Dosch Delivers in the End

Brandon Dosch finished last year’s dirt season ranked second overall to BMX veteran Ryan Nyquist, and this year it looked like history would repeat itself. But this time he entered the final stop ranked second to dirt newcomer Brett Banasiewicz, the 15-year-old who brought the cash roll to competition and spent most of the season on the podium being hyped up as the future Dew Cup winner.

Even on the sidelines at last week’s BMX dirt finals, “We Love Brett” signs were handed out to fans, but it was Dosch who put in the hard work all season and put the pressure on Banasiewicz in Las Vegas. In the end it paid off for the 21-year-old from Michigan, and Dosch won both the Dew Tour Championships and the first Dew Cup of his career.

Dirt podium, l-r, TJ Ellis, 2nd; Brandon Dosch, 1st; Anthony Napolitan, 3rd

“This season has been so rough on me,” Dosch said. “Coming into every stop, this is the first stop I actually completed three runs. I got ‘em done and that’s what happens when I get ‘em all done.”

Corey Bohan, no-footed can-can

He came back run after run with scores in the 90s, and he managed to up the ante in each run and increase his lead every time. He threw a triple whip and a corked 720 in each of his two highest scoring runs, and switched things up with an opposite double whip on the second set for one run and an opposite 360 look back on the other.

“I really wasn’t worried about anybody else,” Dosch said. “I was just staying on my bike. Staying relaxed, and keeping focused on what I needed to do.”

Brett Banasiewicz, no handed front flip

Banasiewicz finished the season ranked second overall, and he placed fifth in the event.

“If I would have got third, I would have won the Cup,” Banasiewicz said. “So congrats to Dosch, he looked good all season.”

“I thought my first run was going to be better than it was, but that didn’t happen, so I had to step it up a little in my second and my third run,” Banasiewicz continued. “I just slipped up on the last jump on my third run, so not much I could do about it.”

Dennis Enarson, one-handed no-footer

Dosch’s final score of 92.62 put him ahead of TJ Ellis, who finished second with 90.81. 

“Dosch, he put a lot of pressure on Brett,” Ellis said. “I thought Brett had it. But the 15-year-old  – well, he’s 16 now – he cracked under pressure. But he’s here. He’s 16 and he’s here for the next decade or so.”

Ellis took the lead after his first run, and even though he was hurt, he was still dominating after pulling a front flip tailwhip on the last set.

“I knew I would be a threat, but to be on top, I knew I had an injury so I couldn’t push it or crash,” Ellis said. “But the front flip tailwhip is what I wanted to do for the last three months, and I got it done finally and I’m pumped.”

Chris Doyle, tailwhip

Anthony Napolitan made his first return to the Dew Tour podium since ’07 with his third-place-finish in Vegas. At the time, he took the lead from Ellis after landing his first run of the finals. He did a front flip over the first set and he also landed a 360 superman seat grab Indian to score in the 90s, and he finished the event with an average score of 90.62.

“I definitely think my first run did it,” Napolitan said. “It was the most original run I could think of for myself, personally. That gave me a really good score and then just staying consistent and doing what I really like to do.”

Colton Satterfield, 360 tailwhip

“Really, it came down to the last run,” Napolitan continued. “If Brett pulled his run, he was going to win and take the Dew Cup and I was going to get kicked out. And unfortunately for Brett, he messed up a little bit, and Brandon took the Dew Cup and I got to stay on the podium. But that’s the toll that BMX takes on you sometimes and I’m just so psyched for this.”

Check out the Alli photo gallery of the Dew Tour Championships BMX dirt finals and the Dew Tour recap of the contest.

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