Things got interesting at the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro today, as the field of top surfers was reduced from 48 to 8 in the biggest World Qualifying Series (WQS) event to ever hit Mainland U.S. shores. Even while conditions deteriorated amidst the onset of a small storm hitting Southern California, the surfers kept things hot. Several interesting showdowns took place today, with a couple resulting in big upsets.
The biggest upset was local boy Nate Yeomans, a diehard WQS competitor, taking out ASP World Tour star Dane Reynolds in the Round of 16. Yeomans has been tearing up WQS events on the U.S. Mainland for years, but unfortunately none of his victories carried a whole lot of weight in the ratings department, as they were always the 2-Star and 3-Star variety. With Lowers being a 6-Star Prime this year, the highest weight on the WQS scale, this result will play a significant role in Yeomans' 2009 campaign to qualify. Going into this event he was rated 21st on the WQS.

Another upset was Hawaii's Dusty Payne, who took down Chris Ward, another local boy who is also an ASP World Tour veteran.


Another local boy doing well is Tanner Gudauskas, who defeated Australia's Jay Thompson and advanced onto the quarterfinals. The final heat of the round C.J. Hobgood continued his tear, taking out Rob Machado, who up until that point, looked like a major threat to take out the event.

The quarterfinals have now taken shape, with some stellar duels on tap for Saturday.

Quarterfinal 1: Fred Pattacchia (HAW) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Quarterfinal 2: Tim Boal (FRA) vs. Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
Quarterfinal 3: Adriano De Souza (BRA) vs. Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Quarterfinal 4: Nathan Yeomans (USA) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)