Mount surfer defends title

Mount Maunganui surfer Kehu Butler defended his title at the 2017 Aotearoa Maori Surfing Titles over the weekend. Photo: Col / Surf2Surf.com.

Young surfers Kehu Butler (Ngati Ranginui) and Zhana Hutchieson (Te Atiawa) have defended their titles at the 2017 Aotearoa Maori Surfing Titles presented by Evitan Events over the weekend.

The event was held at Waitara, Taranaki and despite the less than desirable small waves and onshore winds that fronted participants at the event, the weekend's activities were completed in the true spirit of the Maori Titles.

For Mount Maunganui surfer Butler, it was his first event in New Zealand waters this year.

His titles in the Open Men's Division and the Under 18 Boys Division came with relative ease and helped Ngati Ranginui to claim the Iwi of Origin from hosts Te Atiawa.

Butler's international experience showed with the 17-year-old starting both finals strongly and then dominating until the final hooter sounded. He posted a 17.0 point heat total out of a possible 20 in the Open Men's Division Final, a performance that had both his peers and his supporters cheering on.

Butler defeated local surfer Jayson Zimmerman (Te Atiawa) who finished in second place with Butler's Dad, Khan, in third and another local surfer Jamie Andrews (Te Atiawa) in fourth.

Butler now heads to Australia for a World Qualifying Series QS1000 event at Phillip Island this week in a bid to pick up more qualification points and further international experience to finish the competition year.

In the Open Women's Division, it was Hutchieson's local knowledge that helped her come out on top of a low scoring final with a 9.73 point heat total to defend her title.

Hutchieson is another young surfer and at the age of 16, this is her second title at the event. This year she held off a stern challenge from Kea Smith (Ngati Ranginui) with Kahana Ngaia (Te Atiawa) in third and Natasha Gouldsbury (Te Atiawa) in fourth.

Hutchieson could not complete the double like Butler, finishing runner up to Brie Bennett (Ngati Hine) in the Under 18 Girls Division.

A quartet of Raglan surfers dominated the Under 16 and 14 Boys Divisions but with differing results in each final. Josef Jungwirth (Ngati Ranginui) claimed his first national win of his short career winning the Under 16 Boys Division while the consistent Jayden Willoughby (Ngapuhi) picked up another win in the Under 14 Boys Division.

For the senior divisions contested, it was Khan Butler who took his son's lead with a win in the Over 35 Men's Division. Local surfer Pipi Ngaia (Te Atiawa) won the Over 45 Men's Division to take home a second medal for the family after his daughter Kahana placed third in the Open Women's Division.

Waitara's Jamie Andrews competed in four finals throughout the day with one win coming in the Longboard Division while he also finished runner up in the Stand Up Paddleboard to Gisborne's Geoff Pardoe (Ngati Porou).

For the first time at the event, an amateur division was contested to give relatively in experienced surfers a chance at participating and joining in on the action. Young local surfer Patrick Kilmister made the most of his chances to win the division ahead of young Whangarei surfer Journey Lum (Ngapuhi).

Open Men's Division Semi-finals

Heat 1

Khan Butler, 10.8, 1, Jamie Andrews, 10.7, 2, Chris Malone, 7.73, 3, Jason Matthews (Tara), 3.33, 4

Heat 2

Kehu Butler, 17.2, 1, Jayson Zimmerman, 8.13, 2, Jason Ruddell, 6.17, 3, Gavin Kelly, 4.17, 4

Open Men's Division Final

Kehu Butler, 17, 1, Jayson Zimmerman, 11.6, 2, Khan Butler, 9.83, 3, Jamie Andrews, 6.17, 4

Under 18 Boys Division Final

Kehu Butler (Mnt), 16.2, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 8.57, 2, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 7.07, 3, Jared Lewis (Tara), 1.27, 4

Under 16 Boys Division Semi-finals

Heat 1

Kora Cooper (Rag), 11.2, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 9.5, 2, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 8.5, 3, Kava Matthews (Tara), 7.07, 4

Heat 2

Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 9.07, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 8.36, 2, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Sandy Bay), 4.2, 3, Te Ihi Nehua (Sandy Bay), 0, 4

Under 16 Boys Division Final

Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 11.8, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 11.6, 2, Kora Cooper (Rag), 11.4, 3, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 3.4, 4

Under 14 Boys Division Semi-finals

Heat 1

Kora Cooper (Rag), 12.7, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 8.63, 2, Kava Matthews (Tara), 7.67, 3, Jack Luke (Tara), 2.1, 4

Heat 2

Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 11.2, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 10.6, 2, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 8.83, 3, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata, 7.67, 4

Under 14 Boys Division Final

Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 15.1, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 14.8, 2, Navryn Malone (Rag), 6.97, 4, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 7.87, 3

Open Women's Division Semi-finals

Heat 1

Kahana Ngaia (Tara), 7.23, 1, Brie Bennett (Rag), 3.5, 3, Natasha Gouldsbury, 4.77, 2

Heat 2

Kea Smith (Mnt), 9.5, 1, Zhana Hutchieson (Tara), 9, 2, Renee Ruddell (Whngrei), 6.43, 3

Open Women's Division Final

Zhana Hutchieson (Tara), 9.73, 1, Kea Smith (Mnt), 7.23, 2, Kahana Ngaia, 4.77, 3, Natasha Gouldsbury, 3.23, 4

Under 18 Girls Division Semi-finals

Heat 2

Zhana Hutchieson (Tara), 11.43, 1, Natasha Gouldsbury (Lev), 10.83, 2, Nia Kereopa (Rag), 1.50, 3

Under 18 Girls Division Final

Brie Bennett (Rag), 9.67, 1, Zhana Hutchieson (Tara), 8.5, 2, Kea Smith (Mnt), 7.27, 3, Natasha Gouldsbury (Lev), 6.3, 4

Over 35 Men's Division Semi-finals

Heat 1

Jamie Andrews (Tara), 14.2, 1, Erin Pennington (Tara), 3.83, 2, Gavin Kelly (Rag), 2.93, 3

Heat 2

Khan Butler (Mnt), 11.8, 1, Jamie Andrews (Tara), 11.8, 2, Jason Ruddell (Whngrei), 6.67, 3, Kupe Lewis (Tara), 7.7, 2

Over 35 Men's Division Final

Khan Butler (Mnt), 11.6, 1, Jamie Andrews (Tara), 10.3, 2, Erin Pennington (Tara), 8.63, 3, Kupe Lewis (Tara), 8.47, 4

Over 45 Men's Division Semifinals

Heat 1

Phill Willoughby (Rag), 2, 1, Gavin Kelly (Rag), 1, 2, Jeff Piper (Tara), , N/S

Heat 2

Pipi Ngaia (Tara), 14.5, 1, Jason Matthews (Tara), 10.8, 2, Les Haami (Tara), 4.93, 3

Over 45 Men's Division Final

Pipi Ngaia (Tara), 11, 1, Jason Matthews (Tara), 7.03, 2, Phill Willoughby (Rag), 3.53, 3, Gavin Kelly (Rag), 2.77, 4

Men's Longboard Final

Jamie Andrews (Tara), 12.2, 1, Geoff Pardoe (Gis), 5.37, 2, Charles Kauwhata (Whngrei), 2.63, 3

Stand Up Paddleboard Division Final

Geoff Pardoe (Gis), 12, 1, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 5.77, 3, Jason Matthews (Tara), 2.93, 4

Amateur Division Final

Patrick Kilmister (Tara), 9, 1, Journey Lum (Whngrei), 3.5, 2, Chris Abraham (Tara), 3.33, 3, Renata Blair (Auck), 2.33, 4

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