“I don’t even remember the wave. I just stood up and something else took over.”

There were less than two minutes left in the final when things became a blur for Kanoa Igarashi.

He was surfing in front of tens of thousands of people in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California and needed a score to get the lead off of Griffin Colapinto.

Some headlines write themselves. Like, for example, yesterday’s headline probably would’ve been “Hawaiians Sweep Vans US Open,” — which they did in Men’s and Women’s Junior’s and the Duct Tape. But, as we know, Seth Moniz went crazytown, which was a bit more compelling, so we went with that one.

Today, the hometown angle was unavoidable — but the roads to victory were slightly different. Courtney, by her own admission, “left nothing on the table in each heat,” and smashed every single one, eliminating world title contender Lakey Peterson in the process. Kanoa paced himself a bit and saved the best for last.

To be clear: by “best” we mean one clutch, technical air reverse in the shorebreak — after doing the same exact shorebreak fin-waft all event. Variety of maneuvers, they call it. And by “last” we mean his actual last wave in the final against Griffin Colapinto, where he needed a low seven and snagged an 8.17. The HB crowd, needless to say, went crazytown.

“That was the best heat I’ve ever had,” said Igarashi. “On that last wave, I felt like something just took over me and whatever I was going to do on that wave I was going to land it. When I stood up on that wave, I knew I already had the score.”

That’s called confidence. And to be fair, many experienced surfers and surf industry folks on site called that the best US Open final they’d ever seen, simply because it was so evenly matched (after the initial restart) and each wave upped each requirement, which rarely happens, especially in a final. (Anyone remember 2011, where Yadin Nicol didn’t catch a wave against Kelly Slater in the final? Yeah. Sometimes, finals aren’t the best heats of the event.)

“I’ve never won a ‘QS event, so that’s a hard one to swallow, but it still leaves me with a bunch of fire so I’m really excited to just keep working hard,” Griffin Colapinto said. “My favorite moment of this event was in that final. I think that’s one of the best back-to-back exchanges I’ve ever had in a heat so that’s all I really care about.”

Also worth noting: Former CTer Jake Paterson’s stock just went up. He coaches both Griffin and Kanoa — as well as Steph, who also made the final — which means whatever he’s doing seems to be working. “We actually just kinda talk smack before heats,” Kanoa says. “We bounce ideas off each other — and then I’ll go out there and I’ll do what feels best in that moment. All the real work is done well before.” This has clearly has worked, two years in a row — the first back-to-back since Simpo did a repeat in 2009/2010.

As for Conlogue, the last time she won here was 2009, when it was a ‘QS and she was a grom. And this year, especially coming off an injury and a bad start to the season, the hometown win was especially sweet.

“Before my injury, I was coming into the season looking for a title,” she said. “Obviously, that all changed. Then it was recovering, and building, and ups and down and roller coasters with that injury and other things going on. All kinds of things affected my headspace, so I had to dig deep and find out why I liked doing what I love to do. Now I’m here and happy I’m in a jersey.”

As for Steph…she keeps the leader’s jersey leaving here, but an HB win remains elusive. “Huntington is a tough one for me, I love it here but I’m always finding myself just struggling to get a good result so to come here and get a second place is great,” Gilmore said. “Courtney was on fire after coming back from that injury and I’m stoked for her to get that win. And she knocked out Lakey — which is pretty nice — but I proved to myself that if I really apply everything I have that I can still get a good result.”

Women’s CT Final Results:
1 – Courtney Conlogue (USA) 13.83 10,000 points
2 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.86 8,000 points

Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.77 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.36
SF 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 15.27 def. Caroline Marks (USA) 11.26

Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.83 def. Johanne Defay (FRA) 13.33
QF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.70 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 10.93
QF 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 14.60 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.60
QF 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.97 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.64

Current Women’s WSL CT Jeep Leaderboard
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 53,375 pts
2 – Lakey Peterson (USA) 48,175 pts
3 – Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 38,330 pts
4 – Johanne Defay (FRA) 31,795
5 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 31,235

Men’s QS Final Results:
1 – Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.77 10,000 points
2 -: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.00 8,000 points

Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.56 def. Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 14.67
SF 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.83 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.67

Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.27 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.23
QF 2: Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 11.80 def. Dion Atkinson (AUS) 11.43
QF 3: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. Italo Ferreira (BRA) (Withdraw)
QF 4: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 14.87 def. Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.10

Current Men’s Qualifying Series Rankings
1 – Seth Moniz (HAW) 17,550 pts
2 – Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 17,420 pts
3 – Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 17,150
4 – Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14,950
5 – Jadson Andre (BRA) 14,110 pts