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SWEET REPEAT
Nick Rupp, Keenan Lineback defend ESA Easterns titles
By:
Mike Cianciulli
Photos: Matt Lusk/MattLuskPhotography.com
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September 26, 2009
6584 visits
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Nick Rupp rocked up to the Hatteras Lighthouse with a cool, casual aura.
It was mid-morning on the final day of ESA Easterns and he'd been in this exact position a year ago.
"Remind you of last year?" I probed. "Yup," he said, with a little aplomb. "That looks just like the left that clinched it for me." |
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Defending a title can be a tricky ordeal. On one hand you have the confidence from being on the podium before. But there's also the pressure to perform -- and plenty of hungry opponents salivating to knock you off your throne. Add in the equation that the surf was a jumbled mess with howling onshores and cross-waves in all directions -- quite a different scene from the clean faces of earlier in the week. "You gotta go with Rupp in these conditions," Eastern Surf Magazine Editor-at-Large Matt Pruett conjured in his pre-final prediction. It was true. Out of the four Junior Men's finalists, these renegade conditions best suited the North Carolina native. Runner-up Christian Miller is used to chop like this in Florida but perhaps not the sheer power of a OBX dredger. Puerto Rico's Hector Santamaria told me, "This is way different than home. You don't even know where you are out there half the time." While Dylan Kowalski, who splits his time between the East Coast and Hawaii, couldn't exactly get his wave count up in the messy surf. "It was really important to defend my title."
-- Nick Rupp, ESA Easterns Junior Men Champion
"I couldn't find a wave forever," Rupp admitted after the final, unsure at that time if he had defended his crown. "I just was hoping they'd keep going and wedge up and have a wall." But that's what makes the ESA Easterns special. It's a contest as gritty and raw as the East Coast itself. You can have glassy peaks, mammoth closeouts, rainsqualls, and rip currents all in one event. And after over 40 years, Easterns still draws the attention of the entire surfing community. East Coast legends like Frieda Zamba, Matt Kechele, and Asher Nolan were on hand to see who was next to fly the Eastern flag. Whether it was little Luke Gordon who waxed the Menehune field, despite being the only 12-and-under finalist without stickers on his board. Or how about Cam Richards' decimation of the Boy's division, taking home a win for South Carolina. Or Darsha Pigford charging overhead Lighthouse bombs in the Girl's division. And, of course, Keenan Lineback's repeat victory in Junior Women's to ensure that Rupp wasn't the only two-timer at the 2009 Easterns. Yep, the ESA, having groomed the likes of Kelly Slater and the Hobgoods, is still a family. And just like the house you grew up in, eventually you'll have to move out into the big, bad world. "It was really important to defend my title because this might be my last year in ESA. I wanted to go out on a good note," Rupp admitted as he looked around, noticing the volunteers hard at work, the families enjoying a day at the beach, and great surfers in his peer group. "Well, I might be doing it next year," he reconsidered. "I don't know yet." Check back soon for complete 2009 ESA Easterns results. MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |