Big Upsets as MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour Kicks Off
Big upsets today as the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour kicked off its 2006 season in Acworth, Georgia outside of Atlanta. In a new format where riders are seeded, the #1, #2, and #4 seeds all fell on one side of the bracket. The upsets all occurred in bracket B where #1 seed Brett Eisenhauer, #2 seed Phillip Soven and #4 seed Chad Sharpe failed to advance to the elite eight.
Pulling the upsets were #8 seed Jeff Weatherall knocking off Eisenhauer, #15 seed Shaun Murray who is competing after a two-year layoff from competition beating Soven while #5 seed JD Webb topping Sharpe. Weatherall and Webb both advanced to the round of eight, while Murray was eliminated in the second round of the day by #10 seed Shane Bonifay.
In this year’s pro men format, each rider in the field of 32 is placed into two 16-seeded brackets. Each is then seeded from the current rankings and competes in a format similar to the NCAA basketball tournament.
While Bracket B was filled with high seeds going down, Bracket A played out without much drama. The top 4 seeds, Daniel Watkins, Andrew Adkison, Danny Harf and Erik Ruck all advanced on their side of the bracket. Watkins, who’s the overall number one seed of the contest, easily won his two match-ups today.
Defending Tour champion Josh Sanders would have been the number one seed this weekend, but he’s out due to a knee injury. Sanders is expected back within 6-8 weeks.
Corey Bradley, who’s an Atlanta native and attended North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia, made it into today’s round of 32 but was eliminated in the round by 8th seeded Jeff Weatherall of New Zealand.
On the women’s side, Orlando, Florida native Dallas Friday continued her dominance of the women’s field. She easily advanced to the finals winning her heat with a score of 56.67. Friday won most of the championships on the women’s side last year taking home the Tour title, the WWA Nationals and the Pan Am championship. Emily Copeland Durham, who upset Friday for the World title in ’05, also won her heat today setting up a possible match-up of the two top elite women riders in the world in tomorrow’s finals.
In the pro wakeskate division, defending tour champion Brandon Thomas picked off where he left off last year winning his heat with a score of 83.33. Thomas will be joined in the semifinal round with many top stars on the Sea-Doo Wakeskate Tour including Phillip Basino, Brian Grubb and Reed Hansen. All won their respective heats today.
For the Rip It JX-Series, amateur riders 18 and under, two local riders moved into the finals. Brett Lee and Rhett Whatley, both from the Atlanta area, took second place in their respective heats today, just good enough to advance into the final of eight.
MasterCraft is the exclusive towboat for the Pro Tour as it has been since the Tour's wakeboarding events began in 1992. Indmar Marine Engines provides the power for MasterCraft's line of competition towboats, the X Series.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is a five-event circuit organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Florida. The Pro Tour has the support of the following: Verizon Wireless, U.S Air Force, Circuit City, Rip It Energy Fuel, Sea Doo watercraft, Billabong, Hyperlite Wakeboards, Perfect Pass, Infinity Marine Audio, Liquid Force, Gator Boards, CWB, J-Star, Oakley, Reef, Epiphone Guitars, Wakeworld.com, Wakeboarder.com, and One Percent Design.
Rip It energy fuel is the exclusive sponsor of the JX Series, the proving ground for amateur male riders 18-under. WakeBoarding, published by World Publications, is the official magazine of the Pro Wakeboard Tour. WakeBoarding magazine is the definitive source on all things wakeboarding, with expert coverage of professional instruction, gear, boats and the latest news.
Pro Men Round of 16 (seed in parenthesis)
Bracket A:
(1) Daniel Watkins 100
(8) Keith Lyman 90
(4) Erik Ruck 100
(5) Rusty Malinoski 90
(3) Danny Harf 100
(6) Gabe Lucas 90
(2) Andrew Adkison 100
(10) Nick Heaney 90
Bracket B:
(8) Jeff Weatherall 96
(1) Brett Eisenhauer 94
(5) JD Webb 100
(4) Chad Sharpe 90
(3) Tino Santori 95.5
(6) Trevor Hansen 94.5
(10) Shane Bonifay 100
(15) Shaun Murray 90
Pro Men Round of 32 (seed in parenthesis)
Bracket A:
(1) Daniel Watkins 97.5
(16) Aaron Rathy 92.5
(8) Keith Lyman 97.5
(9) Colin Harrington 92.5
(5) Rusty Malinoski 100
(12) Jimmy Wolf 90
(4) Erik Ruck 100
(13) Tim Keepers 90
(6) Gabe Lucas 100
(11) Derek Grasman 90
(3) Danny Harf 100
(14) Jeff House 90
(10) Nick Heaney 100
(7) Brian Francis 90
(2) Andrew Adkison 100
(15) Rob Jacques 90
Bracket B:
(1) Brett Eisenhauer 100
(16) Josh Palma 90
(8) Jeff Weatherall 100
(9) Corey Bradley 90
(5) JD Webb 100
(12) Shawn Watson 90
(4) Chad Sharpe 100
(13) Adam Wensink 90
(6) Trevor Hansen 100
(11) Chris O’Shea 90
(3) Tino Santori 100
(14) Philip Combs 90
(10) Shane Bonifay 97.5
(7) Dean Smith 92.5
(15) Shaun Murray 95.5
(2) Philip Soven 94.5
Pro Women Semifinals (top two advance in each heat to finals)
Heat #1
1. Emily Copeland Durham 52.78
2. Melissa Marquardt 43.89
3. Maeghan Major 35.67
4. Hayley Smith 30.00
Heat #2
1. Dallas Friday 56.67
2. Lauren Loe 42.44
3. Laura Lohrmann 39.22
4. Gretchen Hammarberg 34.44
Pro Wakeskate Semifinals (top two advance in each heat to finals)
Heat #1
1. Reed Hansen 81.67
2. Clint Tompkins 70.00
3. Kyle Hyams 56.67
4. Jesse Landry 36.67
Heat #2
1. Phillip Basino 66.67
2. David Hanson 56.67
3. Sammy Woodson 40.00
4. Tim Kovacich 13.33
Heat #3
1. Brian Grubb 85.00
2. Aaron Rathy 76.67
3. Scott Byerly 60.00
4. Ryan Doyle 51.67
Heat #4
1. Brandon Thomas 83.33
2T. George Daniels 63.00 (both advance)
2T. Nick Taylor 63.00 (both advance)
4. E. Buonanotte 30.00
Jr Men Semifinals (top two advance in each heat to finals)
