.85 to make his way to the final.
With top competition around him, even a strong score of 13.00 by Newton was only good enough for fourth place, as Kolohe Andino grabbed the top prize with a 17.95 showing.
Luke Davis (16.90) and Andrew Doheny (16.35) took second and third place, respectively.
