no 1 travel: Maloof Money Cup DC 2011 Andrew Reynolds is the Boss ...

: Andrew Reynolds Wins Maloof Money Cup DC 2011 - Neftalie Williams/Maloof Money Cup press images

In a contest that brought out some of the biggest players in skateboarding, Andrew Reynolds won the Maloof Money Cup Pro contest and Ishod Wair won the Am.

The Maloof Money Cup Finals on Sunday, September 4, 2011 was the wrap up of an exciting weekend of skateboarding in the US capital. The Pro Finals had a series of head-to-head battles that culminated in an unimaginable, epic skate-off between two living skate legends who both happen to be over 30 years old: Ronnie Creager and Andrew Reynolds. Neither of these guys is a heavy contest skater, but their skills and legacies run deep, which has earned them major respect and their skating at MMC DC was amazing to watch, a skate fantasy played out in real life.

Maloofs and Vans Bring Pro Skateboarding to DC and Worldwide

Maloof Money Cup, presented by Vans, is more than a sport event, it's a philanthropic endeavor spreading goodwill through skate worldwide and the Maloof DC contest featured the Maloofs along with California Skateparks creating RFK Street Plaza which will remain for skaters that live in or make pilgrimages to the DC area, to enjoy for years.

Reynolds Skates to the Top of the Heap at MMC

He is called The Boss for a reason; Andrew Reynolds came to notoriety in skateboarding in the early 1990s. Reynolds has been a force in skating since many of these guys skating Maloof this weekend were kids and he has been tremendously influential in street skating as it exists today. Some of Reynolds' explosive riding can be seen in the award-winning video, Stay Gold. Reynolds won his first Maloof Money Cup in stifling heat and humidity, putting lines and amazing tricks together, mixing up flip tricks, grinds, manuals, both switch and regular, annihilating the entire course.

MMC 2011 Pro Highlights

The Finals had 4-minute jams, bracketed until only two skaters remained. The final four skaters were matched up as follows: Andrew Reynolds vs. Manny Santiago, and Ronnie Creager vs. Bastien Salabanzi. Each face-off was closely matched despite the differing styles of riding and competing these skaters have; they all used every course feature, stayed on their boards and rode consistently, the only thing that really affected scores negatively seemed to be hands down on pavement and one broken board. In the finals, riders had the whole course to use to their advantage.

Reynolds and Santiago Faced Off in MMC Finals

In the battle between Santiago and Reynolds, Santiago came out banging with an impossible to lipslide on the golden rail. He threw down tons of heat, including a big frontside flip over the Vans can, crook 360 shuv-it out, and a backside nose grind to back 180. Every time Santiago gets out there lately, he shows the depth of his skills. Unfortunately, with a little over a minute to go, he came down hard and broke his board. He borrowed a board from another rider but that's about as effective as borrowing someone else's glasses; he couldn't make it work and his riding suffered just as he was about to wrap up with his biggest moves.

Reynolds was simultaneously blazing around the course with his own arsenal of tricks. He threw down a kickflip to fakie on the quarter, a frontside flip over the Vans can, a 5-0 on the long ledge, frontside flip over the golden rail, a huge varial heel flip down the stairs. Right after Santiago broke his board, Reynolds iced it with a back 360 over the rail and a frontside flip.

Salabanzi vs. Creager in MMC DC Finals

Salabanzi made his return to contest skating at last year's NYC Maloof Money Cup with much fanfare and it was great to have him skating in the DC event. He mixed it up with style and tech that included a back nosegrind to 180, kickflip front boardslide down the rail, a cab flip over the Vans can and a double flip, too. Creager looked amazing and was in the zone, dialing in moves that included a switch frontside flip over the Vans can, rock n roll on the bank to lipslide, switch hard flip down the stairs and a kickflip back lipslide on the rail. When it was over, it was Creager that got to move on to challenge Reynolds.

Reynolds and Creager Meet in MMC DC Finals

It was an epic skate battle with Creager and Reynolds, and the entire crowd was transfixed during the five-minute jam that would define the MMC DC winner. Creager still looked solid, landing moves like a tailslide 270 out on the ledge, manuals all over, and a tight noseblunt on the ledge. He started to lose momentum, though and Reynolds was able to hang on a bit stronger. Reynolds was going for big stuff; he banged out a back tailslide to 360 out, a kickflip shifty over the Vans can, varial heelflip, and he shut the door with a gigantic kickflip to lipslide down the rail.

Maloof Money Cup 2011 DC Pro Results

Andrew Reynolds
Ronnie Creager
Bastien Salabanzi
Manny Santiago
Jack Curtin
Greg Lutzka
Bobby Worrest
Tom Asta
Justin Figueroa
Vincent Alvarez
Ryan Decenzo
Collin Provost

Vitamin Water Am MMC DC 2011 Winner Ishod Wair

Wair, who was out of the NYC Maloof Am contest with a rolled ankle, had his day in DC. Wair's competition was extremely tough and he had his work cut out for him. Matt Berger banged out and unbelievable big spin front board to fakie, Yoshi Tanenbaum threw down a laser flip and Connor Champion did a switch front boardslide down the golden rail. Kevin Romar landed tons of stuff too, including a nice nollie back heelflip to fakie. Wair has been having a great year, winning the AmsterDamn Am and Atlanta Damn Am; the win at Maloof earned him a chance to skate in the Maloof contest in South Africa.

Maloof Money Cup DC Vitamin Water Amateur Results

Ishod Wair
Matt Berger
Trevor Colden
Kyle Walker
Kevin Romar
Alec Majerus
Connor Champion
Mark Suciu
Micky Papa
Glibert Crockett
Jeffrey Marshall
Sebo Walker
Scott DeCenzo
Elijah Berle
Taylor Smith
Andrew Langi
Corey Huber
Filipe Ortiz
Derrick Wilson
Louie Lopez
Yoshi Tanenbaum
Curren Caples
Daniel Lutheran

Thanks to MMC, Joe and Gavin Maloof, The Skatepark of Tampa, Washington D.C., and of course all of the skaters. Fans can look forward to the Kimberley, South Africa and Orange County, CA for more MMC action. Fans that can't wait to see more Maloof Money Cup or need to re-experience the wonder of the D.C. event can visit the MMC YouTube channel or go to Livestream to watch rebroadcasts of the D.C. webcast courtesy of SkatePark of Tampa.