Nat Young edges Adam Melling by .16 points at Surfest Newcastle Australia

Santa Cruz pro surfer Nat Young edged Adam Melling, who is currently tied for 13th in the world rankings by the Association of Surfing Professionals, to win their heat in the Round of 48 in the Burton Toyota Pro.

Young scored a 14.73-point, two-wave total to Melling’s 14.57. Young’s best scoring waves were 7.40 and 7.33. Melling’s were 7.57 and 7.00. The top two surfers from the heat advance to the Round of 24 in the ASP six-star event. American Heath Joske [7.30] was eliminated, as was Japan’s Masatoshi Ohno [9.83].

The Round of 24 goes down to a three-man heat format, where Young will face Brazilians Filipe Toledo and Krystian Kymerson

The Burton Toyota Pro, where Young also won his Round of 96 heat, is run as part of the Surfest Newcastle Australia at Mereweather Beach. The event continues today [it's already Friday there] with the rest of the Round of 48 and the Round of 24.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Santa Cruz pro surfer Nat Young advances at Surfest Newcastle Australia

Santa Cruz native Nat Young scored a 14-point wave total to advance to the Round of 48 in the Burton Toyota Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals six-star and world qualifying series event, at Merewether Beach in Newcastle, Australia, on Thursday.

Young’s top scoring waves were of 7.33 and 6.67 points, respectively, according to the live feed of results. Fellow American Evan Geiselman scored a 13.17 total for second place, Australia’s Jay Thompson scored 12.30 and Japan’s Teppei Tajima scored 11.83 in their Round of 96 heat. The contest is part of the Surfest Newcastle Australia event.

Young advanced to the Round of 48, where he will go up against Australians Adam Melling and Heath Joske as well as Japan’s Masatoshi Ohno.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets