Kolohe, Tanner and the Brazilians for Day Four of Nike Lowers Pro

Two of San Clemente's finest take on Brazil's top as the last day for the Nike Lowers Pro and the Oakley Pro Junior approaches on Saturday.

Two of San Clemente and the world's top surfers and six top Brazilian surfers are left standing for the Quarterfinals at the ASP Prime Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro.

Surfers' main focus for Friday: tearing apart the one- to three-foot surf rolling through at Lower Trestles at San Onofre state beach. Though conditions were not as glassy as earlier in the contest, fun, small-sized surf still prevailed for the majority of the afternoon before low tide.

"My first thought of the day is the Brazilians have taken over," said former World Surfing Champion and Founder/Owner of ActivEmpire Peter "PT" Townend. "They've been coming for a while, but this has become the zenith of it happening, and it maybe the greatest showing by any nation not on their home turf in the history of ASP."

Brazilian Willian Cardoso continued his streak of progressive surfing through round 12 against fellow Brazilian Thiago Camarao, who made a turnaround scoring plenty of Lower's rights, scoring a 7.60 and a 9.33 of 10 for his first two rides.

"I just did the same thing I've been doing and just not over-think  the heats," Camarao told ASP. "I went out there for a surf and the water was so cold. I made the mistake of wearing the wrong suit in my last heat, so I had to change it for this one."

One Gudauskas brother is left standing: local ripper and threat to the Brazilian take-over Tanner Gudauskas will move on to the Quarterfinals to face Brazilian Heitor Alves. The youngest Gudauskas brother took strong holds over Floridian C.J. Hobgood, 31, and Gabriel Medina, 17, in the three-man heat in Round 12.

"It's not like it's life or death, but it's a great opportunity to bypass that fifth round and go into the Quarters where there are a lot more points," Gudauskas told ASP. "I took it super seriously because I know Gabriel and C.J. are super gnarly and we're all goofy-foot [leads with the right foot]."

San Clemente local and threat to the race for the championship, Kolohe Andino,17, continues to prevail with nothing less than stellar performances in the Nike 6.0 Pro as well as the Oakley Pro Junior.

"There's so much talent, it's amazing, and there's six out of eight Brazilians left," said Andino told San Clemente Patch. "Tanner and I are on the same side of the draw, so it could be in the semis that he's got a Brazilian, I've got a Brazilian. It should be fun and I'm super excited and I honestly can't believe I made it this far, so I'm super stoked."

Andino's first wave of the second heat in the Oakley Pro Junior showcased huge turns at critical spots in the wave pocket which blasted large arcs of spray from the otherwise mushy surf. Andino went out with a bang, boosting a 360 air resulted in an 8.67 score and set the intense tone for the heat.

"I'm just trying to stay relaxed and have fun at my home break," said Andino. "Just another day out here surfing and I'm having a blast." 

Floridian Evan Geiselman was not too far behind, nipping at Andino's heels showcasing air reverses and ferocious carves.

Saturday is the final day for the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro and Oakley Pro Junior and champions will be crowned.

Read the full article at: https://patch.com/california/sanclemente/kolohe-tanner-and-the-brazilians-for-day-four-of-nike81304d7123