Grubb Dodges Boat To Win Nationals Event Author: Wakeskating.com Staff
Date: 08-29-2006
Making sure the Air Nautique WWA Nationals event was consistent meant that mother nature had to be a beyotch in one form or another. So while the weather itself for Sunday's finals was prime for bronzing (as is evident by my red and white racoon mask), the wind left little to be desired, leaving a few fallen riders in her 'tude copping wake. Out of the weekend's six finalists, from Drew McGuckin in his first final of the season, to Brandon Thomas, the king of the Toe Jam kingdom, to back lipper Aaron Rathy and lurking wake ninja Steven Campbell, it was Grubb and Reed who would actually finish out their runs, draw their sticks and have a skate off on their way into the dock.
Ultimately (and not to anyone's surprise), the Reed/Grubb showdown proved to be interesting. Both riders used the wake to its full advantage and lip tricks were absent from both wake bosses in their finals passes. Reed would take his signature style to the wake, tossing out tricks like free product, tricks like boned out wake jumps, switch frontside 180s, a massive frontside 3 and a backside 180 indy. He'd fall on one of those wake to wake 3s, but trust me when I say it's no joke when people say that he does that trick as big as a wakeboarder. A backside 3 was also attempted, but was let go, as per the rules of destiny. (If you love a trick, set it free. If you get that trick back, it's yours. If you don't, it was never meant to be.) Anyway, riding into the dock, Reed went b-a-n-a-n-a-s/all foot loose on the crowd, kicking off his Sunday shoe while trying another stalled out backside 180 indy ...you know, one of his shoes flew off.
Grubb did just what he does best, from grabbed frontside and backside airs (of course, he follows the arc and pokes at the peak), toeside wake to wake grabbed shuvs, and a 360 that was too close for comfort, nearly smacking the Air Nautique that was parked at the starting dock. Consistency counts, because if he would have fallen, that boat would have been decorated with all kinds of Grubb flair. On the way into the dock, Grubb would also rock out, throwing a backside 3 and another wake to wake shuv that simply wasn't meant to be (you know, destiny). One bonus to Grubb's performance and subsequent win was that he was able to ride well in front of his family, which is always a good thing.
So with everything that went down at the Nationals competition, Worlds should prove to be mighty interesting, especially given the fact that everything's bigger in Texas (sorry, I'm required to say that). So keep your eyes peeled for the Worlds, which are taking place September 20-24 in Fort Worth. Congratulations to all riders who qualified for the final event!
Professional WakeSkate - Finals (8-27)
1 Brian Grubb USA 68.33
2 Aaron Reed USA 60.00
3 A. Rathy USA 50.00
4 Brandon Thomas USA 43.33
5 Steven Campbell USA 35.00
6 Drew McGuckin USA 20.00
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