Wrestlers overtake the beach in Newport for Volcomania
Wrestlers overtake the beach in Newport for Volcomania
Surfers get ready to ruuuummbbblle.
It's a wild scene down at Volcomania, where day 2 of the wacky surf contest got underway at 54th Street in Newport Beach in 2-3 foot surf. More than 200 surfers from around the world are fighting for a piece of the $30,000 in prize money.
Wrestlers wearing tight Speedos and socks pulled up past their knees got in the ring to battle it out through the afternoon, cheering on the crazy guys who were doing close lines, jumping off the ropes and body slamming each other.
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS OF THE CRAZY SCENE BELOW:
The Costa Mesa-based lifestyle brand has been putting on the wild events for 12 years for the Volcom VQS World Championships. Each year is a different theme, and is kept top secret until just weeks before the event. Last year was '80s Glam Rock, and the year before was Summer Camp.
The event started on Thursday and runs until Sunday. The crowds came out to get a glimpse of the craziness, cheering on wrestlers and surfer alike.
Kai "Borg" Garcia has the build of a pro wrestler, at 6'2 and 245 pounds, but the big-wave surfer said the outfit is a bit out of his element.
"This is as different as you can get…It's all good. It's all about the kids," he said. "This event is about giving back to the community. It's about breaking up the monotony of a typical contest – keeping it fun, keeping it different, keeping it vibrant."
Despite being a fun and wacky contest, it's a pretty serious contest with surfers coming from coasts from around the globe coming to Newport for the championships. Last year's champ Andrew Doheny, of Newport Beach, was knocked out in the early round, meaning a new champ will reign after the finals Saturday afternoon.
New York surfer Balaram Stack posted a huge score after a big air on Friday, with judges giving him a 9.77 (out of 10). Watch Newport Beach's Chase Wilson and Nick Fowler in the quarterfinals of the pro-am, and standout Huntington surfer Kanoa Igarashi try to defend his grom title. There's plenty of Orange County surfers left as the quarterfinals get set to kick off on Saturday.
"I think it's great, it's super fun … there's actually a couple of peaks popping up," said Volcom surfer Tia Blanco, of San Clemente, who was competing in the girls category. Just as impressive as the surfing was what the wild wrestlers were doing in the ring.
"It looks like they are getting hurt, but they pop up and have a smile on their face," Blanco said.
More Orange County beach news:
See this post in its original form, and read more on the blog.
