Compact Hawaiian powerhouse Keanu Asing, the 16-year old from Ewa Beach, Oahu, continued his impressive West Coast swing by winning the Nike 6.0 Pier Pressure Pro, a Grade-4 Junior event, which wrapped Monday at the Huntington Beach Pier. The Grade-4 event was the largest of the season on the North American circuit, and the extra points Asing secured will play a huge role in securing a spot representing the Hawaiians at the World Junior Championships in January.

Asing skillfully blended his powerful lip jabs with some light-footed weaving across Huntington's famous flat sections to overtake Malibu's Dillon Perillo for the win. Conditions were less than optimal for much of the event with a fierce wind tearing through the small, shoulder-high surf. Yet Asing and his fellow finalist made it look far better than it was.

"I'm really impressed with how well these guys dealt with these conditions," said former ASP tour star Pat O'Connell. "The level of surfing was pretty amazing considering what they had to work with."

For Asing, the win was sweet redemption after he failed to make a final in the NSSA Nationals on Saturday, despite being an obvious contender to everyone in attendance. Upon his arrival to California, Asing finished runner up to Nat Young at the Arnette All Day Antics Pro Junior in Newport Beach, a Grade-3 event. With this victory, he's certainly made the most of his trip the the mainland, putting himself in a great position to represent Hawaii in the World Junior Championships in January. While well known and respected in Hawaii, the soft-spoken Asing was so low on the industry radar that he failed to even show up on Surfer Magazine's Hot 100 list this year. Now he's become one of the most talked about surfers of the young summer season. "I'm really happy with my results this year," he said afterward. "I'm getting on a roll and I just want to keep it going."



Perillo did his best to keep pace with Asing in the Final, electing to sit with him on the righthander that bends off of the pier. But after a strong opening ride Dillon couldn't find the backup wave he needed to close the door on Asing, who was busy tearing apart any remnants he could find, weaving seamlessly across the nefarious Huntington flat spot before bashing the shorepound to victory. Perillo's second place finish was still a very helpful one in his mission to qualify for the World Junior Championships. "This result will help me because I finished above everyone that was
ahead of me on the ratings,' Perillo explained. What's more, he's made the final of every Pro Junior event he's entered this year, which bodes well as he heads into the U.S. Open.

Florida's Evan Thompson kept his own little roll going by finishing in 3rd place. His appearance in the Final came right on the heals of his runner up finish to Kolohe Andino at the NSSA Nationals on Saturday. Thompson looked extremely comfortable in the windy conditions that, he said, reminded him of home. "It's small and mushy and it's really a dogfight for waves out there. But I guess I'm pretty used to it."

Meanwhile Newport Beach's Chase Wilson made the Nike Pier Pressure result a personal best by making his first-ever finals appearance at this level. "I made the semifinals at Newport so this will really help my rating," Wilson said. "Hopefully I'm up there now." Regardless of whether he is or not, Wilson can should take some pride in eliminating some big names on his journey to the Finals, including the Pro Junior tour leader Andrew Doheny, new National Champ Kolohe Andino, and 3rd ranked Pro Junior, Nat Young.