Kanoa Igarashi advances as U.S. Open of Surfing heads to bracket competition
Kanoa Igarashi kept turning and rode the wave until its full completion.
This time, that meant he went from the south side to the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier.
“My right hand actually slapped the pier as I was going through,” Igarashi said with a laugh. “It was one of those waves where I really needed to finish the wave, whether it was on the south side or the north side. I heard the crowd on the pier screaming right above me, so it was actually a really cool feeling, the echoes in the pier. I always do that when I’m free surfing, but I think it was one of my first times doing it in a heat.”
The crowd-pleasing ride netted the Surf City local his best score in the final heat of the day, as he remained in contention for his third U.S. Open of Surfing title.
Igarashi won Heat 8 of the round of 32 on Thursday, netting a two-wave score of 12.43.
“The [waves in the] last two or three heats kind of dissipated, but Huntington definitely showed up for 90% of the day,” Igarashi said. “I’m more happy to see all of the other competitors catching waves, and I guess for my heat I can make do with what we have.”
The men’s competition has advanced to the bracket stage, with the round of 16 set for Friday morning. Igarashi will again surf in the final men’s heat, Heat 8, but this time against just one person: Deivid Silva of Brazil.
The other round of 16 matchups include Morgan Cibilic against Reef Heazelwood; Cole Houshmand against Nolan Rapoza; Jett Schilling against Crosby Colapinto; Michael Rodrigues against Mateus Herdy; Alister Reginato against Jake Marshall; George Pittar against Jadson Andre and Jacob Wilcox against Eli Hanneman.
Rapoza, from Long Beach, will face Houshmand from San Clemente in an all-Southern California matchup. Rapoza, who finished third at the U.S. Open in 2021, got through a tricky heat with a second-place score of 11.94 on Thursday.
“I think [surfing Huntington Beach] definitely helps out and gives me an advantage, but mostly mentally it gives me an advantage,” Rapoza said. “I can stick to my instincts, and usually they’re going to be right ... It feels really good [to make the round of 16]. The first three rounds is the hardest part of the whole contest. The man-on-man heats is where the easy and fun stuff comes.”
In other news from the men’s competition Thursday, Conner Coffin of Santa Barbara announced his retirement from competitive surfing after failing to advance.
The women’s competition also advanced to the round of 16 after action on Thursday. Those matchups include Nadia Erostarbe against Macy Callaghan; Ellie Harrison against Zoe McDougall; Sawyer Lindblad against India Robinson; Luana Silva against Bronte Macaulay; Daniella Rosas against Zoe Benedetto; Teresa Bonvalot against Sally Fitzgibbons; Leilani McGonagle against Isabella Nichols and Ariane Ochoa against Sarah Baum.
The round of 32 marked the end of the road for Huntington Beach local Sara Freyre, as her score of 9.67 finished third in her heat and wasn’t quite enough to advance.
Freyre, 16, will be a junior at Huntington Beach High and is a two-time NSSA national champion.
“It was an awesome experience,” said Freyre, who had received a wild-card entry. “Every single year when I was little, I just came down and I was just a spectator, watching the contest. It was really cool to be able to surf at home in a contest ... There were some super-fun waves. I got one, I just couldn’t back up my score. But it was definitely fun and a good learning experience.”
The women’s round of 16 action is scheduled to start at 12:05 p.m. on Friday.
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