Posted on: Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Centeio catches the right waves to victory
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Joel Centeio found the right way to surf to victory yesterday.
Riding the right-handed waves at Kewalo Basin to near perfection, Centeio won the Billabong Ronnie Burns Memorial Junior Pro yesterday in waves that ranged from 1 to 3 feet.
The contest was restricted to the state's best surfers under the age of 21 — professional or amateur. The top six performers from yesterday's event will represent Hawai'i in the Billabong Junior World Championship, which is scheduled for Nov. 1-9 at Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia.
"I've been hoping for a result like this all year," said Centeio, who is 19 and in his rookie season as a professional. "I haven't been doing that great in contests so far this year, so this is a big boost for my confidence."
Centeio, a 2001 Campbell High graduate, left little doubt yesterday. His top three waves received a total score of 25.5 (out of 30). Somewhat surprisingly, all of Centeio's top rides came on the right-hand wave at Kewalo.
Normally, the left-hand wave at Kewalo Basin holds a better shape and offers better rides.
"I felt like my surfing was stronger on the rights, so that's what I stuck with," said Centeio, who earned $1,500 for the victory.
He clinched the win with less than two minutes remaining in the 30-minute final with an impressive 9.75 ride (out of 10). On that clinching ride, Centeio completed five top-to-bottom slashing maneuvers along the face of the wave.
That wave came a few seconds after Dustin Cuizon took the lead with an 8.95 for his own series of carving moves. At the time of Cuizon's ride, Centeio had fallen off a wave and was paddling out to catch another one.
"Dustin did one of his turns right in my face when I was paddling out, so I knew I had to do something big," Centeio said. "Then that wave came out of nowhere and I was right there, still paddling out. I just swung around and took it."
Cuizon, who is 17 and a senior-to-be at Campbell, finished second with a three-wave total of 24.1. He was the only amateur to advance to the four-man final.
"I caught some good waves and did what I could," Cuizon said. "Everybody was surfing super good. The level was so high, I was just trying to keep up."
Dustin Barca of Kaua'i was third with a three-wave total of 15.5.
Waialua's Sean Moody, who won last year's event at Kewalo, placed fourth with a score of 14.4.
Centeio, Cuizon, Barca and Moody also represented Hawai'i in the World Junior Championship last year, although none of them advanced past the quarterfinals.
"We're all a year older, so hopefully we can do better this time," said Centeio, who won a junior world amateur championship in 2000.
The other two qualifiers from Hawai'i are Daniel Jones of O'ahu's North Shore and Kekoa Bacalso of Mililani. They tied for fifth yesterday.
In a special "expression session" yesterday, Bacalso earned $200 for completing both the "best aerial" and "most vertical" maneuvers. Jordy Brough of the Big Island won $100 for "best cutback."
Only 48 of the state's top junior surfers were invited to compete. The event was held in honor of the late North Shore surfer Ronnie Burns, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1990.
