By Press Release:

BUD FREITAS LIGHTS UP DAY ONE OF NEWPORT BEACH PRO PRES. BY JEEP

Live webcast will commence tomorrow morning and is available at www.aspnorthamerica.org or http://surfermag.com/events/nbpro06.

Last Years Winners of the Newport Beach Pro

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Tuesday, September 19, 2006) – The 2006 Newport Beach Pro pres. by Jeep kicked off this morning in shifty 2’-3’ surf at 56th St. in Newport Beach, CA. An Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) Two-Star event, today’s Newport Beach Pro saw Bud Freitas (Santa Cruz, CA) find big scores despite the difficult conditions.

Although yet to find his form on his first full year on the WQS, Freitas zeroed in on the best waves throughout the day and surfed them to near-perfection.

“I’ve just been slowing my stuff down and not spazzing out on my waves,” Freitas said. “I’m taking my time and trying not to get too over-aggressive – I let everyone else do that and worry about it later. I try to get one good score and finish it off with another.”

Freitas, who racked up several high wave scores en route to his Round One and Round Two victories, will surely benefit from a result here as the Newport Beach Pro is followed by the final stop on the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series (an ASP specialty series), the O’Neill Coldwater Classic in Santa Cruz.

“I’d love to come out with a good result here,” Freitas said. “It’s my first year on tour and I’ve kind of been struggling. It’s hard starting from the first time every round and the conditions are often weird and the travel time throws you off a bit. I’m starting to get the hang of it so I’m starting to feel more comfortable.”

Tanner Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), fresh off WQS campaign in Europe with older brothers Pat and Dane, looked sharp in his round one heat, detonating the wedging lefthanders with a rapid series of precise forehand maneuvers.

“It seems like when the waves come in, its fun right off the jetty, but when they don’t come in, you’re sitting behind the jetty and you’re anxious for the next one,” Gudauskas said. “I pulled a couple and got a couple and got through.”

Time spent overseas has no doubt further honed the prodigious goofy-footer’s skills, and he will be looking to apply them close to his home here in California.

“I loved Europe,” Gudauskas said. “Pat and Dane (brothers) let me travel with them through there and it was the best time of my life. It was so much fun but it’s good to be back. I get to sleep in my own bed and wake up and surf a WQS.”

Pat Towersey (Newport Beach, CA) took down a star-studded trials heat that included Josh Hoyer (Newport Beach, CA), Richie Collins (Newport Beach, CA) and other Newport local standouts. For his efforts, Towersey receives the wildcard in the Round of 96 where he will meet Australian Jarrah Tutton and other advancing surfers.

“There’re a lot of good guys but I just try to get the waves I like to surf out there,” Towersey said. “They’re usually the smaller ones. The bigger ones are usually more closed out and a lot of people usually try to go after those ones. So I just go for the smaller ones and just shuffle around in there.”

The remaining heats of Round Two will commence tomorrow at 8:00 am followed by the first eight heats of Round Three.

Live webcast will commence tomorrow morning and is available at www.aspnorthamerica.org or http://surfermag.com/events/nbpro06.

Results Day 1:

Trials –
Finals: Pat Towersey (USA) 10.50, Josh Hoyer (USA) 8.40, Richie Collins (USA) 7.20, Geoff Moysa (USA) 6.50, Cordell Miller (USA) 6.10, Scott Rask (USA) 3.25

Round 1 – 160 surfers remain (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Jason Harris (USA) 9.40, Wyatt Taubman (USA) 9.00, Chris Newbauer (USA) 6.30, Kris Hopkins (USA) 5.25
Heat 2: Jamie Parkhurst (USA) 11.90, Tom Rezvan (USA) 10.45, Logan Dulien (USA) 8.60, Nick Skawinski (USA) 8.15
Heat 3: Matt Shadbolt (USA) 13.50, Nick Johnson (USA) 7.50, Tim Senneff (USA) 7.00, Mike Maurer (USA) 6.00
Heat 4: Bud Freitas (USA) 13.00, Kyle Ramey (HAW) 11.15, Dennis Rizzo (USA) 8.50, Kyle Kennelly (USA) 8.50
Heat 5: Mason Ho (HAW) 10.25, Brandon Roberts (ZAF) 9.40, Ezra Sitt (HAW) 9.40, Trodd Cook (USA) 2.20
Heat 6: Alex Ganguli (USA) 10.25, Bryan Doonan (USA) 9.70, Chris Ropero (USA) 8.50, Shey Yates (USA) 4.90
Heat 7: Brady McKenzie (USA) 8.25, Austin Ford (USA) 7.75, Kaupena Miranda (HAW) 6.75, Leslie Bursian (PRI) 6.20
Heat 8: Layne Harrison (USA) 14.65, Peter Mel (USA) 12.50, Charlie Rigano (USA) 7.50, Frank Chenault (USA) 2.50
Heat 9: Kahana Kalama (USA) 9.90, Alex King (HAW) 7.50, Adam Knox (USA) 7.20, Patrick Furlotti (HAW) 3.35
Heat 10: Sean Marceron (USA) 13.25, Chris Abad (USA) 8.65, Adam Lambert (USA) 8.40, David Gonsalves (HAW) 7.85
Heat 11: Brandon Guilmet (USA) 10.35, Kent Doonan (USA) 7.50, Casey Landvogt (USA) 7.20, Roy Parker (HAW) 4.70
Heat 12: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 11.65, Nick King (HAW) 7.10, Peter Minko (USA) 5.80, Colin Schildhauer (USA) 5.70
Heat 13: David Giddings (USA) 9.90, Eddie Lester (USA) 8.50, Julian Mullins (USA) 6.85, Chris Newsom (USA) 5.90
Heat 14: Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.75, Matt Mohagen (USA) 7.90, Chris Schiavone (USA) 7.75, T.J Mikus (USA) 6.10
Heat 15: Dillon Perillo (USA) 11.00, David Post (USA) 9.40, Roger Eales (USA) 9.05, Colin Pierce (USA) 3.85
Heat 16: Jason Magallenes (HAW) 6.85, Noel Salas (USA) 5.15, Brooks Garrett (USA) 4.20, Matt Myers (USA) 3.05

Round 2 – 128 surfers remain (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Tom Rezvan (USA) 8.00, Vince Alessi (USA) 6.50, Chad Jackson (USA) 5.00, Jason Harris (USA) 3.50
Heat 2: Wyatt Taubman (USA) 10.10, Sean Peterson (USA) 9.20, Chris Waring (USA) 8.70, Jamie Parkhurst (USA) 5.30
Heat 3: Blake Howard (USA) 9.10, Matt Shadbolt (USA) 8.75, Kyle Ramey (HAW) 8.25, Ian Ekberg (USA) 6.55
Heat 4: Bud Freitas (USA) 12.75, Nick Johnson (USA) 9.50, Chris Rodriguez (HAW) 9.00, Devon Tresher (USA) 8.45
Heat 5: Mason Ho (HAW) 11.15, Bryan Doonan (USA) 10.85, Danny Hart (USA) 8.10, Eddie Guilbeau (USA) 5.90
Heat 6: Brandon Roberts (USA) 12.75, Kevin Kapsky (USA) 9.40, Alex Ganguli (USA) 8.80, Drew Ventura (USA) 6.45
Heat 7: Jesse Heilman (USA) 10.90, Tarik Khasshoggi (USA) 8.40, Peter Mel (USA) 7.35, Brady McKenzie (USA) 5.55
Heat 8: Layne Harrison (USA) 11.40, Wesley Larsen (HAW) 10.50, Sean Taylor (USA) 7.65, Austin Smith-Ford (USA) 6.55

Schedule for Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
8:00 am – 10:40 am: Newport Pro pres. by Jeep Round 2 (Heats 9-16)
10:40 am – 1:20 pm: Newport Pro pres. by Jeep Round 3 (Heats 1-8)

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