EPIC WEEKEND
Warriors Claim Two Seconds, One First in HB
By Brandon Petersen
The NSSA Southwest College Team regular season came to an epic conclusion Saturday and Sunday at 9th Street in Huntington Beach.
Not only did NSSA pull off its final event of the regular season, but it also wrapped up two previous events from Oceanside and Santa Cruz that were unable to finish due to weather conditions.
Normally a weekend will allow Westcliff surfers four to five heats.
Last weekend in HB, Taylor Stacy surfed 10 heats, Ninon Mattei surfed eight, and the entire team saw more time in the ocean than normal – about double.
That was good news for Westcliff; the Dubs are pretty darn good, as it turns out.
Led by their pros, Stacy and Jordy Collins, as well as Jack Hopkins, who made his first NSSA college final in his senior season, the Warriors wrapped up their first-place finish from Oceanside, then claimed two second-places, one each for Santa Cruz and Huntington.
The point total for Huntington broke down as follows for the Top 5: Point Loma A (196), Westcliff (154), UCLA A (122), Point Loma B (95) and UCSD (93).
On the season, Westcliff currently sits behind rival Point Loma for second overall in the Southwest Division.
The Warriors finished in the Top 5 of all five major events, starting at Blacks way back in October and culminating last weekend. They had one first – Oceanside, two seconds and a third, and finished Top 5 in every single event.
"Taylor Stacy went back-to-back-to-back in winning Events No. 1 through 3, which is pretty cool," Westcliff head coach Lucas Taub said. "She took sixth in the fourth final, and just now she took third (at Huntington). Ninon Mattei just finished fourth for Event No. 5 in Huntington."
Meanwhile on the men's side, the hometown hero, Blaze Roche, who grew up in HB, reached his first final of the season and claimed fourth overall after some epic heats that included several huge turns and even saw him go airborne.
"Standouts for Huntington – definitely Ninon Mattei," Tuab said. "Each event, she finished one round better every time. She reached the final today and finished fourth. She surfed really smart heats all weekend and it all clicked for her, which is really cool to see.
"The whole team is really proud of her."
Taub then switched focus to Stacy, who reached three finals in one weekend, which may be the first time she has been able to claim that.
That alone would be a rarity for a surfer of Stacy's caliber.
"Her and Ninon were the final together, so that was really huge," Taub said.
Last but not least, Taub took a moment to praise Roche.
"Blaze finished fourth and that was huge," he said. "That was his first final of the season, which was really cool to see. Since he was the local boy in Huntington, it was his backyard, so he knew that wave better than anyone.
"The final was slow and lackluster, just not many waves coming through, but yeah, he had a great weekend."
Collins, Hopkins and Eduardo VanZeller surfed deep into Sunday, helping the Dubs eclipse their highest point total of the season.
Collins was his usual fantastic self, but the waves slowed down and he was bounced from the semis.
VanZeller and Hopkins also had outstanding heats early in the day, with the former pulling off a heat of 8.5, but also found the sledding more difficult as the waves died late.
"Overall, as a team, that was our best showing yet," Taub said. "Even though we got second, we had our largest point total for the season, even the one we won, which is really pretty awesome.
"We're just getting better by the event. We're steadily climbing up the ladder. We have a lot of momentum heading into states."
The NSSA Interscholastic State Championships will be held in Cardiff by the Sea February 29th through March 2nd. The location will be Seaside.
The National Championships will be a home meet for the Warriors, as the NSSA has chosen Salt Creek in Dana for this year's finale.
That event will be held June 13th through 15th.
"The team camaraderie, the energy, the vibe – it's up there right now," Taub said. "Everyone knows what they're capable of, and everyone is clicking, dropping scores and working smarter heats than they were in the first two events, which is awesome.
"Everyone is coming together, and it's cool to see. We have momentum, and we're coming for that ring – no doubt."