Waves hit for contest

Surfing competitors were treated to powerful, overhead waves on Saturday and Sunday for the 2014 Katin Seal Beach Surfing Championships.

A combination of a fantastic west swell and strong high pressure created the perfect scenario to run the contest, which included a total of 9 divisions allowing surfers of all ages and varying board styles to compete.

Standout winners included Walter Focht in the Seniors, Mike Erspuamer  in the Masters Longboard, Sophia Tiarre Bartlow in the Women’s, Trevor Lucca in the Open Longboard final, Nolan Rapoza in the 17 Juniors and the Open Shortboard, Dylan Hord in the 14 and under Grom, and Keanu Igrashi in the Menehune division.

The annual event is held between January and March on the best weekend of surf available. This year was no disappointment as overhead waves greeted competitors on both Saturday and Sunday.

Last weekend’s waves were so powerful, there were about half a dozen surfboards that were snapped by the feisty sea.

Many people around the contest site were heard suggesting that it was the best surfing conditions anyone had seen in the contest’s history.

The Menehune division, which is the contest’s youngest age group of 11 and under, took full advantage of this year’s amazing surf. Erik Weissinger was a standout in this division but ultimately it was Keanu Igrashi who took the division’s win. These little guys showed no fear charging into waves that were double overhead for most of them.

Next up was the 14 and under grom division. This division has been dominated by Sam Wickwire for many years but last weekend there was a new winner in Dylan Hord. Dylan was a standout competitor and absolutely dominated all weekend long. Following this up was the highly competitive under 17 Juniors division.

This division saw Jacob Baker get the best barrel of the event on a perfect northside wall. Jacob surfed outsanding through the event but couldn’t quite top USA surf team member Nolan Rapoza who took the win in the final. This set the stage for the event’s main attraction, the Open Shortboard final.

This year’s final may have seen the youngest group of surfers in the event’s history. Kirk Weissinger and Nolan Rapoza went head to head in this year’s final. These two showed everyone why they are two of the best young surfers in California. They were followed up by Alex Gullett, a three-time winner of the event and Justin Davis. Justin was kind enough to donate his time between heats to the event staff helping with clean up, tear down and even getting the whole crew lunch. However, Nolan won the division.

Following the Open Shortboard final was the Longboard final. This year’s Longboard final was no exception as all four surfers finished up with heat scores that were extremely close. In the end it was Trevor Lucca who got the win. Trevor only surfs in one contest a year and that’s in the Seal Beach Surfing Championships, so its always good to see him get the win.

The Masters Longboard division saw the biggest set of the weekend come in and close out the whole northside of the beach. Unfortunately for Walter Focht and Russ Campbell they had to take that set on the head leaving them gasping for air and completely out of energy by the end of the heat.

This opened the door for Mike Erspuamer who was able to get the division win. Mike has been part of the Seal Beach Surfing Championships since it first began in 1999 and is always one of the nicest people to have around the event.

Masters Longboard was followed by the seniors division. Chas Wickwire is always a favorite to win in any division he enters but unfortunately this year he couldn’t quite edge out Walter Focht who got the divisions win.

Last but not least was the Women’s division. Contest organizers did not know if they were going to have a Women’s division this year due to the fact that they only had two entries on Friday night.

But low and behold six more girls showed up Saturday morning to enter and the battle was on. Sophia Tiarre barely edged out Connie Hurst in the final to get the divisions win.

This year’s fun was non-stop with an ongoing beach raffle that included three surfboards and thousands of dollars worth of product from all the local surf shops.

Mike Riley and Jake Tellkamp kept everyone on the beach entertained with their ongoing antics on the microphone while Mark Burke provided commentary on all the Longboard divisions. Mark may very well be the most knowledgeable person around when it comes to Seal Beach surfing and is always exciting to hear talk on the microphone.

The fun did not end when the sun went down as competitors all filed into the Marina Center for the much-anticipated banquet on Sunday night. Awards were handed out, dinner was served and of course stories were swapped. This provided for the perfect culmination of the special event.

The Seal Beach Surfing Championships is a non-profit event run by the Seal Beach Lifeguard Association. All proceeds of the event are donated to charity.

Alex Parton is a Seal Beach lifeguard.

The following are the official results of the Katin Seal BeachSurfing Championships for 2014:

Menehune

1.  Keanu Igrashi

2.  Erik Weisinger

3.  Jack Colby

4.  Cort Wood

Grom:

1. Dylan Hord

2.  Griffin Foy

3.  Keanu Igrashi

4.  Sam Wickwire

Juniors

1.  Nolan Rapoza

2.  Gavin Malone

3.  Jacob Baker

4.  Kirk Weisinger

Open Shortboard

1.  Nolan Rapoza

2.  Kirk Weisinger

3.  Alex Gullett

4.  Justin Davis

Open Longboard

1.  Trevor Lucca

2.  TJ Ridings

3.  Mike Jorgenson

4.  Jeremy Guilmette

Masters Shortboard

1.  Barry Defenbaugh

2.  Mike Thomas

3.  Jason Shook

4.  Chas Wickwire

Masters Longboard

1.  Mike Erspaumer

2.  Walter Focht

3.  Mike Stone

4.  Aaron Peterson

Seniors

1.  Walter Focht

2.  Chas Wickwire

3.  Pat Schlick

4.  Todd Stockwell

Women

1.  Sophia Tiarre

2.  Connie Hurst

3.  Abby Dixon

4.  Caroline Carpenter