Jackson Bunch won the open men and the Junior Challenge at the 30th annual Vissla/Lopez/Hi-Tech Surfbash, held Saturday and Sunday at Ho­okipa Beach Park.

Bunch claimed the open men in the final heat on Sunday. By then the building northwest swell was closing out Pavillions, the normal contest break. So contest officials allowed the open men finalists to surf the Middles surf break.

Bunch agreed with the decision.

“Pavills was kind of too big. Middles was pretty fun,” he said. “I just surfed the channel but there still was super fun ones.”

On Saturday, Bunch won the Junior Challenge, a direct qualifier for the Surfing America state championships.

“The waves were pretty much as good as it gets out there, nice northeast swell, three to four feet, with a couple bigger ones,” Bunch said. “It was super fun catching wave after wave, super consistent. ”

Hookipa has always been the 15-year-old’s home surf break.

“It’s pretty awesome, I love surfing Hookipa in a contest,” he said. “Whenever there’s a contest, it’s usually really fun.”

Bunch’s Surfbash wins come on the heels of his victory at the Vissla International Surfing Association World Championship in Huntington Beach, Calif., three weeks ago. He surfed through seven heats and defeated 98 surfers from 37 countries in the U16 division.

“I’m still mind-blown, I can’t believe it,” Bunch said. “So many kids were there that were super good. It’s the biggest win I’ve ever had.”

In Saturday’s Junior Challenge, he defeated two of his Hawaii teammates who were on the ISA world team, Levi Young and Kai Paula. Young placed second, with Paula third and Chase Anderson fourth.

Young won his 14-15 age division with the highest two-wave score of the contest, 17.0. Bunch placed second to Tony Nunez in the 16-17 division.

“I had a hard one in that final,” Bunch said. “I just couldn’t catch a wave, couldn’t find a wave.”

In the three girls divisions, Stella Valdez, Haylee Boverman and Chrislyn Simpson-Kane traded wins.

Valdez, a seventh-grader at Kalama Intermediate, surfed three heats to win the open women. It was the first final on Saturday and it was held in stormy conditions. It took her five minutes to catch her first wave in the 20-minute heat, and it proved to be her highest score.

“I did a cutback and came up and hit the lip really hard and landed it,” Valdez said. “I was trying to stay kind of on the right side of the boil, and just keep on the boil because it will get you right into the wave.”

Boverman took the U14 title while Simpson-Kane won the last final on Saturday, the Junior Challenge.

Simpson-Kane had a nasty wipeout in her U14 final and was treated with ice for a strained neck at the lifeguard tower just prior to her Junior Challenge preliminary heat.

“I went on a pretty solid wave, and I went to do a turn on the close-out section,” she said. “I ended up eating it and I fell not correctly and hurt my neck. I heard some popping and it kind of scared me.”

Simpson-Kane won her preliminary heat, and then squeaked past Gabby Castella in the semifinals. Boverman placed second in the Junior Challenge, with Nora Liotta third and Valdez fourth.

That was Simpson-Kane’s eighth heat of the day, a solid two hours of competitive surfing in pumping conditions.

“I surfed a lot,” she exclaimed. “I’m very tired.”

Zolton Poulsen (U12) and Bode Davis (U10) each won their fourth Hawaii Surfing Association Maui titles in a row. Each has swept their age group at Lahaina Harbor, Lahaina Breakwall and Koki Beach.

Other winners included Rafi Neri (12-13), Faith Lennox (adaptive) and Stiles Bauer (longboard).

*****

Vissla/Lopez/Hi-Tech Surfbash

Saturday’s and Sunday’s Results

At Hookipa Beach Park

Boys

U10–1. Bode Davis 10.66, 2. Mylo McKinney 9.5, 3. Ryder Prouty 7.07, 4. Matias Banto 4.6, 5. Koa Blanch 3.57, 6. Asher McClenahan 3.5.

U12–1. Zolton Poulsen 11.5, 2. Kaden Awad 8.8, 3. Kingston Panebianco 8.23, 4. Kahlil Pineres-Schooley 7.07, 5. Memphis Brown 6.33, 6. Ethan Mangat 5.9.

12-13–1. Rafi Neri 13.76, 2. Otis Buckingham 11.9, 3. Chase Burnes 7.17, 4. Kenny Nishimoto 6.2.

14-15–1. Levi Young 17.0, 2. Gabriel Girardin 8.84, 3. Kanoa Kaiwi 8.23, 4. Keanu Taylor 8.1.

16-17–1. Tony Nunez 15.7, 2. Jackson Bunch 11.9, 3. Kai Paula 11.6, 4. Slater Fleck 9.17.

Junior Challenge–1. Jackson Bunch 13.6, 2. Levi Young 12.53, 3. Kai Paula 10.5, 4. Chase Anderson 7.6.

Open Men–1. Jackson Bunch 11.73, 2. Philippe Chagas 10.66, 3. Kaimana Kinimaka 9.2, 4. Kala Willard 7.57, 5. TyTy Kirby 5.17, 6. Gabriel Girardin 4.77.

Girls

U14–1. Haylee Boverman 12.53, 2. Stella Valdez 10.77, 3. Chrislyn Simpson-Kane 8.8, 4. Gabby Castella 8.3, 5. Shia Boverman 5.56, 6. Ione LaTurner 4.83.

Junior Challenge–1. Chrislyn Simpson-Kane 11.26, 2. Haylee Boverman 8.83, 3. Nora Liotta 7.33, 4. Stella Valdez 5.77.

Open–1. Stella Valdez 10.83, 2. Haylee Boverman 9.46, 3. Nora Liotta 8.06, 4. Chrislyn Simpson-Kane 7.23.

Mixed

Adaptive–1. Faith Lennox 7.96, 2. Darian Bailey 7.47, 3. Victor Pullman 7.26.

Longboard–1. Stiles Bauer 10.17, 2. Makoa Akana 8.2, 3. Ty Simpson-Kane 8.0, 4. Travis Alexander 5.63, 5. Zolton Poulsen 5.2, 6. Slater Fleck 4.83.