Beschen Wins the SurfBout at Lower Trestles

SAN CLEMENTE —  In an all-Orange County final, Shane Beschen was able to take advantage of near-perfect conditions Sunday to pull out a victory on the final day of competition at the Body Glove SurfBout at Lower Trestles.

Beschen, ranked second on the World Tour, was up against defending event champion Jeff Booth of Laguna Beach, Shea Lopez of Dana Point and Newport Beach’s Richie Collins. And unlike the previous six days of competition, which were hampered by inconsistent surf, the final day of the contest was a surfer’s dream with set after set of great lefts and right wave brakes.

So, with these conditions, it wasn’t surprising that the moment the 30-minute final heat began, the lead switched back and fourth among the four surfers with the outcome not settled until the final minutes.

Lopez opened the heat with a 7.0 score after catching a left break. But Collins answered with a 9.17. Beschen, who’s from San Clemente and well acquainted with Lowers, then caught his opening wave for an 8.6. It was Booth’s turn. He had scored an 8.0 on his opening wave.

Throughout the heat, it was apparent Beschen was a little gun-shy after last month’s U.S. Open, which he lost to Kelly Slater after being called for interference. During Sunday’s heat, whenever Beschen would catch a wave and there was any possibility interference might be called, he would pull out and let the other competitor have the wave.

Nevertheless, Beschen’s caution did not stop him from scoring the best ride of day when he caught a right break which he performed some off-the-lip, round-house cutbacks and added some air at the end of the ride.

Beschen finished with 36.17 points and took home $4,000. Booth, who scored the second-highest individual wave score (9.77), took second with 34.13. Collins was third (33.70) and Lopez fourth (30.73).

“I felt I was being pushed by the heat I was surfing,” Beschen said. “The conditions were great, so it could have gone either way.”

David Pinto, the 17-year-old amateur from Capistrano Valley High, was eliminated, as was Huntington Beach’s Jeff Deffenbaugh in the quarterfinals.

In bodyboarding: Brian Wise of San Clemente won the competition with a score of 32.30. Jeff Hubbard of Lihue, Hawaii, was second (28.23), Kyle Maligro of Kalaheo, Hawaii third (24.07) and Dean Seppings finished fourth (21.36).

The Bud Surf Tour concludes Oct. 22 in Makaha, Hawaii.