WET ‘N’ WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:

The two star ASP Vans Pier Classic presented by Jacks Surfboards finished up over the week end on the southside of the Huntington Beach Pier. The surf picked up in the 2-to-4-foot range by Sunday but was kinda broken up, pretty wind swelly.

Nevertheless the guys were still ripping it up. In the men’s qualifying series, San Clemente’s Mike Losness was seen picking off some of the rights off the pier, busting some vertical backsides to take the win and a fat check worth $5,000.

Malibu’s Dillon Perillo was a standout throughout the contest, scoring some of the highest scores of the event, placing second, while Hawaii’s Hank Gaskell powered his way to third and Florida’s Eric Geiselman rounded out the top four spots. Newport’s Andrew Doheny narrowly missed the final losing in the semis. Last year’s defending champ from Huntington, Shaun Ward, went down in the quarter-finals.

Local Surf City surfers, losing in the round of 32 were Micah Byrne and Tom Rezvan and in the round of 64 Mike Hoisington, Ritchie Collins, and Jason Harris, who also had a few nice heats. In the Ezekiel Pro Junior final, Perillo was on fire, this time taking the win and earning the $2,500 check. Second was Doheny, who scored the high points of the event, a 9.75 in his quarter-final heat, while third was Capistrano’s Luke Davis making his first junior final appearance and fourth was Santa Barbara’s Spencer Regan. H.B.’s Christian Saenz made it to the quarters before bowing out. Next up: the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro, April 28 to May 2.

They started the ISA Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships at Playa De Las FAE in Salinas, Ecuador. The U.S. team has been looking good as they try to go for the gold this year. In the 18 and under age bracket the U.S.’s Nat Young and Fisher Heverly have already taken a couple big heat wins, as have Brazil’s Miguel Pupo, Ian Gouveia, Australia’s Dean Bowen and Tahiti’s Arimoana David.

In the first round of the gals 18 and under, America’s Courtney Conlogue, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Lakey Peterson, and Lani Doherty all won their heats. Other winners include Hawaii’s Malia Manuel, Leila Hurst, Nage Melamed and Australia’s Laura Enever had impressive wins too.

In the 16 and under boys, a solid first round by the U.S. again as Kolohe Andino, Evan Geiselman, Ian Crane and Connor Coffin all won their prospective heats. Hawaii’s Keanu Asing and Kaimana Jaquias also ripped to victory as did Aussie Cooper Chapman and South Africa’s David Brand with the high point total of the round.

More eliminations and hopefully more wins for the U.S. team trying to get as many team members to the finals where the super big points are!

Happy spring break, Fig over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.