Quiksilver Pro NY Round One Photos & Recap

Let’s see here… today’s headlines…

- Dane’s Ribs Hurt So Bad He Couldn’t Notify Anyone That He Was Bowing Out Until Lunchtime
- Balaram Stack Made A Bigger Splash Than Kelly (With The Crowd)
- Rookie Brazilian Alejo Muniz SHREDS
- Wilko Slid From First To Third (In Heat 10) After “Interfering”
- Kerrzy Is Kerrazy. And Julian Wilson, Too.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Read on for the the deets.

I really just mock Dane out of love. When nobody seemed to know where he was, I had flashbacks to the last time I said bailing on your heat was an, uhh, interesting move… back in November. I became concerned for his well-being. Also, I truly enjoy watching him surf. I guess I’ll have to settle for watching him just be, which isn’t so bad.

“I came to New York with every intention to surf, but I knew it would be a challenge with my rib injury,” Dane said. “I tried surfing yesterday and it was painful to even stand up. I’ve never dealt with bruised ribs before so hopefully some more rest will get me ready for the next contest.”

In his competitive absence, Jeremy Flores won Heat 2 with a 9.67 and Trials runner-up Keanu Asing, 18, will get his chance to compete, beginning in Round Two. Tomorrow.

Balaram is not only Quik’s local wildcard entry, he is a full-on celeb in New York. When he pulled on his jersey and walked down the beach, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. Like, Kelly bonkers. He proceeded to “put his back into it,” as they say. He attempted a slew of preposterously high no-grab 540s, but landed few of them. Still, it was an awesome show. KS is #1 for a reason, and he dominated Heat 6 with a 14.20.

World Tour rookie Alejo Muniz. Wow, was he killing it. Ace Buchan and Cory Lopez both put in stellar performances during the seventh heat, but the 21-year-old Brazilian was on-point and walked away with the win.

“It’s pretty fun,” Alejo said. “It’s not that big, but there are still a couple bigger waves and I have a good board for small waves. I just tried to have fun. I always try to do big turns even though it’s small.”

I was going to say that Matt Wilkinson’s “bedazzled” wetsuit (“borrowed from Snooki”) added a little extra magic to his exceptional surfing, but now I’m thinking maybe mentioning her on Twitter was his karmic undoing. (Though I don’t know how that would work.) The kid was utterly on fire–sticking reverses, floaters, and tail blows (running away with the heat), until he and Damien Hobgood paddle battled. The judges called interference on Wilko and cut one of his 7-pointers in half, bumping him into the third-place slot. Tiago Pires wound up taking Heat 10 and barely besting Damo’s 12.73 with a 12.76.

In Heat 11, Josh Kerr (who happens to be on my Fantasy Surfer team, just sayin’) claimed the highest scores all day: a 9.07 and a 9.50. His grand total of 18.57 blew everyone else out of the green, New York water. Not too far behind was Heat 12 winner Julian Wilson, with a 17.00.

“I tried not to watch Kerrzy, because I knew I’d try to over-surf,” Julian said. “I started the heat how I wanted to, got a 5 and kind of built house on that. I made some silly mistakes, but I was pretty lucky to get some scores at the end. I knew if I got some sort of finner or reverse I’d get a good score. I was pretty jittery in the beginning of the heat, but as soon as I got the good one I felt confident.”

Josh Kerr said, “It was like an expression session out there. I started getting scores and was enjoying myself out there with those little rip bowl rights. We all had 15 waves and I think we all had fun out there. I went for a free surf and the wind came up and I knew I was going to hunt the rights. It was perfect and I found a couple of those ramps so I’m stoked.”

On Tuesday, National Boulevard saw 2 to 3-foot, Nuevo York near-perfection–offshore wind and all. It’s only supposed to get better, kids, so definitely tune in for Round 2 at QuiksilverPro.com. Or in person, if you can ditch work.

ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56, Brett Simpson (USA) 13.50, Travis Logie (ZAF) 6.57
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 3.43, Dane Reynolds (USA) N/S
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.93, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.84, Fred Patacchia (HAW) 11.46
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.77, Owen Wright (AUS) 10.00, Bobby Martinez (USA) 7.10
Heat 5: Heitor Alves (BRA) 13.83, Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.73, Asher Nolan (USA) 8.60
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.20, Daniel Ross (AUS) 11.66, Balaram Stack (USA) 6.07
Heat 7: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.40, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.27, Cory Lopez (USA) 12.97
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.97, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.77, Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.00
Heat 9: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 10.80, Adam Melling (AUS) 10.50, Michel Bourez (PYF) 7.66
Heat 10: Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.76, Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.73, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 11.65
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) 18.57, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.37, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.54
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.00, Taylor Knox (USA) 12.60, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.60

ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Balaram Stack (USA)
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Asher Nolan (USA)
Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 7: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 9: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 12: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)