SURFING / BODY GLOVE CUP : Smallish Machado Wins Big

As Rob Machado will tell you, nothing works better in small waves than a small surfer.

And Machado found the perfect combination Sunday, winning the $22,000 Body Glove Cup at Huntington State Beach, his second consecutive victory on the Bud Pro Surfing tour.

Machado edged San Clemente’s Shane Beschen, 32.5 to 32, in the four-man final. Laguna Beach’s Jeff Booth was third with 28, followed by Brazil’s Renan Rocha at 27.5.

Machado and Beschen, who took over the tour points lead with the second-place finish, scored well with quick, snapping maneuvers in the small one-foot and two-foot waves.

“I have an advantage in smaller surf because I’m lighter and smaller than most of the guys on the tour,” said Machado, who is 5 feet 10 and 135 pounds. “Just being smaller makes me lighter on my feet.

Machado, 18, won $4,000, bringing his prize money over the past two weeks to $10,000.

He won the Imperial Beach contest two weeks ago, defeating Hawaii’s Derek Ho in the finals. This is Machado’s second season as a professional.

“The waves at Imperial were a little bigger and had a little better shape to them than they were here,” Machado said.

Machado moved into second place on the tour point standings with 3,250, 75 points behind Beschen. Former points leader Chris Brown of Santa Barbara was eliminated in the main event third round Saturday and dropped into third place with 3,210.

Newport Beach’s Richie Collins, who was eliminated in the semifinals, is fourth with 2,720.

Mike Stewart of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, earned $1,000 for winning the bodyboarding competition. San Clemente’s Brian Wise was second, followed by Chris Tennberg of Kalaheo, Hawaii, and Ben Severson of Wahiawa, Hawaii.

“It was really difficult to form any strategy because the waves were so small,” Stewart said. “You just had to paddle around and find some sort of rhythm.”

Notes

Several locals were eliminated in the quarterfinals, including San Clemente’s Dino Andino, Newport Beach’s Richie Collins, Laguna Niguel’s Pat O’Connell and San Clemente’s Matt Archbold. . . . O’Connell was penalized one wave for a paddling-interference infraction he had on Huntington Beach’s Jeff Deffenbaugh.

The next stop on the tour is June 15-21 at Oceanside. . . . Prime Ticket will televise the Huntington Beach contest on June 24.

Results

Surfing

FINALS--1. Rob Machado (Cardiff), 2. Shane Beschen (San Clemente), 3. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach), 4. Renan Rocha (Brazil).

Semifinals

(Top two surfers advance)

Heat 1--1. Beschen, 2. Rocha, 3. Dwayne Maki (Florida), 4. Amaury Pereira (Brazil); Heat 2--1. Booth, 2. Machado, 3. Vinnie De La Pena (Laguna Niguel), 4. Jeff Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach).

Quarterfinals

Heat 1--1. Maki, 2. Beschen, 3. Dino Andino (San Clemente), 4. Marty Thomas (Long Beach); Heat 2--1. Pereira, 2. Rocha, 3. Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach), 4. Shane Powell (Australia). Heat 3--1. Booth, 2. De La Pena, 3. Matt Archbold (San Clemente), 4. Jason Senn; Heat 4--1. Machado, 2. Deffenbaugh, 3. Richie Collins (Newport Beach), 4. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel).

Bodyboarding

FINALS--1. Mike Stewart (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii), 2. Brian Wise (San Clemente), 3. Chris Tennberg (Kalaheo, Hawaii), 4. Ben Severson(Wahiawa, Hawaii).

Semifinals

(Top two advance)

Heat 1--1. Tennberg, 2. Stewart, 3. Jeremy Olson (Laguna Niguel), 4. Chris Burkart (Honolulu); Heat 2--1. Wise, 2. Severson, 3. Tim Ross (Cypress), 4. Harry Antipala (Kalaheo, Hawaii).

Quarterfinals

Heat 1--1. Tennberg, 2. Burkart, 3. Kyle Maligro (Kalaheo, Hawaii), 4. Ryan Chin (San Diego); Heat 2--1. Stewart, 2. Olson, 3. Chris Fessenden (Haleiwa, Hawaii), 4. Pat Caldwell (San Clemente); Heat 3--1. Severson, 2. Ross, 3. Brian Press (San Pedro), 4. Ammon Walters (Shell Beach, Calif.); Heat 4--1. Wise, 2. Antipala, 3. Kainoa McGee (Honolulu), 4. Chris Newman (Indialantic, Fla.).