Stab Magazine | Eight Young Guns Just Took One Step Closer To $10k

The Grand Finale of EAST starring Harry Bryant is LIVE, presented by Kona Big Wave and Vans.

1045 Views

Eight Young Guns Just Took One Step Closer To $10k

Who said meeting kids on the internet was a bad idea? 

news // Sep 6, 2019
Words by stab
Reading Time: < 1 minute

The hourglass ran out for Quiksilver’s Young Guns Instagram submissions last week. And, after careful deliberation, we (being Stab) plucked our eight favorite groms out of the hashtags. 

This was a tall, anxiety plagued task. Kids these days are tearing waves faster than a paper shredder through legal documents. There were tubes, rotations, flips, carves, and claims. There were good music selects, and a few songs, that, to our pious ears, were downright appalling. But something as trivial as music choice did not weigh in our selections — we looked for surfing in its purest, most unadulterated form. We looked for rail, barrels, and punts. And we didn’t look for them in isolation, we wanted to send well-rounded rippers into phase two: The public vote.

The top eight (in no particular order are): 

Justin Becret 

Luke Swanson 

Leo Casal 

Oscar Berry 

Joel Vaughan 

Brodie Sale 

Levi Slawson 

Jett Schilling. 

Here’s how Phase II will go down (The voting starts September 10): 

– The voting period will take place from Sept 10-17th. 

– On @quiksilver’s Instagram story, each day one of the top eight’s clips will be posted. 

– Each clip will feature an Emoji slider which will allow people to cast their vote and send whichever surfer present to the final.

– Every clip will live on Quiksilver’s story for 24 hours. 

– Once they’ve all been posted and voted on, the Young Gun with the most votes will earn a spot in the final (only one out of the top eight will advance to the final) 

– The final four will consist of Mikey Wright, Kanoa Igarashi and Zeke Lau’s picks plus one from the top eight selected by the public. 

– Then it’s off to Portugal for a chance at $10k 

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: 20-ish Minutes Of 36 Good Surfers In Good Waves

The Quik Fest recap edit has landed.

Oct 19, 2026

Dave Rastovich & Dane Reynolds On The Meaninglessness Of Surfing | StabMic Ep. 35

"Surfing is completely useless. But, imagine your life without it."

Oct 19, 2026

ISA And WSL Settle Differences, Agree To Split Time With The Kids

How will CT surfers compete in two concurrent surf events half a world apart this…

Oct 18, 2026

World Number 1 Out, Green Wetsuits And Wildcards In

Live report from a stunning opening day at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Oct 16, 2026

Watch: ‘Grillionaire’ Starring Taj Richmond, In All Its Sticky Green Glory

The year is 2060, AI agents are patrolling the surf and stealing memories.

Oct 16, 2026

Watch: Unequivocal Proof That Cloudbreak Is The Best Wave In The World

Mikey February, James Kusitino, Tosh Tudor, Frankie Harrer, Kobe Hughes and Lungi Slabb star in…

Oct 15, 2026

A Reckoning in Surfing, and the Questions Nobody Can Yet Answer

We spoke to the AFP and French Polynesian authorities about the alleged sexual assault of…

Oct 15, 2026

Making The Fish Last: A Rip Curl Portugal Pro Preview

Seventeen years after Supertubos joined the Tour, Portugal is once again being asked to make…

Oct 15, 2026

Three Days In Texas With 40-Ish Surfers And A Pool Resembling An Obstacle Course

Watch: The 2026 Swatch Nines surf recap edit.

Oct 15, 2026

Is Drawing First Blood In A Heat Actually Worth Anything?

We ran some numbers... and asked the experts.

Oct 13, 2026

Generational Talent Qualifies For CT

And other updates from the second-to-last Challenger of the season. 

Oct 12, 2026

How A Doctor Of Physical Therapy Is Changing Surfboard Design | StabMic Ep. 34

Live from New York with Ashton Pickle and Harry Bryant.

Oct 12, 2026

CT Surfer Suspended After Receiving “Allegations Of A Deeply Serious Nature”

The surfer has also parted ways with several sponsors and their management team.

Oct 11, 2026

California’s Ritziest, Riskiest Peninsula Is Finally Underwater

"This all could have been prevented."

Oct 11, 2026

AI Surf Forecasting Has Arrived… Is It Any Good?

And what does it mean for Surfline?

Oct 9, 2026

The Top Five Stab Films You’ve (Maybe) Never Heard Of

A look through the archives.

Oct 9, 2026

Want To Win One Of Harry Bryant’s EAST Boards?

We’re giving away 10 pink and blue boards to Stab Premium members.

Oct 9, 2026

SEOTY: Australia’s #1 QS Surfer vs. The Sydney Pipeline

Whether it's the original Banzai or a knock-off, Kobi Clements is not afraid.

Oct 7, 2026
Advertisement