Julian Wilson wins the 2012 US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach

Julian Wilson just won the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, California. His quarterfinal with John Florence this morning was wave-starved to the point where Jules was forced to hail-mary a straight air on a small, inside wave. But, y’gotta do what y’gotta do. Then, he beat Gabriel Medina in the semis, which the Brazilian made hard for Jules. Then the Sunny-Coaster faced Miguel Pupo in the final. Miguel surged once with an 8.93 finner. But, Jules’ exclamation point on the business end of a frenzied event, was to properly explode. His two scoring waves, which happened to be his first and last, clocked at 9.13 and 8.40. Then it was all over and Julian’s brother, Bart, and Nike Surfing global brand manager, PJ, tackled Jules in the shorebreak, then he was chaired up the sand, then he was on the podium, then Kolohe Andino sprayed him with champagne, then he won the hearts of everyone standing on Huntington Beach. Winning never felt so good.