America’s Top Juniors Prepare for Oakley ASP World Pro Junior

Evan Geiselman (USA), 17, 2010 ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion, will lead his fellow countrymen to the first stop of the ASP WJT, the Oakley ASP World Pro Junior in Bali.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (Wednesday, September 29, 2010) – America’s finest under-21 surfers are preparing for the first event of the inaugural ASP World Junior Tour (WJT), the Oakley ASP World Pro Junior at the flawless righthand pointbreak of Keramas in Bali, Indonesia, which will hold a waiting period from October 2 through 13, 2010.

Surfers who have qualified for this year’s ASP World Junior Tour will battle the globe’s finest under-21 talent for the prestigious title of ASP World Junior Champion on the two-event series, which culminates in Australia in early January, 2011.

Evan Geiselman (New Smyrna, Beach, FL), 17, reigning ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion, was nearly unstoppable throughout this year’s regional series, taking out two major event victories en route to clinching the national title. The Floridian goofy-footer has been honing in his backhand surfing via California’s righthand pointbreaks and hopes his training pays off at the Indonesian righthander of Keramas.

“This year has been flying by and Bali is going to be great, I’m really looking forward to it,” Geiselman said. “I’ve been really working on surfing on my backhand as much as possible for this event and stretching.”

Geiselman, who will be competing in his first ASP World Junior Tour event, has discovered a newfound confidence due to his success on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series and hopes to maintain his momentum while competing against the world’s finest competitive youth.

“I’m feeling confident going into Worlds,” Geiselman said. “Winning the Pro Junior series this year gave me a lot of confidence and it’s going to be in a great wave. Everyone surfs well in this event, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Kolohe Andino (San Clemente, CA), 16, who finished runner-up behind Geiselman on the regional rankings, is one American standout looking to unleash his impressive forehand repertoire of progressive maneuvers on Kerama’s high-performance canvas against the globe’s finest ASP Pro Junior pedigree.

“Anyone would be stoked to have a contest at Keramas,” Andino said. “I’m looking forward to it. This is my first year competing on the ASP World Juniors, so I’m excited.”

Andino, who recently competed as a wildcard at the Hurley Pro at Trestles, gained additional experience by competing under the man-on-man format during his win at the ASP 4 Star Unsound Pro Junior and hopes he can transition his tactics to the Oakley ASP World Pro Junior.

“Competing as a wildcard in the Hurley Pro was good training for the Worlds,” Andino said. “Also, winning the event in New York was good to get a little taste of the man-on-man format.”

Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 18, who finished fifth at the 2009 ASP World Junior Championships, qualified for this year’s ASP WJT as the top American finisher on the ASP World Ranking and feels that the heightened competition at the under-21 level is just as difficult as many top rated ASP Star and PRIME events.

“I feel like the competition can be just as hard at Worlds as in a Star or PRIME event,” Young said. “All the juniors these days are winning those events and are some of the best surfers on the World Ranking.”

Young, who is the most experienced regional men’s surfer competing on the ASP WJT stage, is also looking forward to the new multi-event series to crown this year’s ASP World Junior Champion.

“I think a multi event series is way better for deciding a world champ,” Young said. “Anyone can have one bad event, even the best juniors in the world. Also, the fact that one wave is a right and one wave is more of a left (Narrabeen) definitely decides the most well rounded surfer, so that’s good.”

Also representing Mainland America at the inaugural ASP WJT will be Luke Davis (Capistrano Beach, CA), 17, Andrew Doheny (Newport Beach, CA), 17, Evan Thompson (Jacksonville, FL), 18, and event wildcard Conner Coffin (Santa Barbara, CA), 17.

Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), 18, 2010 ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion Lakey Peterson (Santa Barbara, CA), 15, and Oakley Wildcard Sage Erickson (Ventura, CA), 19, will strive for the ASP Women’s World Junior Champion title.

To watch the Oakley ASP World Junior LIVE log on to www.oakleyprojunior.com

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

Upcoming Men’s Oakley ASP World Junior Round 1 Heats:
Heat 1: Brenden Gibbens (ZAF), Alex Smith (HAW), Jack Freestone (AUS)
Heat 2: Shaun Joubert (ZAF), Peterson Crisanto (BRA), Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 3: Caio Ibelli (BRA), Tyler Newton (HAW), Mitch Crews (AUS)
Heat 4: Kiron Jabour (HAW), Chris Salisbury (AUS), Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 5: Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Guillermo Satt (CHL), Enrique Ariitu (PYF)
Heat 6: Nat Young (USA), Dean Bowen (AUS), Ramzi Boukhaim (MOR)
Heat 7: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Jesse Mendes (BRA), Takumi Nakamura (JPN)
Heat 8: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Krystian Kymerson (BRA), Wildcard
Heat 9: Marc Lacomare (FRA), Charles Martin (GLP), Keala Naihe (HAW)
Heat 10: Granger Larsen (HAW), Dale Staples (AUS), Tom Cloarec (FRA)
Heat 11: Davey Cathels (AUS), Luke Davis (USA), Kaimana Jaquias (HAW)
Heat 12: Beyric De Vries (ZAF), Filipe Jervis (PRT), Hiroto Arai (JPN)
Heat 13: Kolohe Andino (USA), Albee Layer (HAW), Andrew Doheny (USA)
Heat 14: Chad Du Toit (ZAF), Kaito Ohashi (JPN), Evan Thompson (USA)
Heat 15: Nick Von Rupp (DEU), Ryan Callinan (AUS), Kento Takahashi (JPN)
Heat 16: Evan Geiselman (USA), Ty Watson (AUS), Arashi Kato (JPN)

Upcoming Women’s Oakley World Junior Round 1 Heats:
Heat 1: Pauline Ado (FRA), Alizee Arnaud (FRA), Nao Omura (JPN)
Heat 2: Sage Erickson (USA), Chantelle Rautenbach (ZAF), Alessa Quizon (HAW)
Heat 3: Laura Enever (AUS), Lakey Peterson (USA), Minato Takahashi (JPN)
Heat 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Arini Mason (NZL), Camila Cassia (BRA)
Heat 5: Tyler Wright (AUS), Leila Hurst (HAW), Diana Christina (BRA)
Heat 6: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Felicity Palmateer (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW)