NOC/Dagger Freestyle Shootout Recap

Wow, what a weekend! This year's event had huge turnout, great atmosphere, exciting Saturday evening entertainment at The Pourover and one of the best showdowns in freestyle history between Andrew Holcombe and Tommy Yon (below) in the Men's Pro category.

Though Tommy had the edge on Andrew in technical (how many boat rotations he performed and at what angle to the water) and style (the judge's interpretation of how fun, showy or entertaining a ride is), Andrew had a decisive edge in the variety score (range of freestyle moves performed) throwing an unmatched mcnasty, macho move and a right-side eddywheel. Andrew's 55-point variety margin bested Tommy's 38-point technical advantge and one-point style edge, resulting in a 16 point victory (3.1% of Andrew's total score).

While Andrew threw an impressive range of moves, including a no-hands loop (above), the most memorable moment of the event belonged to Tommy Yon. In his third and final ride Tommy threw away his paddle and threw down an unbelieviable combination of retentive moves on the difficult feature. His ride culminated in a paddle-free retentive back loop that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Andrew and Tommy's battle wasn't just a one-day affair. Andrew pulled out a nine-point victory in Saturday's qualifier that was just as epic, though Saturday's action lacked some of the drama of Sunday's showdown. While Andrew and Tommy were certainly "in the zone", Mike Patterson (below) also put on an amazing show, though he couldn't quite hang in there with the top two.

While none of the other categories matched the drama of the Men's Pro class, there were some tight finishes: Taylor Cofer eeked out a nine-point victory over Casey Jones in the K1 Jr division, Philip Young managed a five-point victory over Paul Butler in the K1 Open Novice, and Anna Levesque managed a victory in her first freestyle event in four years, besting first round winner Maria Noakes by 13 in the Women's Pro class. The Men's Expert category featured a solid contest won by Sean Corbett against Ryan Baudrand and Philip Young defeated Matt Anger to win a small C1 class.

A full photo album of Sunday's action is posted on NOC's facebook page.

Final Standings

Men's Pro:
1) 510 Andrew Holcombe
2) 494 Tommy Yon
3) 327 Mike Patterson
4) 271 Corey Volt
5) 204 Daniel Dutton
6) 185 Richard "Rio" Oldenquist

Women's Pro:
1) 135 Anna Levesque
2) 122 Maria Noakes
3) 115 Leela Samuels
4) 66 Jasmeen Moubarak
5) 34 Amanda Getler

Men's Expert:
1) 229 Sean Corbett
2) 207 Ryan Baudrand
3) 174 Mark "Snowy" Robertson
4) 160 Shayne Day
5) 159 Dustin Cyr
6) 112 Brett Tornwall

K1 Open Novice:
1) 117 Phillip Young
2) 112 Paul Buter
3) 107 Trenton Wiggins
4) 75 Mike Dorsey
5) 62 Taylor Winfield
6) 53 Tony Anthony
7) 30 Chris Laskey

C1:
1) 112 Philip Young
2) 61 Matt Anger

K1 Jr:
1) 169 Taylor Cofer
2) 162 Casey Jones
3) 136 Quillian Snyder
4) 130 Matt Wright
5) 96 Will Rudisill
6) 68 Mason Farmer
7) 64 Connor McSpadden