Axis Pro Rider Randall Harris Wins Rio Bravo Event

Team Axis Wake's (@AxisWake) Pro Rider Randall "The Vandall" Harris (@ThisizVandall) won the Rio Bravo Pro Event in Reynosa Mexico last weekend. His first win since '95, Vandall beat Aaron Rathy, Rusty Malinoski and Phillip Soven in three separate head-to-head competitions to take the Rio Bravo Pro Title.

Rusty Manoff wrote this account of the Rio Bravo Pro event in Reynosa Mexico for AllianceWake.com.

13 of the top pro wakeboarders attended this annual event they call the Rio Bravo Pro. The list included Aaron Rathy, Rusty Malinoski, Danny Harf, Philip Soven, Shane Bonifay, JD Webb, Randall Harris, Adam Errington, Ben Greenwood, Bob Soven, Collin Harrington, Kyle Rattray and Shawn Watson. Everyone, including a few international wild cards competed for a top cash prize of $4000 and a chance to be named Rio Bravo Pro champ.

The weekend started with a few practice runs. Phil, Rusty, and Rathy put on a bit of a show on Saturday for some of the locals. All were impressed and wanted to see more, so once the sun went down a rail jam broke out. Each rider had a chance to show everyone what they had and JD Webb came out swinging with pretty much every tech trick in the book. A big surprise and crowd favorite was Phil Soven’s gap to tail tap over a Monster Energy Drink EZ-Up tent.

Sunday marked the official start to the main event. Riders went head to head and received two river passes, one down and one up, and for their third pass they had a chance to hit a kicker or a flat bar for extra points. It came down to four riders in the semi finals; Rusty Malinoski, Adam Errington, Phil Soven, and Randall “The Vandall” Harris.

All rode well, but Randall and Phil advanced to the final. Randall hit the water first with massive wrapped tricks and huge airs to put pressure on Phil. Phil ended up falling on his second trick of his first pass and the rest of his run wasn’t quite what the judges were looking for. So Randall Harris walked away with the W and 4K large, winning his first contest since 1995.

Tags: Axis Wake Research | Randall Harris | Rio Bravo | Pro Wakeboard Event | Reynosa Mexico | Aaron Rathy | Rusty Malinoski | Phillip Soven | Vandall