Kyra Wallis. Photo / PhotoCPL
Mount Maunganui’s Tyler Stenzel and Piha local Kyra Wallis capped off the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge with standout performances at Piha over the weekend, claiming the premier Under-18 titles in the final event of the three‑stop tour.
Surfing in the best conditions of the series, the pair led a field of 140 competitors who revelled in clean 1-1.5m waves on Auckland’s West Coast.
Local Piha surfer Kyra Wallis claimed the Under-18 Girls Division in a tight battle.
She 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,” Wallis said.
“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.”
Wallis finished ahead of Maya Mateja (Raglan) who finished in second place with India Kennings (Whangamatā) 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,” Stenzel said.
“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.”
Event one winner Van Camenzind (Raglan) finished second in the final ahead of Zade Pitkeathly (Mount) 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 in 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 (Auckland) 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 (Taranaki) finished in fourth.
Zara Owen (Dunedin) 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 (Raglan) surfed to second in the final ahead of series winner Lola Groube (Pāuanui) in third and Jade-Nias Phillips (Ahipara) 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 (Mount) in the final by 0.07 points.
Clifford’s runner-up finish was enough to secure him the series win.
Waylon Lynch (Gisborne) and Jack Haglund (Whangārei) finished third and four respectively in their first finals appearances of the year.
Millie Dyck (Mount) 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 (Mount), first-time finalist Abi Brough (Wellington) and Savannah Dawes (Mount).
The Bay Boardriders took out their third consecutive club points ladder, this time with a narrow victory over the Point Boardriders of Raglan with the Lion Rock Boardriders and the Ahipara Boardriders sharing third.
Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge 2026 Series winners
Under 18 Boys’ – Tyler Stenzel (Mount)
Under 18 Girls’ – Kyra Wallis (Piha)
Under 16 Boys’ – Jesse Frazerhurst (Auckland)
Under 16 Girls’ – Lola Groube (Pāuanui)
Under 14 Boys’ – Ffeon Clifford (Mount)
Under 14 Girls’ – Summer Holmes (Mount)
– Copy supplied by Surfing New Zealand