David Loy Wins Free Flow Finals in Portland

Aug 18 2006 / Portland Today was a day that many young men have been waiting for. Today was the culmination of all of their hard work and patience. Today was the finals of the Free Flow Tour.

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The group was made up of the winners from each of the Free Flow Tour stops, country-wide. First the group was split up into four different heats with four riders in each heat, then the top two riders from each group advanced to the semi-finals where there were two more heats of four, and then to the finals - one heat of four.

Eleven year old Taylor Smith from Encinitas, CA more or less dominated the beginning of the Final heat. Back lips down all the rails, big & small, kickflip back lips on the flat bar, and more kickflips on the big bank. The only skater that seemed to be showing him any real competition was 14 year-old David Loy from Orange, CA. Smith headed over to another section of the course to try and lock down a kickflip back lip on the down bar, which would end up eluding him for the rest of the competition and give Loy a chance to catch up. Loy started destroying with 5-0s down the big rail, other rail & flip trick variations, and a frontside transfer from quarterpipe to quarterpipe over the box which no one else had yet tried in competition. Smith recognized this and stepped to it, stomping a perfect backside transfer over the gap, first try. 16 year-old Dustin Blauvelt and 18 year-old Nick Merlino turned out to be silent killers, stomping smaller technical tricks & lines throughout the final and focusing on specific parts of the course.

In the end Smith ended up in fourth place, Blauvelt in third, Merlino in second, and it was David Loy who settled in the top spot. David Loy will now be sent, from the Free Flow Tour, to Orlando to skate in the Dew Tour Finals. This is the chance of a lifetime, and Loy knows it, exclaiming only "Yeah!  I'm so psyched."

Check the gallery for all of the Free Flow Tour finals action.