Bowerbank Earns Fourth Trip to Finals, Elias Wins at 28th and B

Two more skate park contests are in the books for the Gatorade Free Flow Tour after competitions at Baltimore’s Charm City and Sacramento’s 28th and B. The Tour saw some familiar faces along with a slew of new ones at the events over the weekend.

Things kicked off at Charm City, a Gatorade Free Flow Tour host for the third year in a row. It was quite a task for the judges to whittle the nearly 85 skaters down to the top guys in the five-man final jam. Then once the jam was underway, it was even more difficult to decide on the winner.

It was crazy with four former Gatorade Free Flow Tour Finalists in the stacked final heat. Tyson Bowerbank, 15, used his deep bag of tricks, including a smith grind kickflip out and a huge 360 off of the pyramid, to claim the win. A native of SLC, Bowerbank made the four-hour plane ride worth it when he earned his fourth trip to the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Finals with the victory.

Tyson Bowerbank wins year after year on the Gatorade Free Flow Tour

Local Miles Willard, 13, finished second after skating nonstop all day and utilizing the entire course with 270 boardslides and big tre flips to flat. Another local, 18-year-old KDN Maxwell, rode like a beast all day and finished in second with kickflip front boards and front noseblunts.

Zoo York was also at the competition, providing judges for the contest, hotdogs and hamburgers for a BBQ and this video recap of the whole thing:

In California, the Gatorade Free Flow Tour put down stakes at Sacramento’s 28th and B for the first time. But even though it was a new park, the contest was right up there with the best of them so far this season.

After landing on the podium at two other comps earlier in the season, Bradley Elias finally pulled out the big win and earned the trip to the Finals. Elias came through with a melon to smith on the eight-foot quarter, back lip on the bump to bar, kickflip indy over the quarter hip and nollie bigspin over the pyramid.

Orlando’s Dalton Dern, 17, was second and Fresno’s Michael Ruiz, 17, was third.

For full recaps from the weekend, click here for Charm City and here for 28th and B.

Contest Results

Charm City, Baltimore, MD, July 24
Skate Park
1. Tyson Bowerbank, 15, Sandy, UT
2. Miles Willard, 13, Towson, MD
3. KDN Maxwell, 18, Baltimore, MD
4. Tyler Thomas, 13, Baltimore, MD
5. Brandon Strosser, 18, Lancaster, PA

28th and B, Sacramento, CA, July 24
Skate Park
1. Bradley Elias, 16, Fresno, CA
2. Dalton Dern, 17, Orlando, FL
3. Michael Ruiz, 17, Fresno, CA
4. Adam Emery, 19, Manteca, CA
5. Trino Mercado, 18, Sacramento, CA
6. Ryan Farley, 21, San Jose, CA

Up next are three more skate contests, this time at Kona in Jacksonville, FL and Southside in Houston, TX. Everything is bigger in Texas, so expect a heated skate park contest at Southside. And of course, the Gatorade Free Flow Tour is stoked to return to Kona for a day of skate park and vert competitions, and visit the park that delivered 2008 overall champion Timmy Knuth.

“The level of competition will be great this weekend,” said Kona’s owner, Martin Ramos. “Kona has already produced one Gatorade Free Flow Champion in Timmy Knuth. I would not be surprised to see the 2010 champion come from this stop either”

Kona has been making some pretty amazing videos to get ready for the event. Check them out below.

Check out what’s going on for BMX on the Gatorade Free Flow Tour right here.