Warm weather sets the stage for wakeboard tournament

A warm day and the legendary Canyon Lake backwater set the stage for the penultimate round of the Canyon Lake Wakeboard Club series. On Sept. 10, two beautiful boats, an Axis A20 driven by Craig Brown and a Nautique G21 driven by Taylor Fredrickson, provided the riders with big hearty wakes. Each rider gets a pass up and back, and are judged on the complexity of their tricks.

My favorite class of the day, the Minis, kicked off the competition. I am not sure if any these riders were over the age of four. The Minis are towed at low speed on inflatables you can stand up on. Sawyer Clark was the first rider of the day. She looked a little apprehensive at the start especially through the rollers. Next up was the tandem of Mason and Wyatt Brown. The Brown brothers were all smiles and provided us with many waves and thumbs up.

The Junior Novice was a two-rider shootout between Luke Dali and JJ Lytle. JJ had an early fall and rode safe for the remainder of the run. Luke, on the other hand, had a smooth error free run and took home the win.

The Novices were next off the dock, and was also a two-rider duel between Randy Lewis and Amanda Cash. Randy was the first off the dock and his run was highlighted with various spins and grabs. Amanda gave it everything she had but in the end Randy’s bag of tricks was too much for her, giving the Randy the win.

The Vet class was a duel between two equal riders. Geoff Culp was first up and had a very smooth run. His run featured both Toe and Heelside wake to wake jumps with different grabs. He also landed several 180s. Dave Clarke shared many of the same tricks as Geoff, but had two falls. Dave’s two falls handed the win to Culp.

The three-rider Women’s class was very competitive. Zoe Luquette, Lexi Gonzales and Cate Siniscalchi put on a great show. Zoe and Lexi had similar runs. Both crashed early on Backroll attempts but finished their runs with and variety jumps and grabs. Cate had a clean run but not as strong as the other two. Lexi edged out Zoe for the win with Cate in third.

Jr. Men took the water next and featured another two-rider duel between Blake Landon and Brayden Sims. Both riders had strong runs with spin and roll combinations. Brayen’s run proved to be stronger and took the win.

The Masters Men’s class was a three-rider field. Craig Brown started the class off with a clean run featuring wake to wake jumps and grabs. Rob Richie had two early falls ending his run quickly. Jason Vogel took to the water next and put on quite a display of tricks that gave him the victory. Craig and Rob rounded out the podium in second and third respectively.

Hudson Haynie, Jack Culp and Ethan Mitchell were the three riders in the Boys and Girls class. Despite having two big crashes, the fearless five-year-old Hudson took the win followed by Jack in second. Ethan, a first time competitor, rounded out the podium in third.

The final two riders of the day, Tyler Clarke in the Expert class and Robbie Culp in the Open class, put on quite show. Both riders seemed to have an endless number of tricks. Tyler’s run featured a big Tantrum that he landed out into the flats. Robbie’s bag of tricks was stunning to watch, featuring many variations of spins, rolls and grabs.

In the end, it was a great day on the water. The final round of the series is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 5. If you’re a watersports enthusiast, come on out and root the competitors on.

The tournament results are as follows:

Minis: 1st place: Sawyer Clark; 2nd place: Mason Brown; 3rd place: Wyatt Brown.

Jr. Novice: 1st place: Luke Dali; 2nd place: JJ Lytle.

Novice: 1st place: Randy Lewis; 2nd place Amanda Cash.

Boys/Girls: 1st place: Hudson Haynie; 2nd place: Jack Culp; 3rd place: Ethan Mitchell.

Jr. Men: 1st place: Blake Landon; 2nd place: Brayden Sims.

Women: 1st place: Lexi Gonzales; 2nd place: Zoe Luquette; 3rd place: Cate Siniscalchi.

Masters: 1st place: Jason Vogel; 2nd place: Craig Brown; 3rd place: Rob Richie

Vets: 1st place: Geoff Culp; 2nd place: Dave Clarke.

Expert: 1st place: Tyler Clarke.

Open: 1st place: Robbie Culp.

Photo by Mike Clary

Photo by Mike Clary

Photo by Dave Dain

Photo by Dave Dain




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