Freestyle: Soul Bowl Huntington Beach, California. The Pro contest.

It was the tenth anniversary of the SoulBowl event in Huntington Beach and also this year some heavy hitters made it down to the beach. Where it normally takes a bit longer to get riders to go to the event venue, it was no punishment to make it down to the beach. The sun was out and there was plenty to do and to see. HB gets crazy when the US Open comes to town but we enjoyed every minute of it. With loads of people around it meant that the grandstands were full during the BMX contest. With local Grotbags on the Microphone it was going to be a good one. The first place check read $ 10.000,= USD so even though the vibe was pretty chill, there was something on the line. Next to the regular contest checks there were also two side events: The Annual Manual and a High Air comp. $ 1000 for first, $ 600 for second and $ 400 for third in these little competitions which were fun to watch. On top of that they had extra checks available ($ 750) for the best trick during the contest and also a Style award. There was plenty of money around it seemed like which is never a bad thing.As it was a bowl contest, riders were not only judged on the tricks they brought to the table but the use of the bowl was extremely important too. This wasn't a vert contest, let's put it that way. Still "vert rider" Chad Kagy won but the top dawgs know how to ride everything and next to bringing the latest tricks to the ramp, they also cruised around the bowl like madman. If you only get to ride the bowl once a year it's hard to get used to it but Joe Rich did not seem to have a problem with that as he shredded that thing apart and made it look small. He won the Style Award. Ben Snowden also rocked that thing and finished third because he was going in both directions, used every corner of that bowl, had back to back tricks and did more tricks over the elbow than anybody else. Steve McCann struggled a bit in qualifying but managed to do better in the finals to finish 2nd. Austin Coleman is one to watch. With a bit of time, some guidance and support he could become a top 5 regular in the near future. He pulled a double downside tailwhip alley-oop style which was awesome (and won the Best Trick Check). He's got one-handed tailwhips down in both directions, no-handed flairs, the works.

Take a look at the full results and enjoy the photos. I'm off to the beach.

BdJ

Final Results:
1. Chad Kagy
2. Steve McCann
3. Ben Snowden
4. Joe Rich
5. Austin Coleman
6. Jay Eggleston
7. Jimmy Walker
8. Francisco Zurita
9. Koji Kraft
10. Tom Stober

High Air:
1. Steve McCann
2. Jay Eggleston
3. Chad Kagy

Annual Manual:
 1. Chad Kagy
2. Dave Voelker
3. Ben Snowden

Style Cat award:
Joe Rich

Hardest Trick award:
Austin Coleman, alleyoop downside double tailwhip air