Georgia Natives Make a Splash at Pro Wakeboard Tour

May 20 2007 / Acworth, GA

The best wakeboarders in the world took to the waters of Lake Allatoona at Dallas Landing Park today looking to make waves on opening day of The 2007 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. The field of 115 riders today had a Georgia feel to it as several of the event’s athletes hail from the peach state.

Kennesaw’s Brett Lee was one of riders looking for that “home” water advantage and he got it winning his heat to move into the quarterfinals. “Having the tour here in my own backyard so-to-speak is such an advantage, I feel relaxed and I perform better when I am relaxed,” said Lee. “My family and friends also come out and support me, it helps to have a cheering section like that.” Each of the 12 heats in the pro men’s division had six to seven riders competing and only the top two leaders from each heat would advance.

The first day of the competition was filled with highs and lows, surprises and upsets. Others to advance today include: Adam Errington, Bryan Hutton, Kyle Rattray, Nick Jones, Josh Palma, Keith Lyman, Jeff House, Chase Andrews, Hunter Hanson, Anthony Hollick, Randall Harris, Jeff McKee, Keith Lidberg, Zane Schwenk, Aaron Rathy, Dan Nott, Justin Savich, Shawn Watson, Austin Hair, Gabe Lucas, Bradley Smeele, Chris Law, and Brandon Lee.

The biggest name to advance, Aaron Rathy, is a threat to with the entire event. The 2006 Rookie of the Year is looking to step up and start his sophomore year with a win in Acworth.  Rathy and the others now advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals where they will be joined by the pro riders who had a bye from the opening round.

Opening day also marked the qualifying round for the Jr. men’s division. “This event sets the pace for the rest of tour,” said Jr. men’s rider and Kennesaw resident Rhett Whatley, who easily advanced to the quarterfinals.  Others moving on included Kirby Liesmann, Drew Conroy, A.J. Racinelli, Kyle Alberts, James Hindes, Gunnar Shuler, Julian Cohen, Jason Bannatyne, Alex Scagliotti, Danny Burnstein, Ryan King, Ryan Mocerino, Bradey Price, Raphael Derome, Tony Carrol, Ryan Anderson, Steel Lafferty, Jimmy LaRiche, and James Feid.    

Day two of the 2007 MasterCraft Pro Tour will be dominated by the pro women as the competition will host qualifying and semifinal rounds for the female riders. Both Jr. and pro men will enter their respective quarterfinals. Competition begins at 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Acworth is the first on a five-stop 2007 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. Following Acworth, the tour will proceed westward to Forth Worth, Texas (June 1-3), Twin Cities, Minnesota (June 16-17) and Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (July 7-8), and it concludes in Portland, Oregon (July 21-22). The dash to be the world’s top rider features a $10,000 bonus for the season winner. To catch all the wakeboarding action from home, tune in to Fuel TV on Mondays at 9:30pm. For exact airdates go to prowakeboardtour.com.

Men's Professional - Qualifying Round

Top 2 Riders advance to next round!

Heat  01
1 Josh  Palma        USA   94.50
2 Nick  Jones        USA   92.50
3 Steve  Edwards    USA   83.00
4 Devin  Rogers      USA   70.00
5 Trey  Metzger      USA   60.00

Heat  02
1 Brett  Lee           USA   94.00
2 Keith  Lyman      USA   85.00
3 Rob  Jacques       USA   84.50
4 Dylan  Miller       CAN   70.50
5 Danny  Thollander USA  66.00
6 Scott  Mackey      AUS   50.00

Heat  03
1 Adam  Errington  USA   100.00
2 Jeff  House         USA   90.00
3 Brian  Reeder       USA   78.50
4 Alex  Brown        CAN   69.00
5 Adam  Burwell     CAN   62.50
6 Michael  Maynard  USA   50.00

Heat  04
1 Chase  Andrews   USA   92.50
2 Hunter  Hanson   USA   92.00
3 Jimmy  Wolf        USA   81.00
4 Chris  Harvey      USA   70.50
5 Hank  Carter        USA   64.00
6 Nick  Weinacker   USA   50.00

Heat  05
1 Kyle  Rattray      CDN   96.00
2 Anthony  Hollick USA   86.50
3 Dean  Smith         AUS   85.00
4 Troy  Mackey      AUS   69.50
5 Chris  Beckman    USA   60.50
6 Wes  Brisco        USA   52.50

Heat  06
1 Bryan  Hutton     USA   90.50
2 Randall  Harris   USA   89.50
3 Josh  Sanders      AUS   82.00
4 Clay  Fletcher      USA   76.50
5 Rob  Corum         USA   61.50
6 Jimmy  Trask       USA   50.00

Heat  07
1 Keith  Lidberg     USA   94.00
2 Jeff  McKee        USA   88.50
3 A.J  Haynes        USA   77.00
4 Ricky  Gonzales    USA   71.50
5 Matt  Clendenin   USA   69.00
6 John  Rodriguez   USA   50.00

Heat  08
1 Zane  Schwenk    USA   97.50
2 Aaron  Rathy      CDN   92.50
3 Mark  Weikel       USA   80.00
4 Colt  Leonard       USA   70.00
5 Olivier  Derome    CDN   58.50
6 Scot  Ferwerda     USA   51.50

Heat  09
1 Dan  Nott            USA   100.00
2 Justin  Savich     USA   87.50
3 Andrew  Dyrhood USA   77.50
4 Travis  Propst      USA   75.00
5 Adam  Wensink   USA   57.50
6 Jaret  Brantley   USA      52.50

Heat  10
1 Austin  Hair        USA   97.50
2 Shawn  Watson    USA   92.50
3 Hamish  Lowe      USA   71.50
4 Adam  Haller       USA   68.00
5 Braden  Stumborg CDN   59.00
6 Sean  O'Brien        USA   57.00

Heat  11
1 Bradley  Smeele    NZL    97.50
2 Gabe  Lucas            USA    92.50
3 Jesson  Vedel           TAH    80.00
4 Adam  Greer            USA    63.00
5 Mike  Marsh            USA    54.50
6 Nick  Valliere           USA    52.00
7 Lance  Whitt        USA        50.50

Heat  12
1 Chris  Law              USA    100.00
2 Brandon  Lee          USA    87.00
3 Leif  Lacey               USA    77.00
4 Gerry  Nunn            USA    67.00
5 Tim  Keepers           USA    66.00
6 Robby  Carter          USA    50.50
7 Nick  Clausnitzer     USA    42.50

Junior Men (14-18) - Qualifying Round 

Top 2 Riders advance to next round!

Heat  01
1 Kirby  Liesmann USA   43.33
2 Drew  Conroy      USA   42.78
3 Daniel  Dyck        USA   36.11
4 Steven  Cahail      USA   21.67

Heat  02
1 A.J  Racinelli      USA   51.11
2 Kyle  Alberts       USA   45.00
3 Witt  Finley         USA   40.00
4 Gage  Thompson  USA   16.67

Heat  03
1 James  Hindes     USA   53.89
2 Gunnar  Shuler   USA   41.67
3 Eddie  Valdez       USA   31.67
4 Joshua  Chabator USA   23.33

Heat  04
1 Julian  Cohen      USA   48.89
2 Jason  Bannatyne USA   41.11
3 Ben  Allbright      USA   36.67
4 Johnny  Tobaben USA   33.33

Heat  05
1 Alex  Scagliotti    USA   53.33
2 Danny  Burnstein USA   46.67
3 Nathan  Perry      USA   33.33
4 Andrew  Shearer  USA   25.56

Heat  06
1 Ryan  King         USA   60.00
2 Ryan  Mocerino   USA   51.11
3 Pierce  Homsey    USA   39.44
4 Jeff  Baker           USA   18.33

Heat  07
1 Bradey  Price      CAN   58.33
2 Raphael  Derome CAN   46.67
3 Eric  Buonanotte  USA   22.78
4 Luciano  Rondi Neto    BRA 17.22 

Heat  08
1 Tony  Carroll      USA   60.00
2 Rhett  Whatley    USA   58.89
3 Samuel  Cole        USA   45.56
4 Russell  Cox        USA   14.44

Heat  09
1 Ryan  Anderson   USA   67.22
2 Steel  Lafferty     USA   52.78
3 Alex  Graydon      USA   42.22
4 Larry  Taylor       USA   40.00

Heat  10
1 Jimmy  LaRiche  USA   79.44
2 James  Feid         USA   64.44
3 John  Jeffries       USA   55.00
4 Taylor  Renfroe    USA   46.11
5 Terry  Bailey       USA   13.33