Article

Town Scalps Country in the Red Bull Rivals at Sandy Beach

Like almost all of history’s great rivalries, the battle began with an intense game of rock-paper-scissors. On the surface, the relationship between the North Shore and Town may seem cordial, but with the opposing team’s quiver and a whole mess of bragging rights on the line, the atmosphere at this year’s Red Bull Rivals at Sandy Beach was anything but.

Both sides of the islands have wielded an arsenal of surfing’s heavy hitters in the past, but how would they stack up against each other? A few gallons of Red Bull later, both sides had ripped through the event, leading to dead tie by the 12^th matchup. And with just two heats left, Town narrowly edged out Country for the victory in front of a swelling crowd.

As has become tradition, the boards were donated to the Surfrider Foundation for charity. The bragging rights, well, the Town team kept those for themselves.

The Rules

Ten surfers for each team were chosen by online voting and each team had at least one girl and two groms (17 or under).  The teams voted for the person they wanted to serve as their team captain. A “ringer” was allowed on each team and did not have to be disclosed until day of competition; the “ringer” could have been a surfer from anywhere in the world.

MVP

Ezekiel Lau – South Shore

Team Captains

Jamie O’Brien – North Shore

Jun Jo – South Shore

North Shore

Jamie O’Brien (Captain)

Kai Lenny (Ringer)

Sean Moody

Kalani David

TJ Barron

Alessa Quizon

Jesse Merle Jones

Kaiea Bosgra

Anastasia Ashley

Ezra Sitt

Sage Huls

South Shore

Jun Jo (Captain)

Brian Pacheco (Ringer)

Ezekiel Lau

Randall Paulson

Kelia Moniz

Isaiah Moniz

Charlie Carroll

Kekoa Cazimero

Keanu Asing

Seth Moniz

Noah Mizuno

Red Bull Rivals MVP and South Shore standout, Ezekiel Lau. Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull

North Shore surfer, Kaiea Bosgra with a backside air-reverse. Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull

Classic game of rock-paper-scissors. Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull

TJ Barron using the onshore winds to his advantage. Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull

The South Shore flaunts their victory in front of a stunned North Shore team. Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull