Words: Sydney Pizza
That time of year has come, and we are back at the Exile Oktoberfest for the 21st edition, of the coveted contest, in Newport Beach, California for the grand finale of the 2026 UST season! The start of a historical weekend, with a beautiful day, with some less than stunning conditions, the team made do. About a chest high wave at biggest, but super troughy the barrels were far and few to find, especially as the day went on. The wind increasingly picked up from the north, allowing for a sneaky little liner to push its way through the contest area. In attendance for the team Alex Yokley, in title contention for the second consecutive year, Leo Freitas, Sydney Pizza, Elian Juarez, and Zach Rubin. In the amateur ranks, Brody Chandler-Thompson, Turner Scarborough, and Evan Rubin are also here to shake up some standings. With 37 Pro Men and 10 Pro Women, we were in for a very full beach day.
The day started off with the 9-11 division, to get the crowd warmed up and ready to go for the pros. After that there was a seeding round for the Pro Men and Women to get the unranked competitors into their respective heats. From there straight into the round two of the Pro Men. Making some shocking and unfortunate round one exits, Elian Juarez and Zach Rubin, got out done in challenging conditions. Leo Freitas held it down for Team Zap making his way through the first round and into round two, but first the ladies were up. With stacked heats as it was, our girls Alex Yokley and Sydney Pizza, were seeded into the same heat, making things even more exciting. To no surprise Alex and Syd both ripped in the heat going back and forth between first and second, with the final result putting Alex on top, the girls were into the Quarterfinals, to be skimmed later in the day.
Back to the Pro Men, Leo seemed unstoppable with his speed he made his way into some barrels on the far left side of the contest area and found some liners to three shuvs back up the beach, riding the lightening all the way in the round four later on. From there Brody took the stage in his age division and had a ball finding some sneaky liners and wraps, but most impressively chucked and stopped a five shuv out the back at the end of his heat earning him the highest score and a spot in the semifinals later. Straight into the Semi Pros where we saw Brody again and for the first time this weekend Turner Scarborough, and Evan Rubin. Brody and Evan both leaning on their East Coast abilities as the wind kicked up and the waves got smaller and troughy both taking the second place spot in their respective heats and are into the next round on finals day.
Back to the Pros, the men took the stage first where our lone man, Leo Freitas, had his way making it out of round four and into the quarterfinals set for tomorrow. He used every trick in the book that he has been using this summer on the East Coast and that seemed to be the best strategy to play! Following that same idea both Alex and Syd made it through their respective heats in the third round for the Pro Women. Relying on East Coast knowledge in West Coast conditions, the ladies had it down. Syd with some nice liners to big spins, air re-entries and three shuvs, while Alex dug her back foot in and threw massive buckets on both her frontside and backside to secure the win. Now set for semifinals tomorrow, it will be Syd vs Alex to see who will make it to the final.
Next up we saw the 12-14 division semifinals where Brody dominated the heat, connecting with nice liners, solid wraps and some flatland tech to keep busy, he did it all working it to first and a secured spot in the final tomorrow! Wrapping up the day the 15-17, 18-21, and 40-49 year olds hit the water, and gave the crowd a great show!