Stenzel and Wallis Claim Final Event to Win Billabong Grom Series

Tyler
Stenzel
(Mount)
and
Kyra
Wallis
(Piha
claimed
the
premier
Under
18
Division’s
at
the
final
event
of
the
Billabong
Grom
Series
presented
by
Oceanbridge
held
at
Piha
over
the
weekend.
They
were
joined
by
four
additional
age
group
winners
with
Auckland’s
West
Coast
turning
on
the
best
conditions
of
the
three
events
held
over
the
past
month.

In
clean
1.0m
–
1.5m
waves
at
the
southern
end
of
Piha
Beach,
140
participants
took
on
the
challenge
over
the
weekend.

Local
Piha
surfer
Kyra
Wallis
claimed
the
Under
18
Girls
Division
in
a
tight
battle.
Wallis
finished
with
a
14.56
point
heat
total
in
the
final,
netting
a
pair
of
seven-point
rides.

“Piha
was
definitely
my
pick
out
of
the
two
wins
this
year,”
said
Wallis.
“It’s
my
hometown,
so
that
one
meant
a
little
bit
more
to
me.
The
waves
were
a
bit
better
quality
than
other
events
and
having
so
much
support
from
the
beach
made
it
special.
Competing
in
front
of
family
and
friends
definitely
gave
me
an
extra
boost”
she
added.

“The
final
was
super
close
and
the
quality
of
my
competitors
surfing
really
made
me
honoured
to
be
there.
I
ended
up
getting
a
couple
fun
ones
that
lead
me
to
the
win.
I’m
really
stoked
it
worked
out,
winning
two
Billabong
Grom
Series
events
was
such
a
great
feeling,”
she
added.

Wallis
finished
ahead
of
Maya
Mateja
(Rag)
who
finished
in
second
place
with
India
Kennings
(WGM)
in
third
and
Poppy
Arkle
(Piha)
in
fourth.

Tyler
Stenzel
had
been
on
fire
the
whole
final
day,
amassing
three
heat
totals
over
15.0
points.
In
the
final
he
started
with
an
8.17
and
then
secured
a
7.27
leaving
his
opponents
requiring
big
scores
to
match
him

“Back-to-back
wins
feels
amazing.
After
finishing
in
the
finals
at
Mount
it
really
fired
me
up
to
go
after
a
win.
In
previous
years
I
had
fallen
a
bit
short
a
few
times
at
the
second
event,
so
a
win
was
a
goal
I
had
set
for
myself
this
year.
Same
for
Piha,
really
wanted
to
get
a
win
there
specifically
as
it’s
been
a
personal
goal
of
mine
over
the
years,”
said
Stenzel.

Event
one
winner,
Van
Camenzind
(Rag)
finished
second
in
the
final
ahead
of
Zade
Pitkeathly
(Mnt)
in
third
and
local
surfer
Sev
Tolhurst
in
fourth.

The
Under
16
Boys
Division
was
a
showcase
of
excellent
surfing
from
the
groms
with
the
lead
changing
twice
with
the
final
wave
exchange
in
the
dying
stages
of
the
final.
Gisborne’s
Jaxon
Pardoe
led
the
final
for
the
majority
of
the
20
minutes.
However,
his
opponents
were
chasing
hard
the
whole
time
and
with
two
scores
dropping,
Jesse
Frazerhurst
(Auck)
jumped
into
the
lead
briefly
with
an
8.17
before
Taj
Phillips
(Ahipara)
dropped
a
9.0
to
snatch
victory
in
his
first
final
of
the
year.
Frazerhurst
claimed
the
overall
series.
Pardoe
went
from
first
to
third
matching
his
best
result
of
the
season
while
Kentaro
Mitchell
(Tara)
finished
in
fourth.

Zara
Owen
(Dun)
took
out
the
Under
16
Girls
Division
Final
finishing
with
a
13.33
point
heat
total
that
was
highlighted
by
an
8.0
to
open
her
account
and
put
the
pressure
on
her
opponents.
Selva
Petzold
del
la
Cruz
(Rag)
surfed
to
second
in
the
final
ahead
of
series
winner
Lola
Groube
(Pau)
in
third
and
Jade-Nias
Phillips
(Ahi)
in
fourth.

Raglan’s
Jimmy
Wernham
claimed
his
first
win
of
the
season
in
the
Under
14
Boys
Division
beating
the
previously
undefeated
Ffeon
Clifford
(Mnt)
in
the
final
by
0.07
points.
Clifford’s
runner
up
finish
was
enough
to
secure
him
the
series
win.
Waylon
Lynch
(Gis)
and
Jack
Haglund
(Whngrei)
finished
third
and
four
respectively
in
their
first
finals
appearances
of
the
year.

Millie
Dyck
(Mnt)
was
the
third
new
event
winner
in
the
Under
14
Girls
Division
for
the
series.
After
two
finals
berths
at
the
previous
events,
Dyck
made
this
one
count,
surfing
to
an
11.47
point
heat
total
for
the
win.
She
beat
series
winner
Summer
Holmes
(Mnt),
first
time
finalist
Abi
Brough
(Wgtn)
and
Savannah
Dawes
(Mnt).

Bay
Boardriders
took
out
the
third
consecutive
club
points
ladder,
this
time
with
a
narrow
victory
over
Point
Boardriders
of
Raglan
with
Lion
Rock
Boardriders
and
Ahipara
Boardriders
sharing
third.

Billabong
Grom
Series
presented
by
Oceanbridge
2026
Series
winners.
Under
18
Boys
–
Tyler
Stenzel
(Mnt)
Under
18
Girls
–
Kyra
Wallis
(Piha)
Under
16
Boys
–
Jesse
Frazerhurst
(Auck)
Under
16
Girls
–
Lola
Groube
(Pauanui)
Under
14
Boys
–
Ffeon
Clifford
(Mnt)
Under
14
Girls
–
Summer
Holmes
(Mnt)

Full
results
can
be
viewed
via

Live
Heats.

Full
season
rankings
for
the
New
Zealand
Grom
Series
can
be
found
on

Live
Heats.

The
2026
NZ
Grom
Series
comprises
over
10
events
nationwide
with
participants
best
four
events
counting
toward
their
national
ranking.

Further
Information
For
further
information
on
the
2026
Billabong
Grom
Series
presented
by
Oceanbridge
please
contact
Surfing
New
Zealand’s
Gavin
Bisman
–
027-446-4174
/

gavin.bisman@surfingnz.co.nz

Imagery
High
resolution
action
images
of
the
surfing
at
all
events
on
the
Billabong
Grom
Series
will
be
available
to
media
free
of
charge.
Please
contact
Ben
Kennings
for
further
details
–

ben.kennings@surfingnz.co.nz