The Pro Men’s division had everyone on their feet with Sean O’Brien and Josh Palma showcasing their abilities. They were pitted against some of SA’s top riders. Saturday’s qualifying round ruffled a few feathers with junior new-comers Ryan Durham and Dylan Mitchell both qualifying for the finals on Sunday. Dylan Mitchell managed to top the Pro Men Qualifying on Saturday with a toe 720 followed by a heel backside 540 to end his run.

Sunday’s finals would see some changes. Two times Junior World Champion-South African, Morgan Krause finished in 3rd place, setting the bar very high for the rest of the Men’s division with his explosive array of tricks. Josh Palma took 2nd place stepping up to the challenge with a good composition of switch tricks and a switch toe side 720. Sean O’Brien took top honours in the Pro Men’s division matching Josh’s pace but bringing his own style and intensity to the wake with a grab heel side 720 and a massive heel side Indy roll to blind landing far in the flats.

Pro Men Final Results:
1. Sean O’Brien USA 90
2. Josh Palma USA 89.5
3. Morgan Krause RSA 69
4. Dylan Mitchell RSA 67.5
5. Shaun Faccio RSA 66.5
6. Clayton Krause RSA 63.5
7. Jono Joseph RSA 61.6
8. Ryan Durham RSA 60

Read the rest of the article at Alliance Wake.

Orlando, Fla. – Wakeskating’s premier contest series concluded today at the OWC in Orlando, Florida, as 25 of the world’s best riders battled it out for the Rockstar Cable Jam and the coveted Toe Jam overall season title.

Toe Jam fans packed the shoreline while celebrating the Fourth of July to watch the historic events as they unfolded. All the riders were pumped to be riding under sunny skies on glassy water and the Toe Jam vibe was in full swing.

Top moves of the day were a switch mute 180 glide off the kicker by Dieter Humpsch, Bret Little’s 270 shove onto the box shove off, John Ruark’s varial flip on/shove off the box and a 360 flip from Reed Hansen and Matt Manzari during their head-to-head battle.

The final two riders battling in the final were Stu Shinn and Bret Little. Shinn laid down a solid run with a boardslide big spin, backside big spin, 360 shove, kickflip, backside flip and backside 360 off the kicker.

Little, the Texas native who rides for Byerly Boards and Rockstar Energy Drink, is a local at the TSR cable and looked as comfortable as ever during his finals run. Highlights were his 270 shove to back lip shove, kickflip, back lip/boardslide shove, slob 360 and switch backside 360 off the kicker. The difficulty of his run, combined with the variety of moves utilizing the whole course earned him the Rockstar Cable Jam title.

The road to victory wasn’t easy, “It was pretty wild and really intense,” Little said. “Everybody came out firing and it’s awesome to see everyone riding so well on the cable. The Toe Jam is the best series in the sport right now, and we need it really bad. Next year’s gonna be amazing.”

Tension was in the air as the coveted season title was on the line as well. Reed Hansen advanced further than Brian Grubb today, earning him the overall title, with Brandon Thomas taking third. Hansen definitely earned it, while stomping a quarterfinals run including four flip tricks and solid rail hits. “It’s an awesome feeling to ride consistent all year” said Hansen. “I can’t wait to get out and hit some spots with my new Grinch winch I won for the overall.”

Rusty Wakeskate N Bake from Rusty USA on Vimeo.

As promised, here's the video footage of the Wakeskate N' Bake!

Click here for more pics.

Rusty is proud to announce Stu Shinn as a permanent fixture in our wake program by signing him to a three year contract. From taking home the coveted Move of the Year honors at the 5th Annual Wake Awards with his crushing Wake-to-Wake Backside Bigger Spin to capturing first place at the Tige Pro-Am, 2008 has been a tremendous year for Stu Shinn. With his limitless arsenal of tricks and precision technique, the future is boundless for this young Florida native and we could not be any happier to have him part of our team.

"I'm super stoked to have such an elite athlete like Stu on our program. Our goal at Rusty is to partner with the most innovative athletes on water and Stu definitely fits into our family!" says Rusty President, Charlie Setzler.

Look for more exciting things to come from Stu throughout 2009 and beyond!