Round 2 takes over Woodward West

Let’s get into some event summaries and results…shall we?

The 8 and Under Men class is always an eye-opening experience for me. When these little monsters drop in (Note: Parents, our kids are all monsters…can I get an Amen?) and boost that first trick, I sit back and wonder what’s in the water in Utah…or Arizona, or Ohio, or… my point being, these kids are progressing at a rate quicker than my expanding waistline.

The state of Utah has a crew that seems to push each other. Some of the top riders in our series seem to be from or hover around the nearly perfect rectangular-shaped plot of land. Bridger Weaver and Steele Sirlin (both Utah boys) absolutely crushed the course and were 2.5 points from each other in the final results. Ryder Bowles took a slam in Friday’s practice and was questionable for Saturday’s comp, but he managed to shake it off and come back for the final spot on the podium. If there were a “Kid who has the most fun and sends it” award, Huck Kurinsky would get it every single time. Ellis Kraus joined us for his 2nd ever comp and took home a 5th. The Slam of the day went to Carter Weaver, who had an amazing first run going before mistiming a ramp transfer. Series newcomer Joeder Brom rounded out the comp with some cool lines and waves to the crowd.

8 and Under Men Results:

1. Bridger Weaver

2. Steele Sirlin

3. Ryder Bowles

4. Huck Kurinsky

5. Ellis Kraus

6. Carter Weaver

7. Joeder Brom

Flips, tail whips, flairs, 360’s and crazy transfer lines…in the 9-10 Men’s class. I honestly have no words at this point. I feel like just yesterday when these tricks were what completed an amazing X-Games gold medal-winning run (insert old man emoji…hahaha). Now they are the everyday hits that 10yr old do.

Liam Bowersox bounced back from his 3 rd at Round 1 to take the win here at Woodward West. It had to feel good knowing he had the tricks to take those W’s. Round 1 winner Mateo Fonseca placed 2nd with his flair transfers. Porter Weaver rounded out the podium with some pretty creative runs, and Luca Kraus placed 4th with equally creative runs. This class is kind of unbelievable to watch. So good and entertaining.

9-10 Men Results:

1. Liam Bowersox

2. Mateo Fonseca

3. Porter Weaver

4. Luca Kraus

The 12 and Over Woman’s class is growing, and we are so stoked to see this. Keir, Saraya, Brenna, and Charlie Berry have attended both rounds 1 and 2 in 2022, and that’s awesome to see. Charlie Finn graced us with her presence at Woodward West, and she picked up where she left off in 2021 with a solid podium spot. First place was nabbed by big smiles and big tricks…produced by Keir Sirlin. That’s two events and two wins. Not a bad average. Above mentioned Charlie Finn brought her creative style and produced a Park/Street hybrid style that earned her a 2nd. The ever-consistent Saraya Chanadet placed 3rd (Note: this human is learning LOTS of new tricks and is now defining her style…very interesting to watch her progress from event to event). The racer turned Freestyle (I think she still races, though) shredder Brenna Woodward (last name quite fitting for the event location, don’t you think?) placed 4th and has fit in very well with her new friends in the Freestyle world. USABMX friend and awesome human Charlie Berry rounded out the woman’s class with a 5th. We love that these ladies are pushing each other in a positive way. So great to see. It needs to be said that the Industry is taking note in how well these ladies are riding with Haro Bikes, now sponsoring Keir, and Free Agent Bikes, now sponsoring Saraya. Pretty darn cool.

12 and Over Woman’s Results:

1. Keir Sirlin

2. Charlie Finn

3. Saraya Chanadet

4. Brenna Woodward

5. Charlie Berry

The 11-14 Men’s class was probably the head-scratcher of the weekend. My original intro was going to be something like “News Flash: Connor or Caiden didn’t win…but the new kid Samuel McKenzie is really good!”. Then I remembered how dialed Elijah’s runs were or how LJ Parra dropped the 26” bike and returned to his 20” for this comp and rode really well….Then I had an “oh yeah” moment where I remembered how well Mac Likens rode. The memory kept coming, and while there was an upset in the traditional sense, so much cool was wrapped into this class.

It’s true…Connor and Caiden both crashed in their runs, which prevented them from winning. A massive bummer for them, but it also showed how consistency sometimes pays. Question 1: Who is Samuel McKenzie, and where did he come from? The Hyper Bikes mounted rider was a series unknown who really turned heads in practice. That wow factor worked in the comp, and he won. Welcome to USABMX Freestyle, Samuel! Elijah Cosby has such a rad style. Like Charlie Finn mentioned above, he’s got part Park and part Street style, and it equates to a very creative and unique run that generally scores well. 2nd place on the day for Elijah. Connor Stitt completed most of his run to score high enough for 3rd. He took some hard slams, so a 3 rd is probably welcomed. LJ Parra, Mac Likens, and Canadian shredder Aiden Kye Nault (AK Nault) were all very close in final scores. Aiden has a few more tricks up his sleeve, and it appears he’s going to attend Round 3 in Texas…so we’re interested in seeing the heat he brings there. Places 7, 8, 9 went to the Reeves brothers (David and Christian) and Caiden Cernius. We loved seeing both David and Christian out there for their first-ever Freestyle comp, and we hope to see more of them. Caiden Cernius, while having a bunch of fun off the course, will be back at another round on the series to take redemption.

11-14 Men’s Results:

1. Samuel McKenzie

2. Elijah Cosby

3. Connor Stitt

4. LJ Parra

5. Mac Likens

6. Aiden Kye Nault

7. David Reeves JR

8. Christian Reeves

9. Caiden Cernius

The return of Aryei and the “Final” for Damian. This class keeps growing…which is amazing. With growth comes talent…with talent comes new winners each round. We love it. We welcome it.

Damian Anhder has arrived. The once 5th-ish place rider is now a title contender. You can’t fake hard work. Congrats on your win, dude. In 2021, Aryei Levenson had two wins in two tries and was well on his way to repeating his Amateur National Championship title….then it happened. A bad break to his leg derailed those plans, and the goal was switched to something as simple as riding again. It was great to have Aryei back, and the fact that he was on the podium with a solid 2 nd means the comeback plans are in motion. Aiden Otten is a successful BMX racer. He also rides moto and BMX Freestyle really well. While Aiden rarely competes, when he does, he makes a splash. His unique line choices and tricks, like a whip to drop off the 6ft box, make him a judge favorite. Maybe with this 3 rd place finished at Woodward West, he’ll come to a few more events. We can at least hope….

Fate Snyder is awesome. As are his parents. During the off-season, Fate must have put himself into boot camp because he came back to the series looking different and riding differently. A string of 10th-15th places last year has been replaced with a 4th at Woodward West. Good for you, man. Much like Damian above…you can’t fake hard work.

Bence Erdos (I decided this is in the top 3 for coolest names ever), Gage Reeves, Kevin White, and Johnathon Simmons were all soooooo close to each other for 5th - 8th. Just a few points separated them. Great runs by all, and this is proof that this class is so stacked that amazing riders like this group are battling for 5th-8th.

AZ’s Justin Holt, Long Beach shredder Jake Eagleson, the local boy Connor Smith and series newbie Whale Resetar (another really cool name with a Viking hint to it) were in that 9th - 12th place group. All have the talent to place higher, but small errors had the judges making difficult decisions to place them here. Any one of these guys is top 5 riders.

The final group of riders, 13th -16th, were Easton Usher, Brice Pitt, Derek Ludolph, and Everette Torrance…all of which took slams or just didn’t complete the run they had hoped. Again….I know I sound like a broken record, but this 15-30 Men’s class is stacked, and it almost scored on who didn’t make mistakes versus who pulled better runs or tricks. They’re all that close.

15-30 Men’s Results:

1. Damian Anhder

2. Aryei Levenson

3. Aiden Otten

4. Fate Snyder

5. Bence Erdos

6. Gage Reeves

7. Kevin White

8. Jonathon Simmons

9. Justin Holt

10. Jake Eagleson

11. Connor Smith

12. Whale Resestar

13. Easton Usher

14. Brice Pitt

15. Derek Ludolph

16. Everette Torrance

By way of competition run order, the new class of 31-39 Men would come next. As previously mentioned in the last issue story, this class was the most requested class in 2022, but most of the riders we now learned are on the East Coast. So for these West Coast rounds, we combine the 31-39 Men’s class with the Masters class but score them separately. Let’s dig deeper…

31-39 had 4 riders, with Rick White being the only repeat rider of 2022. New to the class were Chris Furmage, Leonardo Tedesco, and James Brom. All 4 riders had their own style, which made the judging a tough one. Rick covered more courses with his racer speed, but Chris managed to pop more tricks with a slow and steady approach. Leonardo and James were in the middle with their own vision of what a solid run looks like. The Master’s class had Daddy Dean Weaver and series newcomer Mike Krnaich (I learned to say it like “Mike n’ Ike”… Mike KRN-ike”). Chris and Mike were the winners of their classes, with Leonardo Tedesco taking home the Mongoose Vintage bike for “Best Vibe and Fun” of the weekend from a rider.

31-39 Men’s Results:

1. Chris Furmage

2. Leonardo Tedesco

3. James Brom

4. Rick White

Masters Results:

1. Mike Krnaich

2. Dean Weaver

The Expert class is that stepping stone to Pro…or what the UCI calls “Elite.” The Elite class is what you see at the modern-day World Championships and the Olympics. Your current Gold Medalist is an Elite class rider. Hope that puts this Expert class into perspective for you. They are just a step below Elite…arguably the best riders in the world.

Every single rider in this Expert is amazing. The tricks are on another level, and the intensity is one you could cut with a knife. The top 5 ranked Expert riders are in this class to polish their proficiency, so the transition to Elite isn’t such a big step. 1st and 2nd places were separated by less than a half-point. 3rd was just under a point from 2 nd place. The expert class winner at Woodward West was a familiar face as he was a series newcomer at Round 1 and also the winner there. Jared Weidower is on his way to Elite. Whether he chooses to go that route or stay an Expert to win a National title is only his to decide. But either way, it won’t be easy if he chooses to stay Expert and go for a USABMX Freestyle National title. He has newly signed Free Agent bikes rider (and 2 nd place finisher) Nathan Glade biting at his heels and 2021 15+ age National Champion (now an Expert class rider) Colin Akerman wanting to make his mark as well. This class is no joke. It’s where the off-the-bike training starts and where the runs with no mistakes are needed.

If there’s one rider, who has ALL the qualities of a guy who can win at any given time, it's Sean Curliss. BUT…as it was said above, it takes a run with zero mistakes to win. Sean made a few small mistakes and placed 4th. He’s ready, folks. It just needs a tiny bit of fine-tuning. Trevor Fitz, Bruno Bros, and Kole all rode amazingly. For Trevor (or anyone at this point), a top 5 in Expert is almost like a win. It’s so tough to get in that perfect run when you’re dealing with the speed and trick complexity these guys are doing. Chase, Tyler, and Kole all have very different styles, but when they’re on course all eyes are on them. They put on one heck of a show. Arlo Hadley, Teagan Harris, Reuben Barlow, Shane Ohara, and Matt Mecher’s results are no indication of how good of riders they actually are. A simple crash or foot down can be the difference between 3rd and 13th, and these guys fell victim to a few mistakes each.

Expert Results:

1. Jared Weidower

2. Nathan Glade

3. Colin Akerman

4. Sean Curliss

5. Trevor Fitz

6. Chase Bruno

7. Kole Voelker

8. Tyler Bruno

9. Arlo Hadley

10. Teagan Harris

11. Reuben Barlow

12. Shane Ohara

13. Matt Mecher

Thanks again to our series sponsors for believing in us to the level they do. Whether it be Hyper Bikes and their parts brand Snafu, Dans Comp, Mongoose Bikes, Vans BMX, or Free Agent Bikes, all these guys are not only sponsoring our series but also hand-picking riders in our series to sponsor.

Of course, special thanks to Fit Bike Co, Odi Grips, and Kink BMX for their support of the series (and riders). Without their level of support, we wouldn’t be as cool as we are.