MasterCraft Wake Competition Goes Huge At Rockstar Cable Jam
By Sean Dishman
Sixteen of the world’s most elite Wakeskaters competed for a wake title today on the meaty wake behind the MasterCraft X-Star at stop number two on the Toe Jam Wakeskate Tour in New Braunfels, Texas at the world-class Texas Ski Ranch wake park.
Wakeskating behind the boat has been going through an intense progression lately and riders like Drew Danielo, Nick Taylor, Reed Hansen, Brandon Thomas and Brian Grubb were definitely the favorites.
Some of the standout moves of the day were James Balzer’s toeside backside 180, Danielo’s shove-indy Benihana, Taylor’s switch frontside judo 180 and switch frontside 360, which was also pulled by Stuart Shinn and Hansen.
In the end, it was Grubb and Hansen in the head-to-head final, with Grubb laying down another deadly pass for the victory.
"I’m really happy how the day went. Getting past my first heat against Drew [Danielo] got my riding where it needed to be to make it to the finals. I was glad to ride consistently all day because that’s what you need to do to make it through four head-to-head battles."
Grubb also was happy with the structure laid down by the first-ever nationwide Toe Jam Tour. "It’s good that the Toe Jam has a wake competition at every event. Being able to showcase that will help wakeskating be recognized as its own unique sport. And it’s all because of the efforts from Scott Byerly, the tour staff and sponsors who work hard to make it all happen."
The 16 riders who qualified on the cable yesterday were the ones competing today, and will also throw down for the main event of the weekend, the Rockstar Cable Jam final on Saturday. For more info, go to www.byerlytoejam.com.
Scott Byerly would like to thank the sponsors who make this event possible including Rockstar Energy Drink, Nike 6.0, Liquid Force, Billabong, the Texas Ski Ranch, and today’s flagship X-Star from MasterCraft.
Wake Results (head-to-head)
Finals
1. Grubb, Brian (USA) - 80.00
2. Hansen, Reed (USA) - 50.00
Semifinals
Heat #1
1. Hansen, Reed (USA) - 80.00
2. Balzer, James (CAN) - 60.00
Heat #2
1. Grubb, Brian (USA) - 90.00
2. Thomas, Brandon (USA) - 70.00
Quarterfinals
Heat #1
1. Hansen, Reed (USA) - 83.33
2. Taylor, Nick (USA) - 75.00
Heat #2
1. Balzer, James (CAN) - 70.00
2. Daniels, George (USA) - 50.00
Heat #3
1. Thomas, Brandon (USA) - 70.00
2. Cambell, Steven (USA) - 50.00
Heat #4
1. Grubb, Brian (USA) - 80.00
2. Hair, Austin (USA) - 60.00
Qualifying
Heat #1
1. Daniels, George (USA) - 60.00
2. Pastura, Andy (USA) - 50.00
Heat #2
1. Cambell, Steven (USA) - 60.00
2. Kaiser, Ben (USA) - 50.00
Heat #3
1. Balzer, James (CAN) - 70.00
2. Gardner, Ross (USA) - 50.00
Heat #4
1. Thomas, Brandon (USA) - 70.00
2. Doyle, Ryan (CAN) - 30.00
Heat #5
1. Taylor, Nick (USA) - 80.00
2. Hanson, David (USA) - 60.00
Heat #6
1. Hair, Austin (USA) - 60.00
2. Little, Bret (USA) - 30.00
Heat #7
1. Grubb, Brian (USA) - 85.00
2. Danielo, Drew (USA) - 80.00
Heat #8
1. Hansen, Reed (USA) - 80.00
2. Shinn, Stuart (USA) - 60.00
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