Dane Reynolds Could Have Had The Freshwater Pro Wildcard, Instead It Went To Two San Clemente Teens

Ever since Archy and Christian ruled T-Street, every ensuing generation of San Clemente has percolated up with more and more talent.

In the ‘90s it was the …Lost era. After that came Greg and Rusty Long, Nate Yeomans and the Gudauskas boys. Then it was Kolohe’s turn to carry the torch. Then Griffin stepped into the spotlight.

And now, with the announcement of Dane Reynolds denying the WSL’s offer of a wildcard, San Clemente’s Crosby Colapinto and Kade Matson have been granted entry into next week’s Freshwater Pro, where they may or may not establish themselves against the world’s elite surfers. 

“It’s crazy, I feel like there’s something in the water in SC or something, because there’s so many kids coming up,” said Crosby when Stab spoke with him recently. “There’s so much energy around surfing in this town right now. It really pushes me and gives me a lot of drive to get better.”

Seemingly overnight, Crosby and Kade have gone from shit-hot NSSA groms to legit hammer swingers. Crosby’s 18 years old and Kade’s 17. Puberty’s been good to them. They’ve both sprouted into big, strong, powerful guys who can put a board on rail, but also soar with the best of them. They spend an exorbitant amount of time pushing each other in the water at Lowers. And with Griff and Kolohe lighting a fire under them, they’re highly motivated at the moment.

Earlier this year Crosby won the U.S.A. Surfing Championships. Kade’s coming off a convincing win at the U.S. Open Pro Junior. He’s also the number one rated junior in North America. So yeah, they also know how to win.

Crosby and Kade have both gotten to sample the Surf Ranch and have been breaking down and analyzing the footage they’ve gathered.

And because there is no traditional heat draw at the Freshwater Pro, rather than getting bogged down in strategy, this event will be purely about performance for the boys—and dealing with some nerves as it’s the first CT contest for either of them. It also means that Crosby won’t draw Griffin in a heat, which would have been fun to watch.

As an aside, how do you think Lemoore’s local surf contingency feels about this wildcard situation? If you were from Kings County, wouldn’t you be wondering why two kids from a town 300 miles away got an entry into you local event? The Lemoorians certainly never got a call up for the Hurley Pro, so what gives, WSL?