Florida’s Asher Nolan wins the Unsound Pro

Annual elite surfing event at Lincoln Boulevard was sponsored by RVCA

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After surfers from all over the country came to Long Beach for the 2016 RVCA Unsound Pro last weekend to test their talents on the city’s swells, Asher Nolan claimed first place and was crowned the event’s champion.

Nolan cruised through the first two rounds on Sept. 16, as the Jacksonville, Fla. native then beat out Travis Beckman in the semis before edging 14-year-old and fellow Floridian Tommy Coleman in Saturday’s action. Like the first-round heat, in which Coleman edged local favorite Leif Engstrom, the grom tried to make the most of a bunch of smaller waves. But Nolan stayed patient, as he waited for larger waves with priority and tallied two sixes to win his third Unsound Pro.

“Asher Nolan just won his third Unsound Pro in two to three-foot surf, besting ultra-grom Tommy Coleman in a man-on-grom final,” Unsound Pro co-director Mike Nelson told Surfline. “We had really fun waves both days of the event, thanks to Tropical Storm Ian.”

The Unsound Pro has brought top surfers to Long Beach for the last two decades, and this year’s 48-man competition with a $10,000 cash purse featured local favorites Will Skudin, Balaram Stack and TJ Gumiela. The event also touted merchandise tents on the boardwalk at Lincoln Boulevard, as well as autograph sessions with members of the RVCA Skate and Unsound Surf teams.

Nolan told Surfline that he worked with young surfers at the Long Beach boardwalk’s new Hurley Surf Club to prepare them for the Surfing America North East Prime Surf contest, which ran the same days as the Unsound Pro. Nolan, who won the Unsound contest in 2006 and 2011, was not planning to compete this year, but decided at the last-minute to surf in the event.

“I’m glad I stayed and competed; a big thanks to Mike Nelson and Dave Juan for putting on a great event,” Nolan told Surfline. “I always like hanging in Long Beach, lots of good people in that area.”