Griffin Colapinto & Filipe Toledo’s Lowers Superheat: Did the Judges Get it Right?

There were a lot of storylines that could have been the lede for this recap. It could have been the heavyweight bout between the two biggest dudes on the Championship Tour, local hammer Cole Houshmand and world No. 1 Jordy Smith. In the end, Cole’s power gouges on the right plus airs on the left got the nod from the judges. 

Another angle could have been Joel Vaughan versus Italo Ferreira in the day’s first Round of 16 heat. The 21-year-old Australian rookie had the best heat of his CT career, outmaneuvering and outpunting the frenetic Italo. Trailing and needing a big score, Joel forced Italo to use his priority, then stuck a massive straight air to get the W in the waning seconds. 

That had to be it, surely. The rookie takes down the champ. Lede set. Pencils down. Then Griffin Colapinto and Filipe Toledo paddled out. It was a finals-worthy matchup that happened three rounds early. Blow for blow, air for air, both men caught fire in glassy, head-high Lowers. Filipe went acrobatic under priority, and Griffin hammered a set wave on the right and left. This was the kind of advanced surfing that showed why Lowers has a place on the tour. But it all came down to the last exchange. 

Both surfers caught waves in the last 30 seconds. At that point, Filipe was barely in the lead, 15.50 to Griffin’s 15.47. Like Joel, Griffin forced Filipe to use his priority on the first wave of the set. And Filipe hammered it, getting in a wrap and a silky tail-high full rotation that landed in front of the whitewater. Griffin was on the next one and connected on three superb snaps, sliding the fins out on the last one. Filipe himself applauded, acknowledging their top-notch duel. 

Filipe’s score came first, an 8.30, upping Griffin’s requirement to an 8.4. Griffin waited on the sand as the score arrived: 8.93. Bedlam on the beach as the groms swarmed San Clemente’s own. Griffin’s 100th CT heat win was a special one.

My first instinct on Griffin’s last ride was that it was a touch overscored. Three solid turns with a sliding finish for a high 8, when compared to Fil’s big ol’ ramp, felt like an odd zag. Upon further review, I can see valid arguments for both sides. Historically, airs are the point of difference at Lowers. But perhaps the judges felt Griffin surfed with enough speed, power and flow throughout the heat to advance. Filipe brought technicality and speed, whereas Griffin brought calculated, pinpoint aggression. Either way, the decision will likely be felt in the WSL’s comment section. Isn’t pro surfing fun?

“I would say it’s a good omen, 100th heat win against Filipe, I’ll take that all day,” Griffin said. “I don’t know, I kind of had some PTSD from last year in the Finals. Standing on the beach and it didn’t go my way. So for some reason, I felt like because of that, I wasn’t going to get it. It was hard to tell because I didn’t watch Filipe’s wave and wasn’t sure what my score was going to be. It felt surreal to get the score. All the effort, all the hard work leading to that moment is beautiful with all my friends and family.”

It was a busy day at Lowers. The men had 11 heats (three ER, eight Round of 16), and the women ran all four Elimination Round heats and two Quarterfinals.  On the women’s front, SURFER cover girl Erin Brooks went mad in her ER heat. She went vertical and comboed world champ Tyler Wright with several nasty hooks on the left.

But Erin’s run was ended by Caity Simmers in the quarterfinals. Caity’s wave selection was on point in her two heats, as were her on-rail hooks. Caity’s first career win over Erin Brooks (2-1 record in Erin’s favor). In the second women’s quarterfinal, the last heat of the day, Molly Picklum made the most of slow conditions and snapped her DHD in the pocket, waving goodbye to tour vet Lakey Peterson. Molly and Caity will face each other in the semis (which will probably run on Saturday). 

More men’s Round of 16 highlights: Jack Robinson got the highest heat total of the round (17.07) by beating childhood friend and former Quiksilver teammate Leonardo Fioravanti. Blowtails, air reverses fin ditches, Jack had ‘em on lock. 

Ethan Ewing continued to look precise and powerful. He blasted a right to smithereens for an 8 to get past Jake Marshall. Yago Dora looked smooth and polished on the left and packed it up with a backside straighty on the right to dispatch Joao Chianca. And Barron Mamiya officially withdrew from the knee injury he sustained in his heat with Kelly Slater yesterday, so Connor O’Leary advanced to the quarterfinals by default. 

Due to a long lull, Crosby Colapinto only caught two waves against Kanoa Igarashi. His second, which came at the end of the heat, was a doozy, a long wall where he laid down half a dozen massive cutbacks. The score was impressive too, a 9.33, the best score of the day and event so far. But his total still came up short against Kanoa, who upped his total by slicing apart the right after Crosby After leaving Sharp Eye, Kanoa has looked in career form on the JS Traktors and is now ranked fourth in the world with room to move. 

With more swell on the horizon, the event is on hold with the next call on Saturday, June 14. A weekend finals day, pulsing south, good matchups. Stay tuned.

Lexus Trestles Pro Men’s Remaining Elimination Round Results (Heats 6-8):

HEAT 6: Connor O’Leary (JPN) 13.90 DEF. Alan Cleland (MEX) 8.77

HEAT 7: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 12.57 DEF. Seth Moniz (HAW) 12.50

HEAT 8: Crosby Colapinto (USA) 12.90 DEF. Marco Mignot (FRA) 11.77

Lexus Trestles Pro Men’s Round of 16 Results:

HEAT 1: Joel Vaughan (AUS) 16.87 DEF. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 16.20

HEAT 2: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 16.83 DEF. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 16.30

HEAT 3: Yago Dora (BRA) 11.66 DEF. João Chianca (BRA) 9.33

HEAT 4: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.67 DEF. Jake Marshall (USA) 12.70

HEAT 5: Cole Houshmand (USA) 16.43 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 14.23

HEAT 6: Jack Robinson (AUS) 17.07 DEF. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 14.00

HEAT 7: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.93 DEF. Crosby Colapinto (USA) 15.00

HEAT 8: Connor O’Leary (JPN) DEF. Barron Mamiya (HAW)

Lexus Trestles Pro Upcoming Men’s Quarterfinal Matchups:

HEAT 1: Joel Vaughan (AUS) vs. Griffin Colapinto (USA)

HEAT 2: Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Ethan Ewing (AUS)

HEAT 3: Cole Houshmand (USA) vs. Jack Robinson (AUS)

HEAT 4: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) vs. Connor O’Leary (JPN)

Lexus Trestles Pro Women’s Elimination Round Results:

HEAT 1: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 14.87 DEF. Kirra Pinkerton (USA) 13.96

HEAT 2: Erin Brooks (CAN) 16.33 DEF. Tyler Wright (AUS) 6.84

HEAT 3: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 14.17 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 13.20

HEAT 4: Caroline Marks (USA) 15.20 DEF. Luana Silva (BRA) 13.44

Lexus Trestles Pro Women’s Quarterfinal Results (Heats 1-2):

HEAT 1: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 12.10 DEF. Erin Brooks (CAN) 11.66

HEAT 2: Molly Picklum (AUS) 12.50 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 11.47

Lexus Trestles Pro Remaining Women’s Quarterfinal Matchups (Heats 3-4):

HEAT 3: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) vs. Sawyer Lindblad (USA)

Heat 4: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)