Piha’s Poppy Arkle and Mount Maunganui’s Tyler Stenzel have surfed to victories at the final event of the New Zealand Grom Series held at Gisborne over the weekend.
The Sequence Surf Gisborne Junior Pro presented by Creatures and Sex Wax was contested in some of the best conditions of the series with perfect 1.0m waves at Makorori Beach north of Gisborne.
Six surfers rode to victory across the junior divisions with Zara Owen (Dunedin) and Luca Thompson (Raglan) takin the Under 16 divisions and Louis Macquet (Ohope) and Summer Holmes (Mount) taking the Under 14 Divisions.
Arkle had a stellar season making eight from eight finals but this weekend was her first win, capping off the season on her last ride of a 9.57 and a 17.07 heat total.
“Yeah, I’m pretty stoked. I’ve made in every single final this year, and I’ve never won one, so this is like a real change for me, and I’m just so happy,” said Arkle.
“I didn’t know how high my last wave was, but I remember getting three good turns, so I was like, this is worth a claim, and it was, so, yeah, that’s pretty cool,” she added.
Despite Arkle’s impressive heat total, she had a battle on her hands the whole final. Kyra Wallis (Piha) pocketed a pair of seven-point rides and looked strong. Sage Fritchley (Mnt) posted an excellent 8.67 to be in the hunt until the final hooter but could not find a backup finishing behind Wallis in fourth with Indi-Lee Ruddell (Whngrei) finishing in fourth.
Tyler Stenzel surfed to his third win of the season at Makorori on Sunday. The smooth natural foot surfer rode to a 15.50-point heat total in another tight final with Sev Tolhurst (Piha) and Van Camenzind (Rag) both challenging for the win.
Sev Tolhurst hugged the lefts all final as did Camenzind who posted a late 8.23 point ride but he had to settle for third behind Tolhurst and first time finalist Sam Greetis (Rag) in fourth.
The big final in the Under 16s came from the boys with Luca Thompson stomping his authority on the division with a 15.84 point win ahead of Sol Fritchley (Mnt), Fritchley posting a 9.17 on his last ride as he searched for a near perfect wave to steal the win.
Jesse Frazerhurst finished in third place in the final with local surfer Jaxon Pardoe finishing fourth in the final.
Dunedin surfer Zara Owen surfed to a win in the Under 16 Girls Division. It was another 15-point winning heat total for the young 14-year-old surfer. Isla McKay surfed to her first final of the year finishing in second place ahead of Selva Petzold de la Cruz (Rag) and Jade Nias Phillips.
The Under 14 Divisions were claimed by Louis Mcaquet, his first of the year and Summer Holmes (Mnt) who took home her second win of the season.
2026 NZ Grom Series Winners
Under 18 Boys – Alexis Owen (Dun)
Under 18 Girls – Maya Mateja (Rag)
Under 16 Boys – Sol Fritchley (Mnt)
Under 16 Girls – Lola Groube (Pau)
Under 14 Boys – Ffeon Clifford (Mnt)
Under 14 Girls – Summer Holmes (Mnt)
Further Information
For further information on the 2026 Sequence Surf Shop Gisborne Junior Pro, please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Gavin Bisman on 027-446-4174 or email gavin.bisman@surfingnz.co.nz
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Event Details
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