Malibu Houston Pro – Meagan Ethell and Mike Dowdy dominate

by World Wakeboard Association on 5 Oct 2015 Fans began lining the shoreline early to capture the highly anticipated action of the Malibu Houston Pro at Bel Ray Action Sports Park. First on the water were the Traditional Pro Men semi-finals at the Hanger 9 Cable Park, where two riders would compete head to head and only the top rider would move on to the finals. In the traditional pro men division Tom Fooshee, Chandler Powell, Bryce Bingham, and Brady Patry all came out of the semi’s victorious leading into the finals. When it came down to the finals, it was once again Powell putting in two flawless runs to just edge out the King, Tom Fooshee to finish on top in the both traditional and features pro men.

“I’m stoked to have not just won the traditional but the features as well,” said Powell. “I was having a blast out there riding and I believe that really showed in my riding.”

The pro women didn’t disappoint, as Meagan Ethell, Jamie Lopina and Taylor McCullough battled it out all day on the water. It wasn’t easy for the judges with the top three all having spectacular runs, although, it was Ethell taking both the traditional and features pro women division titles.

“The last two days have been crazy busy but I rode the best I’ve ever ridden today winning both cable divisions and boat,” said Ethell. “I trained so hard all year to accomplish this and to have had such a perfect run today made it so much fun.”

Finally it was time for the grand finale, the moment we’ve all been anticipating, the pro men and women Wakeboard World Series finals. On the water first behind the industry leading Malibu 25 LSV were the pro women. One of the closest battles of the season between the most decorated women’s riders Dallas Friday and the two young up comers Meagan Ethell and Raimi Merritt came to a close. The judges were challenged as Ethell and Friday both put in phenomenal runs, but in the end it was Ethell taking three Pro Women’s Malibu Houston Pro wins with two on the cable, one behind the boat and the first ever pro women’s World Wakeboard World Series champion. Friday finished second and Malibu rider Tarah Mikacich in third.

“Riding behind the 25 LSV felt like home to me and to have a perfect run behind it has never felt better,” said Mikacich. “I came here to do my best and I left it all out there on the water and to be on the podium is awesome!”

Up next were the pro men and after coming off a strong semi-final win, Mike Dowdy was the favorite to win with points leader Harley Clifford not qualifying out of the semi-finals due to an injury suffered earlier in the week. With the youngest six man final all season, the battle began early between all the young guns for the top spot, but after landing a huge indy double back roll, it was Mike Dowdy taking his first pro men finals win since turning pro in 2013. Fans were ecstatic on the shore line, cheering on the riders as they performed their breath taking tricks.

“My day began pretty relaxed and I tried to maintain that frame of mind and ride the way I ride at home,” said Dowdy. “I had a strong heat leading into the finals which really gave me confidence and knew I had what it took to get my first win if I stayed relaxed. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to top the season off.”

The Malibu Houston Pro turned out to be the most action packed event of the season with perfect weather and water conditions. 'It's wonderful to be able to wrap up a successful inaugural season of the Malibu Evolution Series here with such great riding behind the impressive Wakesetter 25 LSV at the Houston Pro,' said Jack Springer, president of Malibu Boats.' 'Everyone from the cable riders, wakeboarders and wakesurfers really went all out to cap their season off with a bang.'

Another congratulations to all of our winners and runners up with Noah Flegel and Jodi Grassman kicking off the weekend in style with their incredible wakesurfing skills. Meagan Ethell sweeping all three pro women’s cable and boat divisions, Mike Dowdy for grabbing his first win since turning pro in 2013 and Parker Siegele for qualifying for his very first pro final. We’d also like to thank all of our supportive sponsors, Malibu Boats, Rockstar Energy, Billabong, Ronix Wakeboards and CWB Wakeboards who have allowed events like these to happen.

Results

Cable
Traditional Pro Men - Semi Finals
Head-to-head only one advances to finals

Traditional Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 01
1.Fooshee, Tom 100.00
Dorrestijn, Jack 90.00
Traditional Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 02
1.Powell, Chandler 98.00
Caldas, Pedro 92.00
Traditional Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 03
1.Bingham, Bryce 100.00
Voges, Kaden 90.00
Traditional Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 04
1.Patry, Brady 98.00
Heubner, Kelbey 92.00

Features Pro Women - Semi Finals
Top two riders advance to finals

Features Pro Women - Semi Finals Heat # 01
1.Ethell, Meagan USA 95.50
2.McCullough, Taylor USA 94.50
Hanig, Ash 67.20
Features Pro Women - Semi Finals Heat # 02
1.Hatten, Deanna 90.60
2.Lopina, Jamie 90.30
Nikstad, Anna 89.10

Features Pro Men - Semi Finals
Top rider advances to finals

Features Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 01
1.Dreiling, John 91.70
Elwood, Thomas 90.30
Worrall, Chad 88.00
Features Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 02
1.Powell, Chandler 95.50
Derome, Oli 87.70
Smith, Ian 86.80
Features Pro Men - Semi Finals Heat # 03
1.Fooshee, Tom 95.20
Neville, Jamie 88.00
Burress, Graeme 86.80

Finals
Traditional Pro Women Finals
1.Ethell, Meagan 94.50
2.Lopina, Jamie 91.50
3.Nikstad, Anna 78.00
McCullough, Taylor 76.00
Traditional Pro Men Finals
1.Powell, Chandler 95.50
Fooshee, Tom 94.50
Features Pro Women Finals
1.Ethell, Meagan 87.40
2.McCullough, Taylor 85.70
3.Lopina, Jamie 83.50
Hatten, Deanna 83.40
Features Pro Men Finals
1.Powell, Chandler 94.40
Fooshee, Tom 93.60
Dreiling, John 82.00

Boat

Pro Men Semi Final
Top rider advances to finals

Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 01
1.Lafferty, Steel 80.00
Twelker, Josh 72.67
Hair, Austin 67.00
Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 02
1.Teunissen, Cory 91.33
Flegel, Noah 85.67
Peirce, Stephen 66.33
Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 03
1.Dowdy, Mike 89.33
Smith, Dean 88.67
Derome, Oli 42.67
Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 04
Siegele, Parker 83.00
Carroll, Tony 80.33
Webb, JD 76.67
Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 05
1.Pifferitti, Massi 91.00
Malinoski, Rusty 85.00
Soven, Phil 77.33
Pro Men Semi Finals – Heat # 06
1.Daniel, Powers 79.67
Iacconi, Tony 91.67
Clifford, Harley 68.67

Finals
Pro Women Finals
1.Ethell, Meagan* 93.00
2.Friday, Dallas 87.33
3.Mikovich, Tarah 80.67
Merritt, Raimi 76.33
Leugner, Ashley 68.00
Morales, Larissa 50.33
*Wakeboard World Series Champ.
Pro Men Finals
1.Dowdy, Mike 91.33
2.Teunissen, Cory 88.33
3.Laferty, Steel 86.33
Iacconi, Tony 84.33
Siegele, Parker 80.67
Pifferetti, Massi 65.33