Hughie Vaughan Just Earned The First Perfect Score In Stab High History

By 10AM today, the music was louder, the sun was hotter, and the unnatural oasis of chlorine sparkled brighter than through all of yesterday. 

Of the four Stab Highs we’ve held since 2023’s Japanese return to artificial ramps, the most notable consistency has been that by the end of the ordeal, Day One always feels like a gentle warmup. 

Finals Day, in contrast, moves with uncanny pace, crackles with anticipation and the palpable vibration of competitive desire. 

Yesterday, the first few heats passed with sparse crowds along the stuccoed white pool barriers. Truly, the Day One atmosphere didn’t dial up until the Men’s qualifiers kicked off, in rhythm with the metallic mingling of Kona cans and midday mouths. 

Today? 

The pool deck buzzed before the first heat had even begun, before our broadcast stream had even been connected to the airwaves. 

“For the surfers, this one feels more serious than past Stab Highs, people see what’s at stake and they want to win,” said head judge Nathan Fletcher. “The airs we saw people win with a few years ago are now standard airs in this one. It’s definitely altered the progression of the sport.”

Click here to rewatch the broadcast. 

In the Men’s qualifiers, Loci Cullen and Hughie Vaughan went back-to-back-to-back, with Hughie pulling out his trademarked lien backflip on the right.

Jacob Szekely spent the qualifiers wandering around offering 200$ cash for whoever lands a fingerflip. 

In the Vans Ladybirds final, Zoee Bradshaw (yep, two e’s) and Isla Hardy pitted straight air against rotation. Isla’s poked straighty emerged triumphant, as Zoee fumbled the landing on her backside reverse. 

After dominating the Yeti Bottle Rocket semis yesterday, King Nicol continued his ascension to potential fulfillment — besting Moses Hennings and Zion Walla to take home a trophy in his rookie Stab High appearance. 

Throughout the day, constant jokes were being chucked around the pool deck suggetsing that the Women’s division should be renamed the ‘Sierra Kerr’ division. 

After spending the duration of her heat dead-even with Sierra, Sky Brown eventually punched a hole in this rhetoric with a straight air of undeniable magnitude. 

“In motocross, if you win two 250cc championships, you automatically go to the 450cc. Might as well do the same with the Bottle Rockets,” said Nathan Fletcher, about Loci Cullem. “He should be competing against the big dogs. He’s showing that today.”

Though Loci and Hughie Vaughan quickly stood-out in the early stages of the men’s final, it was Hughie who pulled ahead, landing an upside down stalefish on a left for a 49/50 — which he promptly backed up with a massive lien flip on the right for the first ever perfect score in Stab High history. 

As his dad later said on a broadcasted phone call, “The Vaughans own Stab High.”

Stab High is presented by Monster Energy with support from Vans, YETI, Quiksilver, Kona Big Wave, and Sun Bum.