Rob Adelberg put on an incredible show making the decision a tough one to determine.
Neither the sun, the wind nor the talent of Team Nevada could stop Team SoCal from riding away with the victory yesterday afternoon at the first ever FMX Team Energy Cup from Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort San Diego North. With a final score of 7 to 3, Team SoCal captured the title and bragging rights as the Best FMX Team.
The afternoon began with the scoreboard standing at 4 to 0 in Team SoCal’s favor, evidence that in Saturday’s Best Whip and Best Trick contests the Southern California riders swept their competition. Team Nevada still had a chance at recovery however since in Sunday’s round six (6) points were up for grabs. For the Finals the athletes had been seeded in match-ups that were determined during Saturday’s prelims. One point would go to the winner in each of the four match-up and two points would go to the highest scored run of the day. Nevada had not been completely swept yet. However, as the first couple of match-ups concluded it became clear that Team SoCal was surging toward the win.
The Finals’ head–to-head format had Blake “Bilko” Williams taking on Matt Buyten, Brian Foster against Cameron Sinclair, Mike Mason with Rob Adelberg, and Drake McElroy facing Jeff “Ox” Kargola. In three out of four runs Team SoCal prevailed - Williams, Sinclair and Kargola each earned one point for their team. Team Nevada made it on the scoreboard with Mike Mason’s performance.
In classic Mason style, for 90 seconds Mike wowed the crowd with runs of flips, grabs and whips. Adelberg answered with a show of his own, making the decision a tough one to determine. In the prelims on Saturday the men had tied for third place. On Sunday, however Mason came through for his team and not only took one point for the match-up, but also racked up another two points for having the best run of the day.
Mason brings his team back from a shutout but couldn't grab the overall win.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself. I didn’t want us to be shut out. But, it’s all good. We had a lot of fun.” Said Mason.
“I had a good time and we had a good team,” said Adelberg after his team’s ultimate victory. “It was fun to strategize and see what we had to do to win.”
As a part of the ASA Action Sports World Tour, the FMX Team Energy Cup will air nationally on networks to include CBS Sports, FUEL TV, WGN, Fox Sports Net and VERSUS. Stay tuned to ActionSportsTour.com for broadcast dates and times.
