Team Japan Scores Big

Fort Worth, TX – Team Japan scored big today at the No Fear WWA Wakeboard World Championships in Fort Worth, Texas as the first finals of the competition took place.  Kenji Harada and Yonosuke Ito grabbed titles in the Masters and Veterans divisions, beating a number of highly ranked American riders.

Three riders from Texas had a disappointing day. Billy Garcia of Austin took fourth in the Masters division, while Holland Finley, also of Austin, finished out of the medal round in the girls division. And in the amateur wakeskate division Huffman’s Collin Gee finished fifth.

The competition pulled by Malibu Boats at Marine Creek is the first World Championship to be held in the United States since 2004, and the Americans were expected to dominate. The wins by Harada and Ito, in addition to Canadian Dustin O’Ferrall’s win in Mens I, were a surprise.

“The wins by Harada and Ito are a real coup for Japan, especially since they won their respective divisions against Team USA on an American venue,” said Shannon Starling, head of the WWA, the world organizing body of wakeboarding. “Add in Dustin O’Ferrall’s impressive win, and it was a real good day for the international riders who really stepped it up against the favored Americans.”

Team USA did pick up two wakeboarding titles today. Tara Benzel won the Amateur Women’s finals while Raimi Merritt took home first in the girls division. Two wakeskating titles also went to Team USA – Lance Duffett won in the amateur division and Megan McNeil in the pro women’s division.

The No Fear WWA Wakeboard World Championships presented by Malibu Boats is organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Florida. The Worlds has the support of the following: No Fear, Malibu Boats, Indmar, Verizon Wireless, U.S. Air Force, Circuit City, Sobe, Hyperlite Wakeboards, CWB, Liquid Force, Gator Boards, Wakeworld.com, Wakeboarder.com and One Percent Design.

Wake Boarding, published by World Publications, is the official magazine of the Air Nautique Wake Games. Wake Boarding is the definitive source on all things wakeboarding, with expert coverage of professional instruction, gear, boats and the latest news.



Thursday’s Results:
Amateur Women – Finals
1 Tara  Benzel              USA    71.11
2 Kara  Austin              USA    60.67
3 Etsuko  Matsumoto    JAP     36.11

    Girls (13 and under) – Finals 
1 Raimi  Merritt            USA     60.56
2 Ashlan  Pegden          USA     47.56
3 Sofia  Gonzalez          MEX    35.56
4 Holland  Finley           USA     31.00
 
Masters (30-39) – Finals 
1 Kenji  Harada            JAP      62.22
2 Damien  Klaas           USA    61.33
3 Jeff  Barton                USA    50.22
4 Billy  Garcia               USA    39.44
   
Veterans – Finals
1 Yonosuke  Ito            JPN     70.44
2 Camilo  Gutierrez       COL    59.22
3 Alastair  Shanks         CAN    46.44
4 Jeff  Roman                USA   34.89

  Men’s 1 (19-24) – Finals
1 Dustin  O’Ferrall        CAN    71.89
2 Olivier  Derome         CDN    61.00
3 Nick  Link                 USA    57.00
4 Leif  Lacey                USA    52.89
5 Zack  Luckett            USA    47.78
6 Dylan  Miller             CAN    40.33
7 Marcos  Torres         MEX    35.11
8 Fabian  Ashley          USA    29.78

Amateur Wake Skate – Finals
1 Lance  Duffett            USA    55.00
2 Tegan  Gainan            USA    40.00
3 Grant  Roberts           USA    30.00

  Pro Women Wakeskate – Finals
1 Megan  McNeil         USA    61.67
2 Savannah  Barber      USA    43.33
3 Renee  Jaquess          USA    40.00
4 Stef  Tor                    CDN   20.00

  Junior Men (14-17) – Quarter Finals
Top 3 Riders advance to next round
Heat  1
1 Jimmy  LaRiche         USA    63.33
2 Dustin  Shows           USA    56.11
3 Alex  Scagliotti          USA    48.33
4 Alex  Graydon           USA    20.00

   Heat  2
1 Ryan  Anderson         USA    60.00
2 Julian  Cohen             USA    50.56
3 Jeff  Baker                USA    35.00
4 Steven  Cahail           USA    23.89

Heat  3
1 James  Hindes           USA    51.11
2 A.J  Racinelli             USA    50.56
3 Phillip  Aslinger          USA    40.00
4 Kyle  Alberts             USA    39.44
5 Alex  Carranza          MEX    28.89
 
Heat  4
1 Mitchell  Langfield       AUS    58.33
2 Rhett  Whatley            USA    50.56
3 Ryan  Mocerino          USA    45.56
4 Larry  Taylor               USA    30.00
5 Andrew  Shearer         USA    25.56
 
Heat  5
1 Alex  Hamrick             USA    48.33
2 Jarrod  Askew             AUS    41.39
3 Eddie  Valdez              USA    41.11
4 Johnny  Tobaben         USA    32.78
5 Christopher  Perrone   USA 23.89

Heat  6
1 Adam  Errington          USA    61.67
2 James  Feid                 USA    55.00
3 Kirby  Liesmann          USA    48.89
4 Luciano  Rondi Neto   BRA  43.33
5 Bradey  Price              CAN    27.78
 
Men’s 2 (25-29) – Semi Finals
Top 2 Riders advance to next round !

Heat  1
1 Kazuyuki  Tsujimoto  JAP 56.67
2 Austin  Langston        USA    45.00
3 Joseph  Lemburg       USA    44.44
4 Rodrigo  Medrano     MEX    38.33

  Heat  2
1 Justin  Harrelson        USA   63.33
2 Shinichi  Ishii              JAP      57.78
3 Yusuke  Omura         JAP      46.67
4 Marc  Poirier            CDN    38.33
5 Chad  Lowe              USA    31.67