Gallery: Wildcard Upsets, Matchups Set at Surf City El Salvador Pro

[ASFN Admin]

You wouldn’t have known it by watching him, but Levi Slawson is in serious pain. Slawson, the third Enicinas pro in El Salvador, looked impressive during his elimination heat at the Surf City El Salvador Pro. Looking to continue his first Championship Tour appearance against Alejo Muniz and Liam O’Brien, Slawson hacked his way to the top. But not without some agony. He said afterward that the day he found out he got the wildcard entry, he tore his left ankle apart during a freesurf. But he summed his Challenger Series grit and got through.

“Surfing alongside Jake [Marshall] and Alyssa [Spencer] here is pretty special," said Slawson. "I don’t think there’s ever really been three Encinitas people at a CT before. I’m just trying to soak in all of this. The day they told me that I had the wildcard, I went out for a free surf and tore the ligaments in my ankle. I actually almost broke my ankle and so every wave I catch is excruciating.”


A bit of a shocker for O'Brien, who has all the skills needed to excel at wave like ***** Roca. But hey, that's life on the tour. Slawson was one of four wildcards who advanced through the Elimination Round. Bryan Perez, Alyssa Spencer and Kirra Pinkerton also survived their Round 3 matchups and moved on to the one-on-one bracket.

Perez finally unleashed his big frame on his home break against Miguel Pupo and Edgard Groggia. It was clean, fundamental bashing punctuated with a punchy air. His reward? A rematch of last year’s bout with world No. 1 Italo Ferreira.

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Bryan Perez
Hughes/WSL


“I just wanna have fun in the water. Just enjoy my time, catch the wave, and have fun, just letting go of everything, and enjoy that,” said Perez. “I'm here with my family, with my coach, with the people that come to the city to support me. It's beautiful to see.”

Over the past few days, contest organizers have stuck to a trend. With a dropping tide and rising onshores, only a few heats have been run each morning before conditions deteriorate before siesta time.

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Griffin Colapinto
Aaron Hughes/WSL


During the women’s ER run this morning, Spencer and season wildcard Luana Silva sent CT veteran Sally Fitzgibbons packing. Kirra Pinkerton finished second in her round three heat behind Sawyer Lindblad and replacement wildcard Nadia Erostarbe. Lindblad, the 2024 Rookie of the Year, looked solid, blasting her backhand repeatedly for an 8.17, the highest score from the women’s event so far.

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Sawyer Lindblad
Aaron Hughes/WSL


“I was the last heat of the day yesterday and then the first heat today, so I was pretty crushed after losing yesterday and needing only a 1.00,” said Lindblad. “So I had to regroup, and it was honestly pretty hard. But I'm happy I did it, and I'm happy I made it through.”

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Brisa Hennessy
Aaron Hughes/WSL


Though the ***** Roca has looked undoubtedly fun at times, it hasn’t been the most consistent venue for the CT surfers. South swells can be temperamental like that. In an ER heat filled with two-wave sets, Al Cleland Jr. found a rare third wave to help his case. And he belted it. He completed seven turns and two big floaters to get past Cole Houshmand and Ian Gentil.

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Al Cleland Jr.
Aaron Hughes/WSL


“The waves are pretty slow," said Cleland. “There's only been two wave sets and stuff, and I made that mistake of going on the wave Cole went on. It was a pretty small one, but I thought I had a good line. Just got to work on that. There was a three-wave set at the end, which I got really lucky because there were never three waves, and it ended up being the best one at the very back. So yeah, I got a couple of good turns off, and it felt good to come up on top.”

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Filipe Toledo
Emma Sharon/WSL


The next call for the Surf City El Salvador Pro will be tomorrow, Saturday, April 5, at 6:15 a.m. CST for a possible 6:33 a.m. start. It’s like the WSL tries to get some heats done in front of a weekend ground and finish with a large swell toward the end of the event window.

Surf City El Salvador Pro Women’s Elimination Round Results:​

HEAT 1: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 13.37 DEF. Kirra Pinkerton (USA) 13.10, Nadia Erostarbe (ESP) 11.64
HEAT 2: Luana Silva (BRA) 13.00 DEF. Alyssa Spencer (USA) 11.33, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.00

Surf City El Salvador Pro Men’s Elimination Round Results:​

HEAT 1: Bryan Perez (SLV) 14.13 DEF. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.10, Edgard Groggia (BRA) 10.90
HEAT 2: Levi Slawson (USA) 13.10 DEF. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.47, Liam O'Brien (AUS) 10.33
HEAT 3: Alan Cleland (MEX) 13.84 DEF. Cole Houshmand (USA) 12.46, Ian Gentil (HAW) 11.17
HEAT 4: Samuel Pupo (BRA) 14.07 DEF. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 13.07, Imaikalani deVault (HAW) 11.47

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Kanoa Igarashi
Aaron Hughes/WSL

Surf City El Salvador Pro Women’s Round of 16 Matchups:​

HEAT 1: Caitlin Simmers (USA) vs. Luana Silva (BRA)
HEAT 2: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)
HEAT 3: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) vs. Alyssa Spencer (USA)
HEAT 4: Erin Brooks (CAN) vs. Bella Kenworthy (USA)
HEAT 5: Molly Picklum (AUS) vs. Kirra Pinkerton (USA)
HEAT 6: Brisa Hennessy (CRC) vs. Vahine Fierro (FRA)
HEAT 7: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Isabella Nichols (AUS)
HEAT 8: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)

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Gabriela Bryan
Aaron Hughes/WSL

Surf City El Salvador Pro Men’s Round of 32 Matchups:​

HEAT 1: Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Samuel Pupo (BRA)
HEAT 2: Connor O'Leary (JPN) vs. Seth Moniz (HAW)
HEAT 3: Griffin Colapinto (USA) vs. Matthew McGillivray (RSA)
HEAT 4: Rio Waida (INA) vs. Marco Mignot (FRA)
HEAT 5: Ethan Ewing (AUS) vs. Levi Slawson (USA)
HEAT 6: Joao Chianca (BRA) vs. Joel Vaughan (AUS)
HEAT 7: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) vs. Crosby Colapinto (USA)
HEAT 8: Jack Robinson (AUS) vs. George Pittar (AUS)
HEAT 9: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Bryan Perez (SLV)
HEAT 10: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) vs. Jackson Bunch (HAW)
HEAT 11: Jordy Smith (RSA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA)
HEAT 12: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) vs. Ryan Callinan (AUS)
HEAT 13: Barron Mamiya (HAW) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
HEAT 14: Jake Marshall (USA) vs. Cole Houshmand (USA)
HEAT 15: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Ian Gouveia (BRA)
HEAT 16: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX)

Related: Tom Curren Rides Wood and Cork Surfboard and Scores in El Salvador​

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