Well, Ortiz didn’t kid around, winning the contest and the Dew Cup, with P-Rod and Greg Lutzka close behind.  And our Mr. Sheckler?  Tenth.

Congrats on #1 Chaz — it must be great to be 14.

Video highlights below.

One year ago, Chaz Ortiz was making his first appearance on the AST Dew Tour at Orlando’s PlayStation Pro having qualified for a wildcard thanks to taking the Free Flow Tour title.  At only 13, he was competiting as an amateur.  This year, he won it all.

“I wasn’t expecting to win,” Ortiz said. “I came in here just wanting to have fun and I mean it all came together. To win it is ten times better.”

Ortiz didn’t just win the PlayStation pro, he dominated it.  Yes, Paul Rodriguez Jr. and Greg Lutzka were in it to the end, but Ortiz couldn’t be beat after landing almost every trick cleanly in the seven-minute jam session.

Three-time Dew Cup champ Ryan Sheckler, who led the race going into Orlando, was off of his game finishing well out of the running in the contest at 10th place and 3rd for the Dew Cup.

For the season both Sheckler and Ortiz won two stops (the other was won by P-Rod) but Sheckler’s poor showing in two contests made the difference.

P-Rod finished second in the contest and in the Dew Cup Race, followed by Greg Lutzka in third for the contest (and fourth for the Dew Cup).

Timmy Knuth, 17, who won this year’s Free Flow Tour amateur title in Salt Lake City last month, finished in fourth place today.

For more about the final and about the tour, check out AST.com.

Skate Park Final Results – PlayStation Pro
October 19, 2008 – Orlando, FL
1. Chaz Ortiz, Chicago, 92.75
2. Paul Rodriguez, Tarzana, Calif., 91.25
3. Greg Lutzka, Milwaukee, 86.75
4. Timmy Knuth (A), Melbourne, Fla., 82.10
5. Austen Seaholm, Anaheim, Calif., 79.60
6. Carlos De Andrade, Brazil, 77.00
(the following did not qualify for six man jam session)
7. Chris Mendes, Moreno Valley, Calif., 79.50
8. Rodolfo Ramos, Brazil, 78.75
9. Danilo Do Rosario, Brazil, 78.75
10. Ryan Sheckler, San Clemente, Calif., 78.00

A year after breaking onto the AST Dew Tour by winning the Free Flow tour Skate Park event at the Toyota Challenge, 14-year-old Chaz Ortiz has come full circle by winning the pro event this year.  Ortiz’s win sets up a showdown for the Dew Cup in Orlando next month, with Ryan Sheckler, Ortiz and Paul Rodriguez all in the running for the crown.

The scenario is simple:  If Ortiz or Sheckler win, the the Cup is theirs.  If P-Rod wins and Sheckler comes in second, they will be tied and a tie-breaker would have to be used.  If P-Rod wins and Sheckler comes in third or lower, P-Rod has the title.

After finishing first or second in each AST Dew Tour event this season, P-Rod finished in a surprising eighth.  Sheckler, who finished eighth in the Right Guard Open in Cleveland, stayed close to Ortiz despite skating with two damaged elbows.  Sheckler was definitely a crowd favorite for girls young and old alike.  He was also sporting some new tattoos saying “Fear” and “God” (read more here about that) and “Skate Life” (see that one in the video here).

The possible Brazillian invasion set-up by their domination of the Skate Park prelims didn’t pan out, though Rodolfo Ramos finished in third while Carlos DeAndrade took fifth.

 
Chaz Ortiz, who flows like water and nails all his tricks, does a rail dance. cr. John Swenson

Sheckler’s right elbow was tightly wrapped in a sling-like bandage to keep it bent. His permanently swollen left elbow, shown here, isn’t pretty. He will have both elbows surgically repaired after Orlando.  cr. John Swenson

Check out the full results below.

Skate Park Final Results – Toyota Challenge
September 13, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – Ortiz, Chaz – 93.05
2nd – Sheckler, Ryan – 90.99
3rd – Ramos, Rodolfo – 85.99
4th – Lutzka, Greg – 84.75
5th – De Andrade, Carlos – 82.99
6th – Seaholm, Austen – 81.69
7th – do Rosario, Danilo – 79.75
8th – Rodriguez, Paul – 79.59
9th – Oliveira, Tulio – 79.25
10th – Colamonico, Kurtis – 78.75
11th – Dyet, Adam – 77.25
12th – Santos, Fabrizio – 72.25

AST Dew Tour: Dew Cup Current Standings
Skate Park Points

1. Ryan Sheckler, 338
2. Chaz Ortiz, 330
3. Paul Rodriguez, 323
4. Greg Lutzka, 285
5. Austen Seaholm, 240
6. Rodolfo Ramos, 217
7. Carlos De Andrade, 206
8. Danilo Do Rosario, 162
9. Fabrizio Santos, 161
10. Chad Bartie, 152

Skate Park Prelim Results – Toyota Challenge
September 11, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – do Rosario, Danilo – 83.75
2nd – De Andrade, Carlos – 83.50
3rd – Seaholm, Austen – 81.75
4th – Ramos, Rodolfo – 81.25
5th – Dyet, Adam – 81.00
6th – Lutzka, Greg – 77.25
7th – Colamonico, Kurtis – 76.25
8th – Santos, Fabrizio – 75.50
9th – Oliveira, Tulio – 75.00
10th – Mendes, Chris – 73.50
11th – Brummet, Dayne – 72.50
12th – Corrigan, Danny – 71.75
13th – Parent, Thomas – 71.50
14th – Ramos, Wagner – 70.75
15th – Barr, Jason – 70.25
16th – Cudlipp, Chris – 70.25
17th – Bartie, Chad – 70.00
18th – Hendley, Tyler – 70.00
19th – Oliveira, Ricardo – 69.50
20th – Jones, Rodney – 68.50
21st – Fuenzalida, Danny – 64.75
22nd – Sereika, Christian – 63.50
23rd – Rogers, Jereme – 62.75

If there is any doubt that Paul Rodriguez is taking his skating seriously this season, it was gone Saturday after he clinched the Skate Park finals at the AST Dew Tour’s Right Guard Open.  The win follows his Maloof Money Cup victory of last week.

While P-Rod’s win was huge, two other stories dominated the day.  One was the continued emergence of Chaz Ortiz as a dominant skater this season and the other was how, for the first time in AST Dew Tour history, a skate park final jam session went down without Ryan Sheckler.  Shecker, who prequalified for the finals, needed a strong score to make the jam session and instead fell hard mid-run, injuring his arm and stopping the competition.

Viewers of the live webcast got to witness the fall, though the feed was cut almost immediately after the fall, returning about two minutes later with replay footage of the injury.

It was the first time this season the AST provided a live webcast of the finals, allowing fans across the globe to tune in.  All in all, the quality of the webcast matched the TV broadcast with the added bonus of every skater getting screentime.  The only negative?  The standard definition webcast took an HD picture and squashed it even though there was space in the player to show an HD picture.  Oh well.

The legendary Chris Miller was on hand to provide commentary along with Paul Zitzer, giving Kenan Harkin the ability to hang back and only jump in with obvious questions.

Between Sheckler’s fall and the start of the jam session, the webcast spent a good amount of time watching the skater as he was looked at by medical staff and spent time with his father, Randy, who appeared to be consoling him.

The injury proved to be a slight distraction as the top six skateboarders, led by Ortiz, took to the course for a seven-minute jam session to close out the contest.

Ortiz began his day with a flawless first run that included a late backfoot flip, while Sheckler was a full 10 points behind in fifth.  By the time Ortiz was ready to do his second run, he was still in first and Sheckler was out of the top six with a big score needed to make the jam session.

Before Ortiz started his second run Sheckler told him, “I’m so proud of you.  So sick.”  Then he added, “Can you do my run for me?”

Ortiz went on to have a solid run, including a sick kickflip frontside feeble, but a couple of stumbles left his first run his top score going into the finals.

The jam session was packed with solide tricks from everyone, though P-Rod and Ortiz were obvious frontrunners and Ortiz delivered some huge tricks including a frontside bluntside big spin out.

When it was all said and done, P-Rod pulled out his first-ever AST Dew Tour win, followed by Ortiz, Rodolfo Ramos and Greg Lutzka.

With his already-impressive history, P-Rod’s place at top should be no surprise, but Ortiz’s time may be around the corner.

“He’s probably going to be one of the best skateboarders to come,” Sheckler said of the 14-year-old phenom.

Skate Park Finals – 2008 Right Guard Open
July 19, 2008, Cleveland OH

1. Paul Rodriguez Jr. – 90.75
2. Chaz Ortiz – 90.70
3. Rodolfo Ramos – 88.50
4. Greg Lutzka – 85.85
5. Rodil Araujo Jr. – 83.60
6. Carlos De Andrade – 77.45

Three-time AST Dew Cup champ Ryan Sheckler is on his way to number four after winning the season-opener of the AST Dew Tour in Baltimore. Paul Rodriguez was a surprising second while rookie Chaz Ortiz lived up to the hype and finished third. Greg Lutzka, Sheckler’s nemesis last season, was a distant fourth with the rest of the field trailing.

For P-Rod, his first AST finals appearance in years was a return to form, though Sheckler continued to dominate the jam session as is his specialty.

In other news from the finals, the Brazilians were noticeably absent from the top five, though the bottom half was stacked with them — quite a change from last season when Sheckler and Lutzka were the only Americans to find the podium all season.

For more, check out the following video featuring highlights from the day’s action.

2008 Panasonic Open
Skate Park Finals
June 21, 2008 / Baltimore, MD

1st – Sheckler, Ryan – 94.65
2nd – Rodriguez, Paul – 89.80
3rd – Ortiz, Chaz – 89.55
4th – Lutzka, Greg – 81.75
5th – Bartie, Chad – 78.55
6th – Seaholm, Austen – 78.50
7th – Oliveira, Ricardo – 77.00
8th – Ramos, Wagner – 77.00
9th – De Andrade, Carlos – 75.50
10th – Mendes, Chris – 75.25
11th – Ramos, Rodolfo – 72.75
12th – Simonetto, Michell – 68.00

He was helped, of course, by Ryan Sheckler and the other top two skaters (Greg Lutzka and Rodolfo Ramos) from 2007 going straight to the finals based on their year-end rankings from last season. P-Rod ended up second followed by rookie Chaz Ortiz (Ortiz did compete in last season’s PlayStation Pro).

Some familiar names missed the cut (the top nine advanced to join the three prequalified skaters) including Fabrizio Santos, Chad Fernandez and Jereme Rogers. For Rogers, a bad 2007 season continued with a poor start in ’08.

The Skate Park finals will take place on Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. ET and will air on NBC.

Chaz Ortiz cr. AST

Here’s the lineup for Saturday’s final (in order)

12. Michel Simonetto
11. Ricardo Oliveria
10. Chris Mendes
9. Wagner Ramos
8. Carlos De Andrade
7. Chad Bartie
6. Chaz Ortiz
5. Paul Rodriguez
4. Austen Seaholm
3. Rodolfo Ramos
2. Greg Lutzka
1. Ryan Sheckler

Skate Park Prelim Results – 2008 Panasonic Open
June 19, 2008 – Top Nine Advance

1st — Seaholm, Austen — 87.75
2nd — Rodriguez, Paul — 84
3rd — Ortiz, Chaz — 82.50
4th — Bartie, Chad — 80.75
5th — De Andrade, Carlos — 80.50
6th — Ramos, Wagner — 79.75
7th — Mendes, Chris — 79
8th — Oliveria, Ricardo — 78
9th — Simonetto, Michel — 77.75
———————————————-
10th — de Oliveira, Tulio — 77
11th — do Rosario, Danilo — 76.25
12th — Santos, Fabrizio — 76
13th — Peterson, Mike — 74.25
14th — Hyppolito, Fabio Sleiman — 73.25
15th — Fuenzalida, Danny — 73
16th — Cudlipp, Chris — 72.75
17th — Jones, Rodney — 72.25
18th — Parent, Thomas — 70
19th — Corrigan, Danny — 69
20th — Fernandez, Chad — 69
21st — Hendley, Tyler — 68.75
22nd — Therres, Mathieu — 68
23rd — Rogers, Jereme — 68
24th — Barr, Jason — 66.75
25th — Colamonico, Kurtis — 58.25
26th — Powers, Will — 56
27th — Stanton, Darell — 53.75

Skaters who missed the open qualifiers on Wednesday:

Chris Dobstaffm Gary Smith, Kyle Berard, Danny Cerezini, Ronnie Gordon, Kody Wright, Dayne Brummet, Sean Hayes, Pierre-Yves Frappier, Anthony Shetler, Tetsuharu Sai, Casey Rigney, Wolnei Dos Santos, Malcom Watson, Casey McDonald, Dale Hendricks Jr., Felix Arguelles.

FMX had the most interesting wild card picks, with Dany Torres, a Spainard who has done well on the X-Fighters tour, joining the tour as a rookie. Robbie Maddison, who competed in 2006 on the tour, will make a triumphant return after setting a world record earlier this year. The final wildcard, Mathieu Rebeaud, has been on the tour since 2005.

Keep reading for all the pre-qualified athletes and the full press release.

AST ANNOUNCES PRE-QUALIFIED ATHLETES FOR
2008 AST DEW TOUR

Roster of Pre-Qualified Athletes Expected to Compete at Panasonic Open Include Baltimore’s Bucky Lasek and Three-Time Dew Cup Winners
Ryan Sheckler and Jamie Bestwick
NEW YORK – June 10, 2008 – The AST Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long action sports tour, today announced the roster of athletes that are pre-qualified for the 2008 AST Dew Tour. The Panasonic Open kicks off in Baltimore, June 19-22 at Camden Yards Sports Complex.

Athletes are pre-qualified based on their rankings at the end of the 2007 AST Dew Tour season. Additionally 3-4 wild cards per discipline have been selected. Athletes who are not pre-qualified may compete as Open Qualifiers at the Panasonic Open to earn a spot in the preliminary rounds. The full list of pre-qualified athletes is as follows:

Skateboard Park
Ryan Sheckler
Greg Lutzka
Rodolfo Ramos
Austen Seaholm
Carlos de Andrade
Fabrizo Santos
Kurtis Colamonico
Tulio de Oliviera
Danny Fuenzalida
Mike Peterson
Danilo do Rosario
Jason Barr
Mathieu Therres
Rodil Araujo Jr
Jereme Rogers
*Chaz Ortiz
*Paul Rodriguez
*Chad Fernandez

Skateboard Vert
Shaun White
Bucky Lasek
Pierre-Luc Gagnon
Bob Burnquist
Andy Macdonald
Rune Glifberg
Jean Postec
Alex Perelson
Danny Mayer
Anthony Furlong
*Adam Taylor
*Rob Lorifice
*Sandro Dias

BMX Park
Daniel Dhers
Mike Spinner
Ryan Nyquist
Scotty Cranmer
Dave Mirra
Dennis Enarson
Allan Cooke
Steven McCann
Garrett Reynolds
Josh Harrington
Diogo Canina
Rob Darden
Kevin Kiraly
Alistair Whitton
Marcus Tooker
Craig Mast
Colin Mackay
Ryan Guettler
Gary Young
*Mike Laird
*Ben Wallace
*Dan Sieg
*Austin Coleman

BMX Vert
Jamie Bestwick
Simon Tabron
Steven McCann
Chad Kagy
Jimmy Walker
Kevin Robinson
Jay Eggleston
Dennis McCoy
John Parker
Zack Warden
*Francisco Zurita
*Koji Kraft
*Austin Coleman

BMX Dirt
Ryan Nyquist
Cameron White
Dennis Enarson
Luke Parslow
James Foster
Corey Bohan
Anthony Napolitan
Diogo Canina
TJ Ellis
Chris Doyle
Ryan Guettler
Colin Mackay
Allan Cooke
Joey Marks
*Steven McCann
*Morgan Wade
*Rob Darden
*Chris Gerber

FMX
Nate Adams
Adam Jones
Mike Mason
Jeremy Lusk
Todd Potter
Jeremy Stenberg
Wiley Fullmer
Myles Richmond
Tkayuki Hadashino
Beau Bamburg
*Robbie Maddison
*Mathieu Rebeaud
*Dany Torres

*Indicates wild cards
**All 2008 AST Dew Tour pre-qualified athletes are not guaranteed to compete at all five stops of the ’08 season

The complete 2008 AST Dew Tour schedule is as follows:

Event Date Location
Panasonic Open June 19-22 Baltimore, Md.-Camden Yards Sports Complex
Right Guard Open July 17-20 Cleveland, OH-North Coast Harbor
Wendy’s Invitational Aug. 21-24 Portland, Ore.-Rose Quarter
Toyota Challenge Sept. 11-14 Salt Lake City, UT-EnergySolutions Arena
PlayStation® Pro Oct. 16-19 Orlando, Fla.-Amway Arena

Zoo York has moved Chaz Ortiz up from its flow team to its Am team.  Check out the announcement below plus be sure to click on the sequence to see it in all its glory.

By the way, the announcement goes out of its way to make sure everyone know it’s one Z — that name’s been spelled Chazz v. Chaz all over (including by us.  Sorry Chaz).   Also, no word yet if he’s accepted the AST Dew Tour wild card, but it seems unlikely now.

ZOO YORK WELCOMES CHAZ ORTIZ

The Zoo York Institute is proud to announce that Chaz Ortiz is the newest member of its Am Team.

Hailing from Chicago, IL, over the past few years Chaz (spelled with one “z”) has quickly made a name for himself in the skateboarding world by racking up an impressive tally of top finishes at all the major contests. Standouts include placing 2nd at Phoenix Am 2008, 6th at Tampa Am 2008, 2nd at Volcom Damn Am 2007, and 6th at last year’s Dew Tour PlayStation Pro in Orlando.

Chaz is known for his super smooth, seemingly effortless style, and at only fourteen years of age he exudes a quiet confidence well beyond his years. With youth on his side, fire in his heart and a deep bag of man-sized tricks on lock, Chaz truly is the future of skateboarding.

“I’d heard about Chaz for a couple years before actually meeting him, and when we finally skated together I was blown away by his natural talent and how fast he progressed,” says ZY Senior Team Manager Seamus Deegan. “Even though we’re announcing it today, Chaz has actually been with Zoo York for years. In 2005, Harold [Hunter] spotted him at a contest and put him on the flow team, and now three years later we’re hyped to officially welcome him to the family.”

To keep the momentum going, Chaz spent most of May in NYC with the team shooting photos for ads and filming for his part in Zoo’s upcoming video, “State of Mind.”

As Zoo York’s newest recruit, Chaz joins veteran ZY Officials Zered Bassett, Donny Barley, Aaron Suski, Forrest Kirby, Kevin Taylor, Brandon Westgate (Am), Matt Miller (Am), Anthony Shetler (Am), Lamare Hemmings (Am), Ron Deily (Am), and Eli Reed (Am).

In addition to Zoo York, Chaz also skates for eS Footwear, Force Trucks, Diamond, FKD Bearings, Bones Wheels, and Warp Skatepark.