Soven Takes Fort Worth; Butler Three-Peats

Fort Worth, Texas – Fans packed the shores of Lake Moser at Texas MasterCraft today to catch the final rounds of action at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in Fort Worth. Riders spent the day battling it out behind the MasterCraft X-Star for wins in the Jr. Pro Men, Pro Men and Pro Women’s divisions.

The Pro Men kicked off the final day of action with their quarterfinal round, where 20 riders hit the water in five heats of four. The quarterfinals cut the competition in half, only advancing the top two riders from each heat onto the semifinals.

The semifinals quickly narrowed down the field of riders to setup the six-man final, but not without a massive upset in the process. Aussie phenom and top-seeded rider, Harley Clifford failed to advance past the semifinals, placing fourth in his five-man heat.

The finals pinned Austin Hair, Bryan Hutton, Rusty Malinoski, Phillip Soven, Danny Harf and Olivier Derome against each other in the final round of action. All eyes were on the new top seed, Rusty Malinoski to see if he duplicate his 2007 Fort Worth winning-run, but fell short to two-time Pro Tour titlist Phillip Soven.

Soven’s Backside 720 off the double up helped push the Florida native to the top of the contest podium, with Malinoski and four-time X Games gold medalist Danny Harf rounding out the top three, respectively.

“I rode really well, stuck my Back 7 and came out on top,” said Soven. “I didn’t expect to win; really thought Rusty [Malinoski] had it, but I ended up taking Fort Worth.”

With the second stop of the 2010 season in the books, Soven and Malinoski are now tied at 180 points in the Pro Tour standings, with Soven taking the tie-breaker due to his win today. Harley Clifford now sits in third place with 160 points.

Soven’s younger brother, Bob, lost to Phillip in their shared quarterfinal heat today, but beat him out in the Rockstar Energy Drink Big-Air Challenge. Bob Soven’s massive Indy Backside 180 off the kicker earned him $1,000 for the winning trick. Texan Tom Fooshee and Phillip Soven rounded out the top three in the Challenge, respectively.

As top-seeded rider Dallas Friday sat out of the Pro Women’s finals today, due to injury, all eyes were on the water to see which female standout would emerge victorious in the five-woman final.

Both former Rookie of the Year Raimi Merritt and former Australian Pro Tour champ Hayley Smith appeared to have the edge in the contest, but 2008 Queen of Wake Nicola Butler proved to be unstoppable in Fort Worth, taking her third straight win in the Lone Star State. Merritt and Smith rounded out the contest podium, respectively.

In the Jr. Pro Men’s division, riders hit the water in two heats of five for their semifinal round. Only the top two riders from each heat advanced, sending Steel Lafferty, Kyle Evans, Nick Galotifore and Daniel Powers to the four-man final.

All four rippers threw down some series runs, but current Tour leader Nick Galotifore continued to impress the judges to win his second consecutive Pro Tour stop of the season. Lafferty and Evans rounded out the Jr. Pro Men’s podium, respectively.

Following Fort Worth, the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour will head to Elizabethtown, KY, on June 18 & 19, for the third stop of 2010 season. Additional venues for the Pro Tour include Colorado Springs, CO; Knoxville, TN and Acworth, GA.

To catch all the high-flying, rail-sliding, water-sports action of the Fort Worth Pro Tour stop on television, tune in to FUEL TV on Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. EST.

The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Fla., and has the support of the following sponsors: MasterCraft, Rockstar Energy Drink, Overton’s, Indmar, Peavey, Mona Vie, Billabong, Hyperlite, CWB, Ronix, Liquid Force, Byerly, Oakley, Sayiwon’t, Epiphone, WakeBoarding magazine, Fuel TV and Allisports.com.

About MasterCraft
MasterCraft is the exclusive tow boat for the Pro Wakeboard Tour, as it has been since the tour’s wakeboarding events began in 1992. Indmar Marine engines will provide the power for MasterCraft’s X Series line of competition tow boats.

About ROCKSTAR
ROCKSTAR is the world’s most powerful energy drink. Enhanced with the potent herbal blend of Guarana, Ginkgo, Ginseng and Milk Thistle, ROCKSTAR is formulated to provide an incredible energy boost for those who lead active and exhausting lifestyles – from athletes to rock stars. ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK is available in thirteen amazing flavors: Original, Sugar Free, Zero Carb, Juiced Mango Orange Passion Fruit, Juiced Guava, Juiced Pomegranate, Tropical Punched, Punched Citrus, Roasted Mocha, Roasted Latte, Roasted Light Vanilla, Cola, and Recovery. ROCKSTAR ENERGY SHOTS are available in Wild Berry and Tropical Punch flavors. ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK is available at convenience and grocery retail outlets across the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and throughout the United Kingdom.

About FUEL TV
FUEL TV is the action sports lifestyle network for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, motocross, and wakeboarding. Through its original and commissioned series and specials, short-form content, films, and prestigious event coverage, the channel features action sports athletes, emerging musicians, celebrities, and breaking news. FUEL TV was launched July 1, 2003 and is seen in more than 30 million U.S. homes. FUEL TV has networks in Australia (FUEL TV Australia) and Portugal (FUEL TV Portugal) and its content is viewed in more than 50 countries around the world.

About King of Wake
The King of Wake is the world’s elite pro wakeboarding series, attracting the sport’s top athletes from throughout the globe. Over the course of a season, athletes compete for the ultimate wakeboarding crown in a series points race of eight events throughout the United States to see who rules the wake. The 2010 series consists of the Wake Games, the WWA Wakeboard National Championships, the WWA Wakeboard World Championships and all five stops on the Pro Wakeboard Tour. The King of Wake is organized by World Sports & Marketing – the leading wake-events producer since 1988.

Saturday, June 12 – Final Results:

Pro Men
Finals: Heat #1
1. Phillip Soven              81.67
2. Rusty Malinoski        73.33
3. Danny Harf                 67.50
4. Olivier Derome           63.33
5. Bryan Hutton             58.33
6. Austin Hair                 43.33

Pro Women
Finals: Heat #1
1. Nicola Butler             83.33
2. Raimi Merritt               61.67
3. Hayley Smith              60.00
4. Anna Hajek                 36.67
5. Amber Wing               10.00
6. Dallas Friday              DNC

Jr. Pro Men
Finals: Heat #1
1. Nick Galotifore         89.75
2. Steel Lafferty              88.75
3. Kyle Evans                 85.50
4. Daniel Powers            76.00

Pro Men
Semifinals: Heat #1
1. Danny Harf                 85.00
2. Bryan Hutton             75.00
3. Phillip Soven              68.33
4. Harley Clifford            61.67
5. Jimmy LaRiche           46.67

Pro Men
Semifinals: Heat #2
1. Rusty Malinoski       73.33
2. Olivier Derome         60.00
3. Austin Hair                50.00
4. Shawn Watson          48.33
5. Josh Palma                  45.00

Jr. Pro Men
Semifinals: Heat #1
1. Steel Lafferty            100.00
2. Daniel Powers           84.75
3. Jarrod Askew             82.50
4. Ryleigh Pfitzner          70.50
5. Pierce Homsey           62.25

Jr. Pro Men
Semifinals: Heat #2
1. Nick Galotifore         94.00
2. Kyle Evans                  88.50
3. Josh Twelker              77.50
4. Freddie Wayne          76.00
5. John Jeffries               64.00

Pro Men
Quarterfinals: Heat #1
1. Josh Palma                 63.33
2. Shawn Watson           58.33
3. Eric Ruck                     48.33
4. Chad Sharpe               45.00

Pro Men
Quarterfinals: Heat #2
1. Jimmy LaRiche         76.67
2. Olivier Derome         70.00
3. Andrew Adkison       63.33
4. Danny Thollander     53.33

Pro Men
Quarterfinals: Heat #3
1. Phillip Soven              73.33
2. Danny Harf                 66.67
3. Bob Soven                  60.00
4. Kyle Rattray               48.33

Pro Men
Quarterfinals: Heat #4
1. Rusty Malinoski       68.33
2. Bryan Hutton             60.00
3. Shaun Murray            51.67
4. Nick Jones                  41.67

Pro Men
Quarterfinals: Heat #5
1. Austin Hair                78.33
2. Harley Clifford          71.67
3. Trevor Hansen           56.67
4. Jeff Mckee                  55.00