13 year old Kylie Loveland has been tearing up the heat sheets and turning heads! Recently she took 1st in the Girls Division and her team, Aviara Oaks, also took 1st overall in the San Diego Region. Then she also claimed an impressive second place finish at the Open NSSA DMJs event. Congratulations to young Kylie!
80 pound gouge. Photo: Wyman
Congratulations to the young Kylie Loveland for placing 1st in the NSSA Southwest Explorer Girls, 1st in the NSSA Womens at HB Pier, and an equal 5th at the Surfing America Prime at DMJs; not bad for a weekend's work, especially when you're not old enough for a worker's permit.
photo: Loveland
photo: Wyman
photo: Wyman
photo: Loveland
A big congratulations goes out to young Ryland Rubens for taking home a second place finish overall in the 10 and under NSSA Southwest conference and a fourth place finish at the West Coast championships.
Rusty team rider and Point Loma Nazarene Team Captain, Hunter Lysaught, clenched a third place finish as an individual and his points bumped his team into third place over all at the recent NSSA State Championships. Click here for all the details from the event...
Hunter bringing home the cheddar. Photo: Brody
Hunter going vertical. Photo: Garcia
After taking home two national titles last season Rick Takahashi has tasted blood and is on a rampage. Takahashi claimed double wins, for the third time this season, at the NSSA Southwest Explorer conference contest held at Huntington beach over the weekend. The technical regular footer competes in the Seniors and the Masters divisions, but still surfs like an amped junior - making the most of every wave. Takahashi knows how to make heats and get scores. For instance, in this weekend's event he got at least an 8.5 in every heat he surfed (in both divisions) and he even nailed a perfect 10 in one of the finals! Once Takahashi gets his momentum going he is tough to stop: better get out of the way because he is blazing full speed ahead to another pair of national titles!
The NSSA Southwest Conference season opener took place in Huntington Beach over the weekend and reigning Conference and National Champion, Rick Takahashi, is looking ready to meet or beat his personal best. Repeating last season’s opening day, Takahashi put on another dominating performance putting 7-point rides on the scoreboard. He nailed wins in both the Masters and Seniors divisions proving the merit behind his double Nationals titles last June.
Click here to check out the full story at nssa.org.
Jake Halstead
NSSA Nationals is a great time to be a grom...
What better way to amp up for a heat than a little Black Sabbath on Guitar Hero? What better way to rejuvenate after an exhausting paddle battle than an extra large shaved ice and fresh BBQ fish tacos? What beats a post heat massage?
The Rusty Groms got to enjoy the V.I.P. treatment. Jake Halstead, Keto Burns, Tayler Brothers, Mikey Ciarmella, Corey Howell, and Ian Garcia climbed the ranks of the NSSA to earn a spot in the coveted Nationals competition for a chance to duke it out with the next crop of (soon to be) World Title contenders...
Tayler Brothers
Photos: Brody
The NSSA Nationals are under way at the coveted Trestles Beach in Southern California and the most talented surfers from across the country are in town to compete for the championship...
Amongst the elite crowd of up and coming surfers are Rusty's very own Corey Howell, Mikey Ciarmella, Ian Garcia, and Tayler Brothers. Although, the surf was a bit inconsistent, the sets provided for clean rippable walls and the groms went off! Ian Garcia was a stand out, taking first place in his heat!
The Playground: Trestles
Ian Garcia working it all the way to the beach...
Ian Garcia winning the heat
Join Us for the Rest of the Nationals Contest and Come Show Your Support for the Rusty Groms!
All Photos: Brody
Photo: Brody
Takahashi and friends gathered at the La Jolla Brew House over the weekend to celebrate a tremendous season in NSSA.
Takahashi surfed in both the Masters and Seniors divisions and when it was all said and done he took home 18 wins, 5 seconds, 1 third, 1 seventh, 2 Conference Titles, 2 Regional Titles, 1 Western Title, and Two National Titles!
You are the man, Rick!
All the best from the crew at Rusty!
Before this year's NSSA season started we took a few minutes to chat with Rick Takahashi (see "The Man With No Middle Name"), last year's Masters' Champion, and he claimed he was going to bring home two Championship titles this year... well, the man is true to his word and he brought home the NSSA Southwest Conference Masters (25+) and Seniors (35+) Championships!
The NSSA states that, "Rick Takahashi kicked up the heat in the Masters and Seniors categories this year, dominating the divisions with a major 14 win-record while handily collecting both conference titles."
Takahashi did not just sneak by with the titles, he destroyed the series in both divisions, leaving everyone points behind. In the Masters division Tak took home seven 1st places, two 2nds, and a 3rd- leaving him with a series point total of 12,450, 2,935 points ahead of second place! For the Seniors division he took home seven 1sts, two 2nds, and an equal 7th- a series total of 12,134, 1,805 points ahead of the runner up! Tak only missed one final in two divisions all year!
Not to mention that, just for fun, Tak entered and won one of the Sun Diego Pro/Am Events; as if he had not surfed enough contests this year...
"I won both conferences and looking forward to Westerns next week. I'm not looking forward to nationals until I win the Westerns Cup..."
Congratulations Rick! No Mercy at Westerns and Nationals!