Tuesday, May 1

The Sound and the Fury Hits Seattle

By Sean Mulligan
EXPN.com

Even in the warehouses of Seattle, you can't keep the rain out. Despite a dripping ceiling and a few delays, the fourth annual Sound and the Fury Amateur Skateboard Competition went down at the Sand Point Naval Station in Seattle this past weekend.

Featuring unsponsored, shop and factory divisions as well as a girls division, the event drew hundreds to check out the future of skateboarding. In past years, the winners here have quickly been snatched up by sponsors and have gone pro. With the talent in the finals, it was obvious that this year was not going to be different.

Joshua Mohs captured first with some nice air over the car.

"I think the factory final is going to be really difficult to judge," speculated Marshall "Stack" Reid, the man who put on The Sound and the Fury. "It is going to almost be like a pro competition out there. Ruben Garcia, Austen Seholm, J.T. Aultz and Josh Falk -- those are names to watch out for in the future. I think half the guys in the factory final could turn pro in the next year."

When all the dust had settled, though, it was Joshua Mohs, riding for Spirit Skateboards, that took home the first place cash.

"I am so ecstatic right now, I can't believe it," exulted Mohs. "I mean, I honestly felt like I had it, I was very confident."

He said as he was mobbed by friends and fellow Spirit team members. Josh distanced himself from the field with some smooth grinds and boardslides on the rails and a huge kickflip over the car.

After Josh, it was all about the Illenium team. The team made its way up from California for the event and between Austen Sehlom (second), Greg Lutzka (third) and Ruben Garcia (sixth), they left the street course in pieces. Garcia owned the car, nailing a sick switch frontflip that had the crowd going off. That and a smooth switch tailslide and a bluntslide on the picnic table were not enough to get him into the top five though, something that surprised a few people.

Despite a rough first run, Lutzka put it together and showed off like he did in the qualifier. Josh Falk took fourth with a slick 50/50 down the rail and really massive air over the car. Austen Seholm had two solid runs while almost taking out a camera guy who was in his way as he ollied over the backside of the car. He went home with the $400, second-place check.

Tyler Bledsoe, ripping it at 10 years old.

While many of these guys could turn pro soon, the one to watch out for down the line is Tyler Bledsoe. This kid is only 10-years-old and has been skating for half his life. He got the biggest pop from the crowd all day when he nailed a kickflip over the hood of the car, followed by a long noseslide down the rail. His clean second run was good for fifth place overall.

In the shop division it was all Taylor Clark. After sticking his first run, Taylor knew he had it locked up. He ended his second run by backflipping, without his board, off the back of the car.

On the girls side, Cindy Gorset took home first place, securing the win with a clean ollie over the car. Lauren Mollica was a close second with some really nice rail tricks and kickflips.

Taylor Clark representing for Trickwood.

The event also featured several bands from around the West Coast, as well as DJs, pro demos and plenty of product giveaways. The highlight of the side activities was a toss-up. Watching about a dozen kids maul each other when someone tossed a skate deck out into the crowd was very amusing. Then there was the kid who just had to have Ed Templeton's autograph. I guess this kid missed out on the poster giveaways because he had Ed signing his bare ass in front of a large crowd and several video cameras. Hope that one doesn't show up in a video too soon.

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