Last O.C. surfer remains at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

San Clemente's Kolohe Andino remains the lone O.C. surfer battling against the world's best at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, the first big contest of the year being held in Australia.

Andino, 17, is just getting his feet wet on tour, with this  being his first event of his rookie year going up against the top 34 competitive surfers in the world. Unfortunately, in order to make it to round 3 he had to take out Huntington Beach surfer Brett Simpson. Fellow San Clemente surfer Pat Guduaskas was also knocked out of the running.

"I'm stoked to win my first heat on tour," Andino said in an interview with ASP. "I don't think I was surfing too good though. I was kind of jittery out there with all my nerves and stuff. The end of the waves were kind of tweaking me because they were dumping in shallow water. I didn't see to many people doing airs today, so I just tried to go for one out the back and I'm stoked that I did."

The contest is on day 3, and c0ntinues with Andino going up against Brazilian Adriano de Souza, who moved to Orange County a few years ago. The waves are in the 2-3 foot range and the world-famous Snapper Rocks.

"We still have swell on offer this morning and the tides are in our favor for a 7:30am start," Rich Porta, ASP International Head Judge, said in the press announcement. "We'll be commencing the men's Round 3 first this morning with the women on standby. At present, we look to complete the opening four heats of Round 3 and will monitor conditions to make a call moving forward from there. Looking at the long-range forecast, we're not promised anything solid at the moment so we'll be taking advantage of the conditions we have available today."Watch it all live at quiksilverlive.com/progoldcoast/2012

The event will also be available on broadcast LIVE on FUEL TV Australia.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

UPCOMING QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)Heat 3: Adriano De Souza (BRA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)Heat 4: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Raoni Monterio (BRA)Heat 10: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)Heat 11: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)Heat 12: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)

Follow reporter Laylan Connelly on Twitter @ ocbeaches, or at facebook.com/ocbeaches.

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