The US OPEN of BODYBOARDING presented by SPORTS CHALET was the focus of one of the most competitive finals ever to go down in the history of the USBA National Tour. With 1st place prize money being bumped up to $1,500 and a Pro DK division packed with crazy talented riders, all eyes were transfixed on the upcoming Pro Heats. 
RXYM's Rusty Friesen, Matt Byzak, Ray Machado, Jeremy Wright, and Bob Kithcart trading wave for wave, score for score with Hawaiians Chris Won, Jeff Hubbard, Dave Hubbard, Jacob Romero, Jonah Romero, David Phillips, Reis Yonhiro, Jean Fearria as well as CA's Ross McBride, Wally Sani, Jeff Bragg, Joe Grodzen, Nelz Vellicido, Alex Gero, Nik Gero, Drew Erichson, Chris O'Conner, Danny Hart, Travis Smith, Collin Godard, and East Coasters Jason Bitzer & Brian Stoehr with our lone Israeli bodyboarder friend, Kiril Shchgolsky throwing down. If anyone tries to right this contest off and claim that it was lame, wake UP!!! Believe us when we say it was mental.. (and sorry to any of the numerous riders that we left out of this list).
From Round 1 on.. it was literally ON and if you weren't in form, focused, and didn't have enough game to make the inside connection, you were found packing your bags. Chris Won was doing some crazy stand up while Hubb, Dubb, and the Romero's were flipping on everything they could find. Ross, Rusty, Matt, Jeremy, Nik, Danny, Kiril and Ray stayed calm and power surfed through into the quarters with solid combo's, milking the new south swell for all it was worth.
The first controversial call came when Semi 1 started late (though RXYM's Jeremy Wright had already caught 2 solid waves, thinking the heat had started). The scores didn't count and as the heat officially started, the Romero brothers went to work on every section they could find, sending Wright, possibly the most focused athlete of the entire event home and dismayed. Semi 2 saw Jeff Hubbard doing ARS's and making the inside connection with ease, ending most waves with power rolls. Also in the heat, Matt Byzak and quiet killer Danny Hart were exchanging on the set waves. Matt caught a wave with 7 mins to go and literally fell off his board while his thigh muscle crapped super bad. He couldn't even paddle back out, having to lay on the beach in pain hoping that his fellow competitors didn't out score his first three waves. To his luck, there was a big lull in the new South and he advanced on. 
The DK Pro heats all seemed like finals with RXYM's Bob Kithcart, Brian Stoehr, Chris Won, Jeff Bragg, and Dubb riding so smooth while Wally and Ray picked off the sets and floated through heats with combos. Semi 1 saw Wally and Dubb advance with ease while semi 2 was crazy till the final horn. Jeff and Bob split the first set while Joe and Ray split the next set and it just kept going like that for almost a full 20mins. Neither rider felt too confident and judges sheets read the same thing. There was a double count back with Bob losing on advancement by 0.5 leaving Ray and Jeff in the final with Dubb and BIA DK Champ Wally.
Ok.. so much has already been said about the US OPEN Finals and how it all went down, so before you throw your own opinions out there and bash the judges, waves, riders, etc.. realize this, controversy is a good thing! You're opinionated because you care and that shows interest and interest is what bodyboarding needs!! So here we go.
DK PRO FINAL: Wally Sani started off with catching a left set and did literally 3 turns and 5 spin/reverse combos. How can you not score that super high? He was in poll position form the start leaving Dubb, Jeff, and Ray to catch up. Ray, who is recovering from a broken fibula last year, literally would get up on a wave and just fall. He later said that he did a floater and felt everything in his ankle just squish.. not good. He took 4th. Jeff caught 2 solid waves throughout the heat, did power hacks on them and fast forward turns but it wasn't enough to get out of 3rd. Wally and Dubb exchanged with Dubb catching two sets with under 5 minutes to go. Doing check turns and two big snap/floaters right in front of Wally as he was paddling back out. Wally answered back with a set, almost falling on take off with his front foot coming off, and then jammed a quick floater. As the scores came through.. WALLY SANI was crowned the US OPEN of Bodyboarding DK CHAMPION!! CONGRATS WALLY!!! It's been a long time coming!
OPEN PRO FINAL: Contrary to common belief, Jacob Romero caught the first wave of the heat and did 6 spins before blasting a super tweaked out invert on the reform. He kind of bobbled on the landing but recovered to the cheers of the beach. Matt Byzak then caught a left while doing 4 spins and two rolls. Jeff Hubbard answered back with a ARS and making the connection to the inside while boosting a power roll/spin combo. Jonah was actually in 4th most of the heat, having a hard time finding the sets but making the most out of the medium sized waves with at least 3 spins and 2 rolls on each wave. Then Jacob went into over drive and did another 5 spin to 2 rolls on a set wave. It was over.... or was it? With literally 3 minutes to go in the 25min final. Matt, Jonah, and Jeff each caught set waves. Jeff and Matt each caught the same wave, just Matt way more up the beach. Matt blasted a roll while Jeff was doing spin combos on the outside and each pulled into inside barrels with Jeff's being longer and more hollow. Jeff exited with a cutback reverse and was out of time to catch another wave. Then Jonah caught a right, hitting an outside roll into a forward while hooking into the inside section for an ARS. WHAT!! Super action packed. Everyone was congratulating Jacob as the four riders exited the water. Some people said Jacob 1st, Matt 2nd, Jeff 3rd, Jonah 4th while others said it was too close at the end and that Jonah and Jeff pushed into second and third. As the award ceremonies commenced the lone CA Matt Byzak was awarded 4th. He later said that he is officially doing the entire USBA tour! This left the three Hawaiians, all close friends and fiery competitors, to fight over the big check. But as third place was read to Jacob Romero.. a kind of rambling went through the crowd. People were emotional and upset to say the least. Being the class act that Jacob is, he held his emotions back and took it like a man. Jonah was all smiles as he accepted 2nd and arguable the best bodyboarder ever, Jeff Hubbard, took home the 1st place check to the cheers and admiration of all. Come to find out, the judges all admitted that the scores were so close that the tabulations had to be counted back 3 times!!! Placing were decided by .5 and .3 CRAZY STUFF! If you felt that Jacob was robbed... well just hold on, because the USBA is heading next to Half Point at Sandies which is one of his most treasured waves. Look for Jonah, Jeff, Matt, Jeremy, Dubb, and RXYM's Rex Moribe to all put major pressure on him because the USBA is officially heating up.
Major props to US OPEN Champs Jeff Hubbard and Wallly Sani as well as ladies champ (and 2008 PIPE Champ), Luz Marie Grand Perez. Also big ups to Jason Bitzer for bringing the US OPEN back to the CA shores and having sponsors like Sambazon Acai Drink on hand for all competitors as well as Monster Energy drink for all the spectators. Also Mike at Sports Chalet for kicking down product and being the headline sponsor for this event. It is much appreciated.
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