Harley Clifford Wins Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour Atlanta GA
ATLANTA (June 6, 2015) — The Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour and Pro Wakesurf Tour at Dallas Landing Park on Lake Allatoona opened up the competition day to clear skies, smooth waters and large crowds that lined the beach and course line with more than 175 boats in the flotilla. World class athletes from more than five countries came to compete for podium spots and the largest purse in tour history. Australia’s Harley Clifford ultimately won the main event, Men’s Professional Wakeboarding, landing a heelside 900, an indy double tantrum, back mobe 540 and toeside 720.
The titanic wakes of the Supra Boats’ SE550 launched riders into the air, making competition extra intense with the best athletes around the globe continuously turning the heat up. The Men’s Professional Wakeboarding division held its quarter and semi-finals early in the afternoon, whittling down the 18 riders, to nine and finally to six for the big moment.
Moving on from heat one in the quarter-finals was Phillip Soven (USA), Rusty Malinoski (CDN) and Parker Siegele (AUS). Heat two rippers were Cory Teunissen (AUS), Mike Dowdy (USA) and Tony Iacconi (AUS). In the final of three heats, Harley Clifford (AUS), Noah Flegel (USA) and Steel Lafferty (USA) moved on.
Throwing down on the course first was Siegele. He had an epic pass, but Malinoski and Soven ended up edging him out for a chance at a top three spot. In heat two of the semi-finals, Noah Flegel and Teunissen moved on, along with Clifford and Dowdy of heat three.
The final heat was fierce and everyone rode their hardest. Each competitor got two runs, and could only fall once, or they were done. Harley Clifford sealed the deal with huge tricks earning him a score of 97.00, to edge out Mike Dowdy, with a 95.00. In third place was Supra Boats team rider, Teunissen, with a score of 90.67.
Clifford said it was one of the toughest wins he’s ever had to pull through. “The way Dowdy and Cory rode was insane and I didn’t know if I had it in me. I went for broke and it was either going to be first or last place.” He added that the day was long, but couldn’t be more stoked for the win.
Pro Skim boarders had one heat of six riders to start the semi-finals off, and ultimately two moved onto the finals. Keenan Flegel moved into the finals standing in first place with 109.40 points, followed by Aaron Witherell with 92.10 points and Austin Keen with 91.50 points in third. Final results would leave it as Keenan Flegel in first with 103.90 points, and Aaron Witherell in second with 73.50.
Keenan Flegel said his first run was pretty rough. “I struggled on the first pass, but my front-side shove it at the end definitely got me into the finals. The second run went well with the first pass being a stand up.” He later added his Madonna, and the half and half, with back to back big spins sealed the deal. A Madonna is where a rider grabs the board and sticks a leg out to the side, while the half and half is two shoves, combined with a floater on top of the wave.
Six Pro Wakesurfers hit the water for the semi-finals in the early morning hours with Keenan Flegel (USA), finishing in first place with 103.00 points, followed by younger brother, Noah Flegel (USA), with 102.10 points and Dallas native, Parker Payne (USA), in third place with 100.10 points.
Only the two Flegels advanced to the finals. In the end Keenan took first place with 112.40 points, followed by Noah in with 105.10 points. Keenan ended his second run with a Madonna, just like his Skim final, taking his second podium win of the day. Keenan finished up the day and said, “It’s really awesome to be here wakesurfing at the pro tour and I’m pumped for both of my wins.”
Lake Allatoona is the second of four stops around the United States for the Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour event series. The final two stops include California and Wisconsin.
The Supra SE550 is the official tow boat for the elite tour because of its clean, consistent and massive wakes. The Supra Boats’ wakes are expected to push pros to new levels while preserving strict handling and a balanced ride for the driver and judges in the boat. The 2015 Supra Boats are powered with the high-torque 6.2L Ford Raptor Engine by Indmar.
Tour sponsors include Supra Boats, KIND Snacks, Indmar, Roswell, Boatmate, JL Audio, Your Mom Magazine, CWB, Ronix, Contour, Epiphone, Zero Off, Acme Propellers, AO Coolers, PTM Edge, Connect A Dock and Yamaha Generators.
Heat 1
1. Keenan Flegel 103.00
2. Noah Flegel 102.10
3. Parker Payne 100.10
4. Chris Wolter 95.50
5. Aaron Witherall 91.70
6. Ashley Kidd 85.70
Heat 1
1. Keenan Flegel 109.40
2. Aaron Witherell 92.10
3. Austin Keen 91.50
4. Parker Payne 79.40
5. Trevor Fearson 69.10
6. Noah Flegel 68.00
Heat 1
1. Phillip Soven 88.33
2. Rusty Malinoski 75.83
3. Parker Siegele 65.00
4. Christian Primrose 58.33
5. Massi Piffaretti 35.83
6. Gunnar Shuler 31.67
1. Cory Teunissen 90.00
2. Mike Dowdy 81.67
3. Tony Iacconi 76.67
4. Tony Carroll 66.67
5. Daniel Powers 60.00
6. Andrew Adkison 48.33
1. Harley Clifford 90.00
2. Noah Flegel 88.17
3. Steel Lafferty 84.33
4. Shota Tezuka 74.00
5. Austin Hair 61.67
6. Josh Twelker 53.33
Heat 1
1. Keenan Flegel 103.90
2. Aaron Witherell 73.50
Heat 1
1. Rusty Malinoski 89.17
2. Phillip Soven 84.00
3. Parker Siegele 66.67
1. Noah Flegel 82.33
2. Cory Teunissen 68.00
3. Steel Lafferty 65.00
1. Harley Clifford 95.00
2. Mike Dowdy 89.33
3. Tony Iacconi 53.33
Heat 1
1. Keenan Flegel 112.40
2. Noah Flegel 105.10
Heat 1
1. Harley Clifford 97.00
2. Mike Dowdy 95.00
3. Cory Teunissen 90.67
4. Rusty Malinoski 86.67
5. Phillip Soven 83.67
6. Noah Flegel 60.67
Supra Boats fuels passion for water sports with high-performance, bold designs and interior refinement achieved through precision-engineered tow boats. The flagship wakeboard boat brand manufactured by Skier’s Choice Inc., Supra Boats are the result of a quest for continual improvement in every aspect of boatbuilding. Thirty-five years of award-winning tow boats prove that fact. Everything from wake performance to ride and handling to interior refinement to production processes to the ownership experience is constantly being improved. Supra builds high-performance wake boats with a level of precision matched only by your extreme passion for water sports. Supra Boats: where passion meets precision.
