Wakeboarding

Pleasant Prairie, WI. – The sport’s two premiere divisions, Pro Men and Pro Women opened their divisional heats today at day three of the Rockstar WWA Wakeboard World Championships presented by Supra. Taking advantage of calm and clear conditions on Lake Andrea, the world’s best riders used the perfectly-shaped contest wake from the official towboat of World’s, the Supra SA 550, to dazzle the crowd of thousands.

Leading the charge amongst the Pro Men was current King of Wake leader Harley Clifford. Opening up his bottomless bag of tricks, Clifford threw down some of the biggest airs and rotations of the day to post a heat-high score of 88.33. No stranger to King of Wake titles himself; Phillip Soven also gave a top-notch run, posting a heat-winning 86.67 to join Clifford in tomorrow’s semifinals.

The Pro Women held three ultra-competitive semifinal heats today. With a textbook run that was equal parts smooth airs and technical rail riding, Meagan Ethell posted the division’s high score of 78.33 to reserve a spot in tomorrow’s finals. Also, joining her as favorites to win a World Title tomorrow were Raimi Merritt and Amber Wing, who claimed first place in the other two semifinal heats.

Using the supercharged engine on the Supra towboat, the Junior Pro Men put on a demo in progressive wakeboarding for the second consecutive day. With a combo of massive aerials and smooth rails, Mike Dowdy treated the crowd to a perfect run and earned an elusive 100-point score from the judges.

“I had a super fun set today at World’s,” said Dowdy. “I was able to stay up my whole run and scored a perfect 100, so I’m stoked.”

The Rockstar WWA Wakeboard World Championships presented by Supra will continue through Sunday, Aug. 19. Sunday will remain a ticketed event. Tickets are available at the gate: $13 (adult); $5 (ages 6-12); free (ages 5 and under).

Following Sunday’s finals fans can enjoy the Sony Big Air Contest. Featuring the top Pro Men riders, the athletes perform massive tricks that are rarely attempted in a traditional contest setting.

In addition to all the action on the water, on land fans will also enjoy great food and music, athlete autograph signings, chances to win freebies, and shopping from the most cutting-edge brands offering water-sports equipment including boats, wakeboards, wakeskates, sunglasses and the latest in wakeboarding and surfing fashions.

For more information visit www.kingofwake.com.

Day 3 Results (Riders in bold advance)

Pro Women Wakeskate Semifinals

1.  Setsuko Ito                         58.33

Masters semifinals heat 1

1. Mark Daugherty               70.67
2. Kurt Robertson                 60.00
3. Brent Anderson                 55.00
4. Tim Nilsen                           35.00

Masters Semifinals Heat 2

1. German Brito                    63.67
2. Kevin Michael                   54.00
3. Michael Hook                    24.67

Pro Veterans Semifinals Heat 1

1. Chad Lowe                          66.67
2. Kenji Harada                      46.67

Pro Wakeskate Semifinals Heat 1

1. Brian Grubb                        80.00
2. Stu Shinn                             69.00
3. Brandon Thomas               56.67
4. Danny Hampson                36.67
5.  Jim Branton                        26.67

Junior Pro Men Semifinals Heat 1

1. Jacob Valdez                      92.25
2.  Noah Flegel                       90.25
3. Keenan Allen                     87.50
4. Gordon Harrison              70.00

Junior Pro Men Semifinals Heat 2

1. Christian Primrose            94.75
2. Tony Iacconi                       89.25
3. Massi Piffaretti                  78.75
4. Jason Soven                       77.25

Junior Pro Men Semifinals Heat 3

1. Mike Dowdy                      100.00
2. Freddie Wayne                  88.00
3. Brad Teunissen                 76.75
4. Parker Siegele                   75.25

Pro Women Semifinals Heat 1

1. Raimi Merritt                    70.00
2. Mellissa Marquardt         63.33
3. Dallas Friday                       56.67
4. Corrie Dyer                         40.00

Pro Women Semifinals Heat 2

1. Amber Wing                      71.67
2. Hayley Smith                     66.67
3. Taylor McCullough            58.33
4. Rumi Matsuura                 45.00
5. Alexa Score                        35.00

Pro Women Semifinals Heat 3

1. Meagan Ethell                   78.33
2. Tarah Mikacich                  69.17
3. Miku Asai                            65.00
4. Brooke Grassman             46.67
5. Ashley Leugner                 31.67

Pro Men Heat 1

1. Phil Soven                          86.67
2. Tony Carroll                       78.33
3. Kirby Liesmann                 55.00
4. Dante Digangi                    50.00

Pro Men Heat 2

1. Aaron Rathy                       80.00
2. Andrew Adkison               75.00
3. Pierce Homsey                  61.67
4. Kyle Rattray                        56.67

Pro Men Heat 3

1. Dean Smith                        78.33
2. Rusty Malinoski                73.33
3. Josh Palma                         65.00
4. Jason Bannatyne              56.67

Pro Men Heat 4

1. JD Webb                             80.00
2. Steel Lafferty                    75.83
3. Chad Sharpe                      71.67
4. Marcelo Giardi                  60.00
5. Gunnar Shuler                   50.00

Pro Men’s Heat 5

1. Austin Hair                         83.33
2. Shota Tezuka                     78.33
3. Danny Harf                         71.67
4. Bradley Smeele                  66.67
5. Jimmy Trask                       51.67

Pro Men Heat 6

1. Harley Clifford                  88.33
2. Daniel Powers                  75.00
3. Danny Thollander            70.00
4. Trevor Hansen                  61.67
5. Ryan Anderson                 50.00