Tyler Stenzel (Mount) and Kyra Wallis (Piha claimed the premier Under 18 Division’s at the final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge held at Piha over the weekend. They were joined by four additional age group winners with Auckland’s West Coast turning on the best conditions of the three events held over the past month.
In clean 1.0m – 1.5m waves at the southern end of Piha Beach, 140 participants took on the challenge over the weekend.
Local Piha surfer Kyra Wallis claimed the Under 18 Girls Division in a tight battle. Wallis finished with a 14.56 point heat total in the final, netting a pair of seven-point rides.
“Piha was definitely my pick out of the two wins this year,” said Wallis. “It’s my hometown, so that one meant a little bit more to me. The waves were a bit better quality than other events and having so much support from the beach made it special. Competing in front of family and friends definitely gave me an extra boost” she added.
“The final was super close and the quality of my competitors surfing really made me honoured to be there. I ended up getting a couple fun ones that lead me to the win. I’m really stoked it worked out, winning two Billabong Grom Series events was such a great feeling,” she added.
Wallis finished ahead of Maya Mateja (Rag) who finished in second place with India Kennings (WGM) in third and Poppy Arkle (Piha) in fourth.
Tyler Stenzel had been on fire the whole final day, amassing three heat totals over 15.0 points. In the final he started with an 8.17 and then secured a 7.27 leaving his opponents requiring big scores to match him
“Back-to-back wins feels amazing. After finishing in the finals at Mount it really fired me up to go after a win. In previous years I had fallen a bit short a few times at the second event, so a win was a goal I had set for myself this year. Same for Piha, really wanted to get a win there specifically as it’s been a personal goal of mine over the years,” said Stenzel.
Event one winner, Van Camenzind (Rag) finished second in the final ahead of Zade Pitkeathly (Mnt) in third and local surfer Sev Tolhurst in fourth.
The Under 16 Boys Division was a showcase of excellent surfing from the groms with the lead changing twice with the final wave exchange in the dying stages of the final. Gisborne’s Jaxon Pardoe led the final for the majority of the 20 minutes. However, his opponents were chasing hard the whole time and with two scores dropping, Jesse Frazerhurst (Auck) jumped into the lead briefly with an 8.17 before Taj Phillips (Ahipara) dropped a 9.0 to snatch victory in his first final of the year. Frazerhurst claimed the overall series. Pardoe went from first to third matching his best result of the season while Kentaro Mitchell (Tara) finished in fourth.
Zara Owen (Dun) took out the Under 16 Girls Division Final finishing with a 13.33 point heat total that was highlighted by an 8.0 to open her account and put the pressure on her opponents. Selva Petzold del la Cruz (Rag) surfed to second in the final ahead of series winner Lola Groube (Pau) in third and Jade-Nias Phillips (Ahi) in fourth.
Raglan’s Jimmy Wernham claimed his first win of the season in the Under 14 Boys Division beating the previously undefeated Ffeon Clifford (Mnt) in the final by 0.07 points. Clifford’s runner up finish was enough to secure him the series win. Waylon Lynch (Gis) and Jack Haglund (Whngrei) finished third and four respectively in their first finals appearances of the year.
Millie Dyck (Mnt) was the third new event winner in the Under 14 Girls Division for the series. After two finals berths at the previous events, Dyck made this one count, surfing to an 11.47 point heat total for the win. She beat series winner Summer Holmes (Mnt), first time finalist Abi Brough (Wgtn) and Savannah Dawes (Mnt).
Bay Boardriders took out the third consecutive club points ladder, this time with a narrow victory over Point Boardriders of Raglan with Lion Rock Boardriders and Ahipara Boardriders sharing third.
Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge 2026 Series winners.
Under 18 Boys – Tyler Stenzel (Mnt)
Under 18 Girls – Kyra Wallis (Piha)
Under 16 Boys – Jesse Frazerhurst (Auck)
Under 16 Girls – Lola Groube (Pauanui)
Under 14 Boys – Ffeon Clifford (Mnt)
Under 14 Girls – Summer Holmes (Mnt)
Full results can be viewed via Live Heats.
Full season rankings for the New Zealand Grom Series can be found on Live Heats.
The 2026 NZ Grom Series comprises over 10 events nationwide with participants best four events counting toward their national ranking.
Further Information
For further information on the 2026 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Gavin Bisman – 027-446-4174 / gavin.bisman@surfingnz.co.nz
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the Billabong Grom Series will be available to media free of charge. Please contact Ben Kennings for further details – ben.kennings@surfingnz.co.nz
Partners
Generous support from Billabong and presenting sponsors Oceanbridge has made this series possible for 21 years.
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Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
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Ends