By: Nick Lipton
The best of the best amateur skaters just took to the course of the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Finals in Salt Lake City in front of screaming fans, excited friends, and some of the best pros around. These kids rode tough, had deep bags of tricks, and didn’t look much different than the pros they admire. An earlier round reduced to the field to twelve skaters who were competing for the overall win and the spot in the pro Skate Park Prelims at next month's Dew Tour stop. Jack Olson from Minneapolis, MN took the prize, and he did it in style.

Jack rode like a grown man. The kid’s got a confident and smooth approach to skateboarding, and dropping hammers like a switch 270 front board secured his spot as the number one Am in this series. This summer, Jack had to go to three different stops before he won his ticket to Salt Lake, but today, there was no question who was on top. Jack pretty much dominated his competition. He was the only kid to score in the 90s during the two heats, and the stuff he threw was simply effortless.

The other eleven kids put on a show too. Split into two groups and given a solo run and a jam format, each kid had at least one shiny moment. The jam’s were basically a best trick show and a really depressing time for anyone over 18. These kids are little trick robots capable of stuff most pros still struggle with. Even the six kids that didn’t qualify for the last heat gave a show. Cayden Curto, cut off jeans and all, was pretty hesh for a kid his age. Cayden skated with a lot of energy and blunted, backlipped, and slid on anything he felt like. Alex Majerus killed it as well, even making some voyeuristic pros freak out. I mean you don’t see little dudes kickflip feebling downbars everyday. The little ripper Chase Webb skated with some serious passion. The kid flips into a lot of his grinds and a front blunt always looks good. Anthony Estrada, Ryan Thompson, and Aaron Collier all brought solid lines and their own styles to the course, plus Anthony skated to Biggie, which is always respectable.

The top six, who made it to the final jam, had something else going on, though. CJ Dixon was riding injured, but that didn’t stop him from riding hard. The kid was getting creative with all sorts of unique ideas for the course. His 5-0 on the quarterpipe coping that ended in a five foot drop was rad, and his ability to ride any aspect of the course showed he can actually ride a skateboard, not just pull tricks out of his hat. Local boy and crowd favorite  Tyson Bowerbank was truly impressive to watch. The kid is so little it looks like he’s on a longboard, but that didn’t stop him from skating, slamming, and showing everyone that he owns the backside 360. When Tyson grows up expect to see him as another of Salt Lake City’s great skaters. Another of the littler dudes Alex Longcamp proved to be a “go big or go home” kinda fella’. The kid had 270’s, hardflips, whatever, it was cool to see.

Then there were the top three. In 3rd place Brendon Villanueva threw himself down and over the biggest stuff he could find. The kids hardflips are amazing, and his double flip over the Nike 6.0 picnic got the fans cheering. In 2nd place we had the tiger shirt boy, Ray Macken. Obviously Ray wore the tiger shirt to make sure he was getting agressive, and it worked. Huge flip tricks and a kickflip backlip were tiger boy’s bangers, and everyone liked them. Then there was Jack. Last year's Gatorade Free Flow Tour winner Timmy Knuth was so shocked by Jack’s performance he joked, “Jack, you just pooped all over those kids!” and it wasn’t a complete lie. Jack Olson showed that he’s the best, and when he goes head to head with the pros in Orlando, we’ll all find out just how good he is.

Jack Olson – Crooked Grind

Ray Macken – Kick Flip

Bendan Villanueva – Kickflip Back Slide Smith Grind

Skate Park Final Results - Round 2
1. Jack Olson, St. Louis Park, Minn. - 85.18
2. Raymond Macken, Australia - 84.45
3. Brendon Villanueva, Poway, Calif. - 80.75
4. Alex Longcamp, Aurora, Ind. - 79.15
5. Tyson Bowerbank, Sandy, Utah - 77.60
6. CJ Dixon, Cocoa Beach, Fla - 76.83
7. Chase Webb, Oceanside, Calif. - 73.40
8. Alec Majerus, Rochester, Minn. - 73.10
9. Ryan Thompson, Katy, Texas, - 72.85
10. Caedyn Curto, Redondo Beach, Fla. - 70.30
11. Anthony Estrada, Ontario, Calif. - 65.85
12. Aaron Collier, Lake Mary, Fla. - 54.20

Additional Scores from Round 1
13. Gage Smith - 79.75
14. Fletcher Renegar - 79.5
15. Chris Colbourn - 79.25
16. Josh Love - 78.25
17. Taylor Bray - 78
18. Miles Canavello - 77.75
19. Jake Dooley - 77.25
20. Corey Millet - 77
21. Jake Hill - 76.25
22. Alex Midler - 75.5
23. Dalton Dern - 75.5
24. Derek Rivera - 73.75
25. Wyatt Mihollan - 73.25
26. Adam Emery - 71.25
27. Brandon Strosser - 68.75
28. Phil Hansen - 67.75
29. Little Star - 67
30. KDN Maxwell - 67
31. Giorgio Villone - 66.5
32. D'Andre Pendergrass - 64.5
33. Frankie Heck - 64.5
34. Trey Bresnihan - 63.75
35. London Davis - 60.75
36. Gianni Macias - 60.25
37. Tyler Thomas - 59.25
38. Connor Ose - 59
39. Dakota Welty - 56.5
40. Lorenzo Ledesma - 56.25